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May 1, 2010
In a new development from retailers, especially gas stations and convenience stores, are postings that discourage you from swiping your credit cards.
The retailers make varying profits with the profit being very minimal on small purchases. The “swipe fees” they incur each time they swipe the card is sometimes more that the amount they earn. To gain respite from such a situation, they are posting the “$5 minimum for credit” sign which is getting more common.
This move is not encouraged by credit card companies since they say that transaction minimums make consumers shell out more amount at checkout counters.
Credit specialist Laurie Zoock expressed his view on the situation saying “The fees can be enormous to shop owner”. He emphasized, “ They don’t want you to make small purchases with a credit card”.
While retailers vent out their anguish saying the hidden charges that they are charged in turn get cascaded to the consumers who have to bear the brunt of it, credit card companies are expressing their helplessness on the situation claiming that it is the minimum they can charge for the services they are providing.
Retailers receive tremendous benefits from accepting electronic payments”, claimed VISA in one of its statements.”In a recent survey..by a 2-to-1 margin, consumers said retailers should pay the cost of accepting credit and debit cards.”
The National Retail Federation (NRF) made a startling revelation that on an average, US citizens pay $400 a year as interchange fees. These are actually passed down to the consumers from the retailers.
“It’s probably the largest fee consumers have heard of”, echoed Mallory Duncan of NRF commenting about the situation. “Last year, many merchants discovered the credit card companies made more money off their business than the merchant was.”
St Petersburg business owner Liz Armas said “The fees are enormous. It’s like having another rent”
Armas is one of those exceptions who does not pass on the fees on to her customers, but she finds no relief from the high interchange fees that is forced on her by the credit card companies.
Other than the 2-3 percent of every sale, the retailers claim that they have to pay additional fees which will seem like a bigger amount when sales are small. While bigger retailers get the advantage of negotiating good credit contracts, small retailers say they lack the flexibility to do so.
Here are a few tips to get your credit score up to muster.
Like any problem, to begin fixing your credit card debt problem, you first need to determine how big the problem is. Unfortunately, some people are not very clear about the details of their credit card debt. Understandably, some people find rummaging through all the fine print and the mathematical confusion that credit card bills carry to be too daunting. However, you will never truly understand why your monthly payments are as high as they are unless you understand the details of your credit card.
The mortgage problem is at the forefront of the economic concerns that the Obama administration is trying to solve. Early last March, President Obama launched the foreclosure prevention program.
The economic recession, the rise of unemployment, and the fall of the property markets have hit the country quite hard. For the average American, the reality has been rising loan rates, the risk of losing homes, and the threat of unemployment. As a result, every American has had to rethink the way they spend their earnings.
Recently, real estate website Zillow.com released figures from a study they made which indicate that the figure of homeowners currently paying higher debt mortgages than the worth of their homes at 20%. That roughly estimates to 20 million U.S. home owners.
Legislation aimed at regulating unfair billing practices within the credit card industry have dominated the news for the past few weeks. While this is good news for consumers who are currently struggling to keep their accounts in good standing, there is another industry that is preying on consumers who have already fallen behind on credit card payments. Various debt “relief” companies are sprouting up everywhere, making promises that few cash-strapped consumers can resist. This largely unregulated industry is now in the cross hairs of lawmakers seeking to provide consumers will some level of protection.
(NCFF) by Harris Interactive. One thousand consumers age 18 and over were contacted by telephone to answer various personal finance questions. Despite the fact that lending decisions are based on credit history and score, many consumers seem unaware or uninterested in staying up to date on the information reported on their credit report. The results of this survey indicate 64 percent of respondents have not ordered their free credit report in the last 12 months. More than one-third of the people surveyed admit they do not know their credit score. Reviewing your credit report is essential in spotting inaccurate reports which may cause your score to drop or warning signs of identity theft.
alongside technology and suddenly identity theft can involve a stolen Social Security number used for filing false medical claims or applying for mortgages. When you swipe your card at the ATM, gas pump, or in the RedBox for your next video rental, how do you know there isn’t a fake front added to the swiper – capturing your credit card number and pin?
amount of defaults. These executives conclude that what they are doing will help to keep them in business.
card issuers including American Express Co. and Bank of America Corp. to review credit-card policies for fees and interest rate limits, the Canadian government Prime Minister Stephen Harper is responding to consumer groups and lawmakers who insist the banks should have lower rates, and more information for consumers for understanding how the credit cards work. Namely, consumers should know clearly what their interest rates are, and not be faced with interest rate increases for unknown reasons.
there was nothing they could do to help!” William Brewer of Oklahoma says.
Of course, there are two groups of people in the category of non-credit card users: people who don’t have credit cards because they don’t want them; and those who just can’t get credit cards because they have bad credit, or due to their immigration status, or other reasons.