News Flash!!! Credit Cards Raise Their Rates
When the economy gets this bad, (and believe me it will get worse than it is) your creditors will tighten their belts every bit as much as you do.
Even in the best of times Credit Card companies reserve the right to raise your interest rates for absolutely no reason. You do not have to miss a payment on your card, you do not have to be late. You agreed to allow them to raise rates due to market conditions. If you are curious, just look at the contract you signed with them, or any one of your bills. It is there in black and white, albeit in impossibly tiny black and white.
Do not worry, we all are subject to this and frankly I know some of you are not surprised. You know it is WHAT you DO with this information that is important. Here is where we find out if that super card is going to work for us, or if it is time to meet another lender.
Our Credit Score regards length of credit relationships for 15% of our score. In other words, FICO calculates the importance of these relationships only slightly above types of credit, and new credit we obtain. So when we are making the decision for opting to new relationships, we must be careful.
In my opinion, if your creditor raises your rate for no other reason than to make more money, it might be time to search for a new card. Now is not the time to be paying more for a service than you have to, and YOUR goal is to pay LESS for the money you use. Let the creditor penalize those who are late or have missed payments.
This advice changes DRAMATICALLY if you are late or miss a payment. If that is the case, get your finances back under control, and fix the problem. It is not the time to try and negotiate, it is time to pare down. Be more concerned if the creditor lowers your available balances, or cancels the credit line entirely. Pay increased attention to your due dates now as well. Credit card companies have a habit of changing them on you, or removing grace periods entirely.
These are some dirty tricks for sure, but if you are aware and can react quickly enough they can be negated. Competition for customers also gets tougher during this time of economic turmoil. Those of us that pay like clockwork, and manage our debt responsibly make out like bandits. We request lower rates, and demand better perks knowing we are a more attractive customer than those who do not do these things.
This is a perfect example of timing is everything. If you ask at the proper time, the creditor will roll over to keep your business. When the creditors smell blood in your financial waters, that is when they begin to feed. Those of you reading this with a few missed payments, will do well do take heed.
I have never met anyone that did not want a great credit score. I speak to thousands of people a year and almost to a person, I am asked how to raise their credit score and protect their identity. I named my company after this phenomenon. My Credit Control Kit explains this in more detail. It might be a great time to grab your copy.
Do not miss our new YouTube Channel I am in HD!!!
Wishing you Great Credit,
Wayne Altman
www.givemegreatcredit.com
For even more information Nancy Castleman has a great article on this same subject here: http://www.creditbloggers.com/2008/07/yet-another-rea.html
Even in the best of times Credit Card companies reserve the right to raise your interest rates for absolutely no reason. You do not have to miss a payment on your card, you do not have to be late. You agreed to allow them to raise rates due to market conditions. If you are curious, just look at the contract you signed with them, or any one of your bills. It is there in black and white, albeit in impossibly tiny black and white.
Do not worry, we all are subject to this and frankly I know some of you are not surprised. You know it is WHAT you DO with this information that is important. Here is where we find out if that super card is going to work for us, or if it is time to meet another lender.
Our Credit Score regards length of credit relationships for 15% of our score. In other words, FICO calculates the importance of these relationships only slightly above types of credit, and new credit we obtain. So when we are making the decision for opting to new relationships, we must be careful.
In my opinion, if your creditor raises your rate for no other reason than to make more money, it might be time to search for a new card. Now is not the time to be paying more for a service than you have to, and YOUR goal is to pay LESS for the money you use. Let the creditor penalize those who are late or have missed payments.
This advice changes DRAMATICALLY if you are late or miss a payment. If that is the case, get your finances back under control, and fix the problem. It is not the time to try and negotiate, it is time to pare down. Be more concerned if the creditor lowers your available balances, or cancels the credit line entirely. Pay increased attention to your due dates now as well. Credit card companies have a habit of changing them on you, or removing grace periods entirely.
These are some dirty tricks for sure, but if you are aware and can react quickly enough they can be negated. Competition for customers also gets tougher during this time of economic turmoil. Those of us that pay like clockwork, and manage our debt responsibly make out like bandits. We request lower rates, and demand better perks knowing we are a more attractive customer than those who do not do these things.
This is a perfect example of timing is everything. If you ask at the proper time, the creditor will roll over to keep your business. When the creditors smell blood in your financial waters, that is when they begin to feed. Those of you reading this with a few missed payments, will do well do take heed.
I have never met anyone that did not want a great credit score. I speak to thousands of people a year and almost to a person, I am asked how to raise their credit score and protect their identity. I named my company after this phenomenon. My Credit Control Kit explains this in more detail. It might be a great time to grab your copy.
Do not miss our new YouTube Channel I am in HD!!!
Wishing you Great Credit,
Wayne Altman
www.givemegreatcredit.com
For even more information Nancy Castleman has a great article on this same subject here: http://www.creditbloggers.com/2008/07/yet-another-rea.html
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