August 25th, 2009 | Posted in Small Business Credit Card
Business Credit Card Find the Perfect one for Your Business
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 »
July 5th, 2009 | Posted in Secure Credit Card, Small 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.
May 31st, 2009 | Posted in Credit Card Companies
Being a Credit Card topic researcher, I noticed I high trend in searches related to “HSBC Credit Cards” and “Orchard Bank Credit Cards”. So I went to their website and checked out their credit card offers, nothing special there. I also checked google for news on the subjects at hand, nothing there. It was bugging me why all of sudden a 400% increase in searches for this semi Okay credit card. I finally figured it out people were searching for these credit cards to file complaints. Here is some of the stuff I found out about these Credit cards from Hell.
* Name variations Orchard Bank, HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation), Household Bank. This bank is a worldwide corporation established in 86 countries.
* Collection notices to people whom never even applied for Credit Cards
* Jacking up interest rates without prior notifications
* Calling customers at home and work 10-12 times a day, about payments only a couple days late
* People mailing in payments 2 weeks in advance, and still getting late fees, on top of interest hikes, and damage to credit reports.
* It seams there is also a $61 fee to close an account paid in full
*Sending out statements 2 days before due date
* Sales calls from people with foreign accents for insurance policies, that you get charged for whether you want them or not, you wind up getting billed, without ever seeing documents or notices regarding the existence of such policies.
*This is the worst yet, lowering credit lines of people carrying balances making the balance over the limit, then accruing over the limit charges, jacking up interest rates, and finally sending bad reports to credit report agencies.
Most people will say this is due to the credit card reform bill coming up in 2010, but from I can tell reports like these about HSBC or whatever they want to call themselves, have been going on for years. I think that they recently have gone a little wackier due to the reform scare.
I would like to note that this not happening to a small amount of HSBC consumers but the majority.
Proof that I am not exaggerating about “HSBC Credit Cards aka Orchard Bank Credit Cards being straight from Hell”
Checkout some of these resources
This consumer was so urked about treatment from HSBC, he created a whole website about how they suck complete with a forum. There is also great information about where to complain.
There are currently 760 complaints filed under HSBC, 240 More Under Household Bank, another 280 complaints under Orchard Bank
A consumers account of a phone call with HSBC regarding rates jacked to 30%
There are yet another 1000 complaints about HSBC.
June 1st 2009 a couple more updates
Beneficial Bank is also owned by HSBC, Although their main Beneficial website is now closed. Consumer Affairs are getting recent complaints about Beneficial Bank / HSBC
May 26th, 2009 | Posted in Money Back Credit Card
Finding the best rebate credit card could save you a lot of money. There are several things to consider when deciding on the right rebate card. First of all, consider what you spend now on your credit card. Do you use your credit card now for groceries, gas, fast food, travel? Knowing what you spend money on can help you lean towards a better choice of rebate cards.
Here is some of the attributes of rebate cards you need to consider by looking at the fine print.
*Tiered rebates. You have to charge up a certain balance amount in order to receive to maximum rebates.
*How are your rebates are paid? Do you get a yearly check?; Is your account credited monthly?; Is the rebate only good on gas, or a certain stores?; Do they direct deposit it to your bank account?
* Caps- Is there a monthly or yearly caps on rebates allowed?
* Above 1% earnings. I know that discover offers 5% rebates on different things every month, you have to check their website frequently to see what the current monthly offer is, and the dates they are valid. Some months 5% on travel, some months 5% on gas and car repair, Some months groceries, etc.
My picks for the best cash back Rebate Credit Card
Undoubtedly the best rebate credit card just make sure to check the website often to maximize your cash back. You can also exchange your rebates at certain retailers and get double the cash back. The discover more is a tiered rebate earnings program. The first $1500 of charges you earn %.25, The next $1500 you earn .5%, over $3,000 you earn 1% or more
True Earnings® Card from Costco and American Express
This rebate credit card gives you rebates from the get go no minimum balances. The snag is that you must be a Costco member and rebates are in the form of a certificate redeemable at Costco only. If you have a Costco in your area this is unbeatable. Free Groceries.
