Debt Consolidation Tips Before You Start

Business Credit Cards and Business Debt – A Dangerous Combination

Business Credit Cards and Business Debt – A Dangerous Combination

Business Credit Cards and Business Debt – A Dangerous Combination Linda Adams

Does your business rely on credit cards for working capital? A recent study conducted by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation shows that almost 60% of small businesses relied on credit cards to provide funding for operation during their first year. The study concluded that reliance on credit cards to finance the early years increased the likelihood that a business would be in the 50% of startups that failed within 4 years.

Amazingly even a debt as small as $1000 made a significant difference in a company’s ability to survive past the 5 year mark. The pattern for credit card use show an increase in debt over the first 5 years of operation. It is those companies that start to pay down that debt by the end of their 4th year or so that are the ones to succeed. The extra burden of paying off the credit debt is often too much for some young companies who might otherwise have succeeded.

The increased use of credit cards for small businesses is a result of the ease in which cards were obtained even up to 2 years ago. They are easier to get than business loans or lines of credit… Of course there are many other factors that impact a business’ ability to make in these tough economic times, but the use of credit, even in small amounts, early on seem to take their toll.

<p>Unfortunately, the new laws that recently went into effect for personal credit cards do not impact the business credit card industry. This report reinforces the need for the same kind of reforms for the users of business credit as there are now for personal credit. As I mentioned in a previous Ezine article from June, if you use your personal cards for business and have more than a $25,000 limit with a high balance, your personal card may be viewed as a business card and exempt from the personal credit card laws.

Are you still using wither personal or business credit cards for your business? Are you able to pay them off or are you running an increasingly large balance each month? Keep yourself out of that 50% who go under by making a conscious effort to decrease you dependence on credit cards for things you can pay cash for. Work to decrease those balances and make sure you don’t lose your shirt!

Linda Adams is an innovative and seasoned facilitator/educator with more than 20 years experience designing and implementing programs for audiences of all ages. She is dedicated to helping others realize how important their credit is to every facet of their lives. Visit her websitehttp://www.cleancreditqueen.com for more educational articles and go to http://www.cleancreditqueen.com/navbar1/products.html for a list of products to help you take charge of your credit situation.

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Business Credit Card Find the Perfect one for Your Business

Business Credit Card Find the Perfect one for Your Business

How to Find a Perfect Business Credit Card For Your Business
By Chintamani Abhyankar

You may have a long banking relationship with your present bank and they can happily provide you with a credit card facility. However, it is good to make an assessment of your needs and look around for various options.

There is severe competition in the market of business credit cards. It is obviously to your advantage. Before you select a particular business credit card provider, look for the following points:

1. Your choice of payment – The offers from various card issuers differ on interest charges and fees. You should decide whether you are in a position to pay the outstanding balance at the end of the cycle in full. If yes, then you can select a charge card. Most of the charge cards will not have any spending limits. However, if you are unable to pay the balance within the stipulated time, then it’s a different story. Then you have to study the interest and penalty structure for different credit cards.

2. Taking the benefits of rewards – This will depend on the nature of your business. If you are traveling frequently, cards offering generous travel rewards will be good to you. There may be discounts offered by some cards on purchase of specific merchandise. AT&T Universal business rewards card offers extra points for each dollar spent on purchases at many office supplies merchants, at gas stations and for professional services.

3. Balance transfers – If you already have some credit card, many card issuers will provide soft terms for transferring the balance. The low rate of interest will be offered for initial period of about 6 months. This will be a good opportunity to get some temporary relief. At the same time, you need to check out the long-term rates also!

4. Welcome bonus points – Some card providers offer huge bonus points on joining them. These points can be redeemed for your business needs.

5. Free additional cards for your employees – Within the limits set for you, you can apply extra cards for your employees. This is very convenient if you want to give your employees this facility.

6. Acceptability of cards – Check out with your suppliers which cards they usually prefer. You may be using your card regularly with them and their preference is important to you.

7. Time taken for approval – You can get a decision on American Express cards within sixty seconds! This is not very important issue, but sometimes it helps.

