free credit cards

Use Your Home Equity Wisely
... using your home equity could be the right choice," says Matt Coffin, president and founder of LowerMyBills.com, a free ... are the interest rate on a home equity loan or line of credit will be substantially lower than the interest on your credit cards.

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Having a good time is pretty much in the cards at Club Charles
Last month at one of Club Charles' Macabre Mondays, I got a free look at what lies ahead - courtesy of a numerologist ... He waited and received a foxy late-night phone call from the object of his affection that week. "I'm happy to credit the cards with ...

Baltimore
Tips to keep your money safe when you travel
Or a small cardboard jacket, like those hotels hand out with their plastic room keys, for credit and bank cards? Dunnan is a fan of traveler’s checks or prepaid traveler’s check cards for backup cash. Some financial institutions offer them free ...

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Financial Literacy ABCs
If you're among the Americans carrying an average of 16.7 credit cards -- and using them -- put away the plastic. Cash out your ... To help consumers learn more about financial literacy, Freedom Financial Network LLC has developed a free 16-page guide ...

Be wary, well-informed about store credit cards

Q: Are store credit cards worth signing up for, and how do I keep from getting so overwhelmed by it all?
A: It seems that every time shoppers go to a store, they get bombarded by offers to sign up for a store credit card, and it can be so confusing.
Stores are gung-ho about their cards because they help to create customer loyalty and can help track customer buying habits. They're also a profitable business.

For customers, store credit cards offer extra savings and provide a heads-up on special sales coming up. They can also be an easy way for shoppers to establish credit history. But they need to be used wisely, experts warn.
Above all, if consumers can't pay off their balances in full, it's best to avoid store cards, because interest charges are higher than those of bank cards. Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com, said a typical store card is now charging interest of 19.8 percent, compared with a bank card, which currently charges around 13.5 percent.
Another issue to keep in mind is that taking out too many cards at once can actually hurt one's credit score.
"They can definitely be a good deal, but they have to be used wisely," said Andrea Rock, senior editor at Consumer Reports.
Here are some tips on how to manage the store credit-card issue:
● Sign up only for store cards that give the best deals or immediate savings. For example, if a customer is buying a $2,000 couch and can get 10 percent off upon signing up for a card, then he or she should consider the offer, said Mallory Duncan, senior vice president and general counsel at the National Retail Federation, the retail industry trade group.
Duncan also noted that shoppers should focus on stores that they like and are most loyal to.
● Don't sign up for a slew of store credit cards, because such increased line of credit will hurt your credit rating. According to Rock, one should limit the number of store credit cards to one or two during a six- to 12-month period.
"What you don't want is to open up a credit card in every store in the mall and leave a trail of credit inquiries in your wake," McBride said. That's a sign of an active customer, and credit bureaus are going to look at that with reservations, he said
At the same time, consumers shouldn't close their lines of credit from store cards either, particularly right before applying for a mortgage or a car loan. Credit scores are based in part on your debt-to-credit ratio.
● Examine the policies of the card. That means looking at the grace period — from the end of the billing cycle to when the payment is due. McBride also notes that you should look at the default policy — if customers miss one payment, is the interest rate going to climb up to 20 percent?

Credit card database hacked

A computer hacker has gained access to more than 5 million Visa and Mastercard credit card accounts in the US.
The two companies said on Tuesday that none of the information obtained, which would include credit card numbers, was used in a fraudulent way.
But a UK-based business crime expert warned account holders could still be at risk if their cards were not reissued.
Visa and Mastercard said the hacker breached the security system of a company that processes credit card transactions on behalf of merchants.