Credit Newsletter
by Jon P.
The Basics of Credit
What is credit?
Credit is the agreement made between two parties where the borrower receives a certain amount of money and agrees to repay the lender in the near future. A person’s credit score is based on the borrower’s ability to repay the lender, keeping your utilization percentage under 30%, and paying your expenses or bills on time. You can obtain your credit report from the three credit bureaus known as Equifax, Experian, and Transunion.
What are the forms of credit?
There are many forms of credit. These different types include: student loans, credit cards (usually have an interest rate, or APR), non-revolving credit, revolving credit, secured credit, unsecured credit (personal loans), and short term loans.
What determines if someone gets credit and how much they get?
The creditworthiness of a person’s credit score is usually based on how well the repay the lender for the money they borrowed, how many credit card accounts the person has, and their ability to utilize multiple credit cards. An individual’s credit score will usually range from 300-850, with 300 being the least reliable person and 850 being the most reliable kind of person.
Credit Cards: What You Need to Know
What is a credit card?
Credit cards are cards used to used to pay for items on credit and using the bank’s money. Credit cards are usable anywhere you can swipe them, but there are some stores that only accept certain types of cards at their stores. Credit cards allow you to have enough money in your wallet without your wallet bulking up and becoming uncomfortable in your pocket.
What are the benefits and costs of using credit cards?
Although a credit card is usually a fairly good way to build yourself a stable credit score, depending on how you use this card, there are still quite a few costs when using credit cards. Some cards have an annual fee, which is a yearly fee you get for your credit card, and some cards have an APR, or interest rate, which is the fee an individual pays when borrowing money. Even though you have a credit cards can be useful, there is such a thing as a credit limit on them. If you go over this limit, you may be inclined to pay for penalty fees and over-the-limit fees.
Shopping for Credit
Primor Secured Visa Gold Card
- Annual Fee: $49
- APR: 9.99%
- Grace period: 25 days
Balance Transfer: NA
Cash Advances: a fixed 18.99% APR + 5% transaction fee
Late Payment: $29
- Returned Check: $29
0% APR for 6 months after purchase
A good length of time for the grace period
$0 Annual Fees
2% cashback at restaurants or gas stations up to $1,000 for every quarter
Get FICO scores every month that are easy to read online.
- You can freeze your card using an app.
Fairly high cash advance, and APR rates.
- No knowledge on return checks
Each link above has a bit of information on the card's general features, rewards, and etc. The Primor Secured Visa Gold Card is a fairly nice card if you're trying to build, or rebuild, your credit score.
Discover it Chrome for students
- Annual Fee: $0
- APR: 0 for 6 months, but the regular APR is around 13.24%-22.24% after the six months are up.
- Grace period: 23 days
Balance Transfer: 10.99% for 6 months, Fee 3%
Cash Advances: RATE 25.24% (V), fee 5% (min $10)
Late Payment: $35
- Returned Check: Not Available
Lower credit limits
Rewards
Protection
Tools
Freeze the Card
Easy Redemption
No sign-up bonus
Short-term introductory APR
Limited cashback on Gas and Restaurant Purchases
- Lack of Discover Acceptance
The Discover it Chrome for students is also a fairly reasonable card for one to have while they are a student. You can easily utilize the card's overall advantages and avoid the disadvantages. This is a great card for people who are just starting to obtain a credit score.
Smart Consumers: Don’t Fall Into the Credit Trap
As I’ve stated in the previous sections, to keep a good credit score, you have to pay your bills, and keep your utilization percentage below 30%. If you don’t oversee how you spend your money, then you could have problems on your credit card history which will stay on your credit report for seven years.
To help you find a suitable card for you, you have to make sure that the card will meet the requirements you have for it’s use. Another thing you can do is to only purchase items using credit when it’s an emergency, and avoid buying items you don’t need.
Works Cited
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Dharris846. "Quizlet QWait('dom',function(){document.getElementById('PrintLogo').setAttribute('src',"https://quizlet.com/a/i/global/logo_print.du83.png")});." Personal Finance Terms Flashcards. Quizlet, n.d. Web. 05 May 2016.
"The Different Types of Credit | Creditreport.com™." Credit Report CreditReportcom. ConsumerInfo.com, 25 Mar. 2015. Web. 05 May 2016.
"How Is a Credit Score Determined?" WiseGEEK. WiseGEEK, n.d. Web. 05 May 2016.
"How to Use Credit Cards Wisely." How to Use Credit Cards Wisely - College Spending. The College Board, n.d. Web. 05 May 2016.
Kaaveh3. "Quizlet QWait('dom',function(){document.getElementById('PrintLogo').setAttribute('src',"https://quizlet.com/a/i/global/logo_print.du83.png")});." Financial Literacy. Quizlet, n.d. Web. 05 May 2016.
Landes, Harlan. "Credit Card Basics: Everything You Should Know." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 11 June 2013. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.