You need to make an assessment of major cards in the market in order to find out which one suits to your needs. Remember, offers made by card issuers are available for a very short time and they change frequently.

Your needs may be different – you may be just starting your business or you may be expanding. Examine these options before deciding on a card.

Finance is a big worry for many small businesses. Business credit cards can provide a solution. But all cards are not equal in benefits. Which one suits to your business? How to select the best? Continue reading »

Accept Credit Cards for Online Small Businesses

Accept Credit Cards for Online Small Businesses

When you are first starting your online small business it may be a daunting task to try and figure out which services to use to accept small business credit cards. I personally have used three different services to process credit cards; Merchant America, Paypal,and Google Checkout. I will tell you some my experiences with these three online payment processors.

It has been years ago since I have used Merchant America but they do require a Setup Fee and a deposit in a bank of their choosing.The only plus I can see about Merchant America is if you did allot of offline business, you could accept credit cards by phone, or in person. Merchant America gives you a cheesy website shopping cart system to use for setting up an online store ( I found it difficult at the time to figure out how to set it up). I will say that the cheesy free website does rank high on search engines.

The biggest problem I have with services like Merchant America is it requires you to have the ability and knowledge of how to secure your customers credit card information. You have to secure your computer, website, and any hard documents. How well do you trust your own employees?

When I first started out I solely used Paypal. I got burned because paypal put a freeze on my account with over $3000. There was no customer service to contact by phone, I could only contact them by email. Paypal’s customer service email was slower than molasses days turned into weeks into months. My final explanation from them was I was selling lingerie and that was against their terms of service? Paypal was in their infancy, and a competitor reported me. Needless to say at the time there where thousands of people selling lingerie on ebay with paypal. I eventually got my account unfroze. The whole point of me telling you about this experience is to let you know that you need a backup plan, or back up payment processor. I continue to use paypal because of its features.

You can set up a paypal business account for free, and if you need other services like a formal shopping cart or the ability to make sales via phone you upgrade to $20 a month plan. Paypal is international which is a plus. Paypal is like a bank in the since when the customer makes a purchase the money goes to your paypal account.You can then withdraw money from paypal to your bank account – the withdraw process takes up to 3 days. Paypal Merchants can also apply for a debit card that works just like a credit card against your paypal balance, with a 1% cash back reward system. You can also ship easily from your paypal account.

I absolutely love Google checkout. Google checkout is straight forward with the cheapest rates. Money collected via Google Checkout is deposited directly into your bank account. The downfalls with Google is that they are primarily USA based, and do not have any shipping options in their back office.

I touched on it earlier , but I want to clarify something about paypal and Google checkout. They both secure credit card information so you do not have to. Merchants never see the credit card number. You are just notified that you have been paid and they address you should ship the order to.

Zero Interest Credit Cards and Understanding them

Understanding Zero Interest Credit Cards

By Mark Cross

The problem of credit card debt looms large over the heads of many individuals. That is because of a combination of choosing the wrong credit card, spending indiscriminately and not exercising financial prudence in settling the credit card debt on time leading to huge interest liabilities.

People who are faced with such a dilemma will do well to opt for a credit card which is of the zero interest variety. These type of cards provide an opportunity to control your debt and ensure that you are not faced with a problem that you will find difficult to handle when it comes to settling the debt.

There are a number of options when it comes to such cards and given below are some tips to choose from among them.

a) Understand your purpose for a credit card

It is very important for you to first understand clearly your need for a credit card and only then make an application. Many people use new cards for balance transfer so that they escape the high interest levied by the card company of their old card and with zero interest on the new card; they are able to buy some time. Some individuals apply for new cards purely for fresh purchases they wish to make. You need to be very clear that if you are applying for balance transfer purposes, then desist using the card for new purchases.

b) The attractive initial offer

Many card companies introduce their card with attractive offers spanning a period of between six months to a year and this is the period where you do not have to pay any interest on the card transactions. If you are looking for one such card, then take care to choose one with a long period of such an offer so that you get valuable time. Also understand the interest implications at the end of the introductory offer.

c) The annual fee factor

Many companies also bring out offers of either providing a discounted annual fee or waiving it off totally. These companies are typically those who will charge you a hefty interest rate on pending dues and will not be able to offer you any leeway on it. Companies offering zero interest cards are not in a position to offer any waiver or discount on the annual fees since that is not their business model and they will not be able to sustain a profitable enterprise with such offers. In such cases, you must check around to see which company is in a position to offer you the best and reduced annual fees to enable you to get the benefit. After all, if you are going to stick to this company, then this is one type of recurring expense which you need to factor in and ensure you get the best deal.

