Money Saving Consumer Tip
If air travel is a fact of your life having and using a credit card that gives you air miles is a way to make your dollar work for you more than once. Airlines credit cards are not the only credit cards that allow you to accumulate air miles when you use the card to make purchases and the miles can be applied to any airlines. Airline specific credit cards often offer a large number of miles as a sign up bonus but they charge a slightly higher interest rate and have an annual renewal fee where others may not. Weighing your air miles usage against the cost is a task each individual has to do. Using that credit card for all the purchases you would normally pay cash for can easily add up to free airfare when it is time to fly. Paying the balance off every month is a critical component of this money saving plan. If you pay interest on the credit card balance it quickly becomes much less of a good deal. Writing the amount charged out of your checkbook when the charge is made is one way to keep from spending beyond your ability to pay the bill in full when the statement arrives.
Credit Card News
The end of September marks the end of American Express charging $2 per month on unused gift cards due to complaints from cardholders. At this time American Express is the only credit card company to all fees on universal gift cards after purchase. This change comes almost a year before the law prohibiting dormancy fees on gift cards goes into effect. Their good-will move will go into effect immediately and will also apply to previously purchased cards. American Express gift card sales exceed $1 billion annually.
Identity Theft On the Rise Through Cyber Attacks
If every stolen credit card and bank account number had been completely drained last year cybercriminals would have netted over $8 billion. Since dealing in stolen identity information is so lucrative the ranks of cybercriminals are expanding according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. These criminals are very sophisticated professionals that are using keystroke loggers, spyware, viruses, worms and Trojan horses to access personal computers as well as corporate databases to get information that they then sell on invitation only internet relay chat (IRC) boards. The number of new Internet security threats nearly tripled last year reaching 1.7 million. Bank account information and credit cards make up 51% of what is sold in the underground economy. Credit cards numbers are sold on the Internet Black Market in bulk for about 98 cents each. A complete identity goes for a mere $10. Being an educated internet user is a necessity today when shopping or banking online as antivirus software can not protect against every scenario used by identity thieves.
Coastal Credit Solutions, Inc. operates a financial market place that matches Consumers and Businesses with debt eliminating and/or alternative financing service providers. If you have over $5,000 personal or business credit card debt or are seeking small business financing, please call us 866-205-8370 for a FREE no obligation consultation.
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