Finance Globe

Of all the financial-related things consumers are concerned about – making ends meet, saving for retirement, putting money away for kids’ college – the biggest worry is credit card debt, according to a survey from FICO, creator of the well-known credit score. Federal statistics, however, show that the amount of credit card debt has steadily increased throughout 2012, which brings some question about consumers’ financial priorities. TransUnion, one of the major credit bureaus, expects that credit...

If you’ve checked your credit reports – hopefully you have – then you know that a variety of accounts are reported to the credit bureaus each month. Credit reports include credit cards, mortgage (if you own a house), auto loan (if you’ve borrowed money to purchase a car), student loans, or possibly even debt collections. One of those types of accounts has a bigger impact on credit scores, which are based on credit report information. Do...

Placing a security freeze on your credit report is one of the ways you can reduce credit card fraud and identity theft. With a security freeze in place, businesses can’t check your credit report to approve credit-based applications. So, if a business isn’t able to assess your creditworthiness, most fraudulent applications will be turned down. Credit freezes, however, shouldn't be used across the board for everyone who wants to avoid identity theft. Unless you’re identity theft...

Using a credit card isn’t hard. Swipe your credit card at the cash register, walk away with your merchandise, and wait for the credit card issuer to tell you how much you owe. Making credit card purchases can feel great because you don’t have to give up your hard-earned cash, but your spending can get out of control if you don’t pay attention to your credit card purchases. Here are some examples of reckless credit card...

The South Carolina Department of Revenue suffered a massive data breach resulting in the theft of approximately 3.6 million social security numbers and 387,000 credit and debit card numbers. The majority of credit and debit card numbers were encrypted, but 16,000 of them were not. Even so, encryption isn’t foolproof. An intelligent hacker may be able to break the encryption. Worse, none of the social security numbers were encrypted. Anyone who has filed taxes in the...

Payday loan providers are known predators. The loans are generally easy to borrow, but difficult to repay. They’re attractive to many because no credit check is required. However, cash flow problems lead to some borrowers keeping the loans for several months and paying hundreds of dollars in interest. Despite warnings from government agencies and consumer groups, payday loan businesses are growing, even online. Online payday loans may attract borrowers who’ve maxed out the number of outstanding...

You can kill a good credit score in a matter of months. It’s easy. In fact, you don’t have to do anything because not doing something, specifically not paying your bills, is precisely what makes you lose a good credit rating. Once your good credit score is gone, getting back won’t be so easy or as quick. Think of it as growing your hair long again after getting a haircut. It takes just a short time...

Government agencies and consumer rights advocates have been speaking out against debt settlement for years and obviously with good reason. According to the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA), only one in 10 consumers actually end up debt-free after paying for debt settlement services. Debt settlement is a process where your creditors agree to accept a lower payment on your debt than what you actually owe. Once you’ve made the settlement payment, the creditor writes...

Reading about credit scores often can make you paranoid. You probably already know that credit scores are important for many of your financial moves – even those that don’t involve borrowing. Because your score is changing all the time, you might feel the need to check it all the time. However, keeping up with your credit score, especially your FICO score can get expensive and time-consuming. Instead of checking your credit score all the time, just...

In the world of finances, your credit report is one of the most important documents because it contains so much information about your financial habits. Your credit report is pulled from a database to which most, if not all, your creditors have reported data on your accounts. A business that pulls your credit report at a given time can tell: When you opened your first accountHow many accounts you’ve openedHow timely you’ve paid on those accountsHow...