Do you seek guidance in matters of payment protection insurance or unfair credit card charges? Look no further. Simplicityclaims.co.uk will help you.

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Credit Card Debt Settlement

Credit Card Debt Settlement

Unfortunately, I have had a previous experience with a credit card debt settlement company and I have some insights you may be interested in. I would firstly like to take a minute to describe how the credit card debt settlement process works. Please be advised that these companies like to sugar coat everything- so be sure to write down a list of questions, and get a thorough grasp of what you are getting into.

The system requires you to go into default on your unsecured credit card bills (that means you do not pay your bills). The credit card debt settlement company will require you to pay them either a flat fee or a fee determined by a percentage of how much debt you have. You must pay these fees up front, (they do not accept Credit cards, lol) way before they even begin handling your case.

You will make  (non refundable) monthly payments ( usually less than you paid monthly for your credit card minimums). The first several payments will be pocketed by the debt settlement company, until they have thier fee collected. Then the payments will be saved up by the debt settlement company on your  behalf  , for the purpose of collecting larger sums of money, to offer debtors settlements on your accounts.

Remember, througout the entire process you are not paying any of  your bills. Creditors will call you and harass you, they will call your place of employment,  your family, and anyone else they possibly can and tell everyone you are in default with your payments. Yes this is illegal but they do it anyways, and your credit card debt settlement company will tell you to tell the creditors to call them instead, but they don’t, they continue to call you. Your debt will be sold several times over, each time with a less scrupulous collector.  In my experience they threatened me with suing, confiscating things, and down right attacked me and my moral ethics.

As I was going through this process I was told by an outside source that whatever debt I was relieved would considered a gift by the IRS, and thus be counted as income, and I would have to pay taxes on this amount of money as if I earned it at a job ( to the tune of about 40% payback to the government). Please also remember when your not paying your bills, late fees, and interest charges accrue quickly ( My dept wound up tripling).

This is when I decided to see an attorney about bankruptcy procedures. I will have you know that all of the payments beyond my fee to the credit card debt  settlement company was non refundable. They would not give me back a penny after I changed my mind.

It is in my opinion that one should contact an attorney for a free consultation before pursuing any debt settlement, counseling, or non profit organizations for debt relief. For $750 I was able to erase all my debt and not have to pay the IRS anything where as I paid a debt settlement company over $2000 and did not get a thing except more in debt.

Debt settling and bankruptcy have the same adverse effects on your credit rating. With  either, if you have any credit cards that is not in default, it would be wise to hold on to those accounts throughout proceedings ( do not use them). These cards will help boost your chances of recovering your credit scores in the future.

Secured Small Business Credit Card

Secured Small Business Credit Card

The web is one place where all transactions need to happen on credit cards. It is because of these that maximum websites trying to sell their product has introduced the credit card payment option. Small business owners may find it difficult to introduce the option of credit card payment, but unless they do so there is very little chance they can enlarge their customer base on the web. The money transaction is complete within 7 days at the most. Sometimes small business owners take the help of third party processors who handle the complete processing of these businesses. This is always a good option for small business holders since they are likely not to have much cash flow at all times. The other option available is to opt for secured small business credit cards. However, these cards involve quite a high processing fee such as about $200 for a small volume account (standard fee schedule) and about $20 as monthly processing fee.

The relevant questions regarding secured small business credit cards are those ranging from what the thing is, how it helps expanding business and its differences from a regular credit card. These questions are no doubt, very pertinent ones, which you absolutely need to know all about before you apply for a business credit card. Hopefully this article will answer all of these questions.

Secured small business credit cards are those that allow the card holder credit against assets, both personal and business. The reasons why business men might have to choose it are: firstly, the record of the particular small business in question may not be all that good. So lenders, dealers and suppliers otherwise reluctant to allow credit to this particular business, shall feel secured to allow the same. Secondly, the business might be new and unable to establish a credit of its own by now. This phenomenon is too common now. Small business, with the help of secured small business credit cards would be able to develop a relationship of faith and confidence with the lender and increase its profit margins in business arena to accumulate capital. The cards help you in getting rid of any preexisting debts that one might have had, expanding your business, increasing your stock of inventories, etc.

The improvement of credit ratings or scores is a big advantage that secured small business credit cards can offer. Companies facing serious financial crisis including crucial loan shortages and bankruptcies can be successfully rehabilitated through the credit card. Suppliers and vendors are always more wiling to allow a business credit once they have to themselves the assurance of a secured credit card.

Secured small business credit cards offer the owner many advantages like credit rating improvement and facilitate trust between the proprietors and lenders, much of which has been dealt earlier in the article. It also helps a faltering business to regain much of its past goodwill in course of its career of transacting in the market. So secured small business credit cards are instrumental in restoring small businesses to their very best of functioning condition and improve them.

Secured Business Credit Card

Among the variety of business credit cards available there are types of differing and multifarious natures. While certain credit cards can be availed against different kinds of asset securities, called secured business credit card other types can be without any security against them. The particular conditions involved with a certain credit card is crucial in case of a certain business transaction as these terms and conditions come into play in all such cases. Early repayment penalties are one such clause you need to notice particularly as even though you could be successfully paying off your credit, it could result in an additional penalty.

Secured business credit cards may be defined as such a credit card that holds certain collateral or more than one collateral security against itself. The nature of these securities may vary and may include even the business itself or other kinds of asset or assets which the proprietor or several business partners may own. Any failure regarding credit repayment on part of the cardholder therefore is liable to be met with seizure of the collateral securities or assets against which the card had been taken. These assets may include even very important properties such as one’s home or any piece of real estate. Make sure therefore that you have the means to pay off your credit before you apply for a secured business credit card.

One of the most crucial factors that attract proprietors to own a card is the low rates of interest that come with it. Now, this does not mean that these cards could be had really at much less expenses. The reasons for the low rates are clear-since the card is for business, the card owner always has to go through the daily grind of profit and loss. Under such cases, it becomes particularly difficult for him to pay higher rates of interest for the same. Secondly, there is always the additional chance that the card owner fails to pay of the credit incurred within time. In such cases, appropriate legal action including seizure of assets always brings enough gain to the company in question.

Secured business credit cards also involve extra costs for application and processing fees. These are implemented with the objective to cover the administrative costs of the process, in which the lending company may have to carry out credit or reference checks. This fee however is variable and depends upon the particular lender involved in the case. Apart from these, secured business credit cards also come with annual fees which ordinary credit card holders do not have to bear.

These credit cards have numerous business advantages though. Even if the business lacks a healthy overall credit rating or score, these credit cards allow the business access to various transactions using them. Loan defaults and company bankruptcies can be met through use of these credit cards. When a business continues to run short of funds, vendors and suppliers are unwilling to provide further supplies. If they are provided with an assurance of credit through the credit card, they can continue their supply.

Finally secured business credit cards also help companies running from poor credit ratings to improve their credit scores through using them. If the proprietor can afford to pay minimum interests in the long run, these credit cards help in turning over a business and restore its lost goodwill.

Corporate Business Credit Card

A corporate business credit card is an absolutely indispensable part of good businessman-ship. You must have heard plenty of stories regarding employees who cheat their own company. Many of them have effectively displaced ten to hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars, undetected by the company through the use of highly complicated and illegal expenses that are often high-priced or simply through pure fraud.

It’s true that sometimes, big corporations do not even realize the discrepancy. But some smaller corporations may get ruined due to such scams. You might possess a multi-billionaire company where the dislocation a few hundred thousand dollars will not matter much. But all the same, you should make it clear to your employees that you will not tolerate this as triviality and will take severe punitive measure if necessary. Reluctance on your part will be a poor business practice.

So, how is the corporate business credit card, related to this? Actually, according to many financial experts and investigators most frauds are done through operating costs and other monetary dealings. Hence, operating through a corporate business credit card helps to supervise the expenditures made in the name of the company and is an extremely effective bookkeeping device.

Irrespective of whether your company is large, medium or small, keeping track of each and every detail of all the monetary operation is a real difficult task. Any good businessman or business-owner knows that keeping a meticulous account of all the expenses is indispensable for running a company and to be able to have a clear-cut idea about his business’s ups and downs.

A corporate business credit card is also particularly useful for traveling employees who might need to urgently buy something while on a business tour. Instead of taking the risk of carrying large amounts of cash everywhere or waiting for the sanction of additional grant for the purchase, a corporate business credit card permits a traveling employee to make the required purchases and clear their bills later.

Corporate business credit card is more or less common and can be inspected and examined online. Such packages come with monetary incentives including money back security. Some packages also contain the facility of airline miles allowing more miles to be inserted whenever you use the corporate business credit card to make purchases. In fact, some of these credit cards already have miles on them when they are bought.

A business corporate credit card also provides much higher credit values than ordinary credit cards. They also offer many more concessions and opportunities. E.g. some credit card companies are associates with collaborator restaurants, airlines and travel agents. If you make any transaction with these establishments you may easily get reductions or even gifts. Corporate business credit card companies are also often connected with office supply providers and bookstores where your employees can obtain goods at discounted charges.

However, a corporate business credit card with its high credit value can be misused if you are careless. So, you should adopt strict rules and regulations for your employees to limit the purchases made using the card. Although a little difficult to keep, a business corporate credit card can bring your company huge rewards. If you consider that your company will profit from the use of these credit cards, get in touch with your credit card company and check their corporate business credit card packages. If you are confident about the rewards that the credit card has on offer and if your employees know how to use it judiciously, then do for it, and enjoy maximized profit.

Unsecured Business Credit Cards

Unsecured business credit cards allow you to get a card without providing any testimony of your bank balance or financial whereabouts. These cards do not come with the clause of keeping minimum amount of balance in your account before using the card. It was meant to be an exceptional case backup procedure but the craze has made it a regular need. Are you out of cash? Don’t worry! Get your card, buy, you can clear the money later.

Are you looking for such an offer? Well, you don’t need to; because it will come to you. The credit card companies are sending application forms nowadays, all you need to is fill it up and return it to the company. There are companies who even get it done for you over the telephone! Now, applying for unsecured business credit cards is very easy and convenient!

It is possible that if you do not have credit then you may not be loaded with Credit Card Junk mails in your email box. However, you can always log on to the company websites or simply search it through the search engines. These may prove to be your best option for your Unsecured business credit card. If you make a tally of all the companies then you can very easily expect to land in with the best. As long as you earn money, the paying should not be a problem. In the beginning your credits limit maybe low but with the passage of time you will be earning a good amount.

There is something that you should be aware of; if a borrower fails to pay the loan then he suffers Bad credit history. A message will be circulated to nearby banks notifying the people having Bad Credit History. Thus people with bad credit history have a tough time in getting loans in future. The lending companies do not trust the person with such a history as they are suspicious, whether they will have their money back from that particular person. People who want to flourish in business and may have suffered a Bad Credit history once, find it pretty difficult to move further in the business.

To deal with this kind of problems the person may shift to Unsecured business credit cards. It allows the businessmen to spend money even if they have a bad credit. It also lets the borrower take loan against minimum or no security of property or bank accounts. This is beneficial to everybody, whether they have a farmhouse in the country or house of his own or nothing at all! In these cases there is no need for property evaluation.

You will always find lenders who would lend you money even if you have Bad Credit. Financial companies often direct the borrowers to authentic lenders for the borrowers to take loan. If you go online then you have a better option of comparing and go for the best. The system of Unsecured business credit cards will take your finance to a new level, it may come as a boon to save your financial condition from a previous fall.