4 Types of Cards for 4 Types of People

There are 4 types of cards that you can use to make purchases. They are charge cards, credit cards, debit cards, and prepaid cards. Each type of card is specially catered to different people.


Charge Card: This type of card has no credit limit and you have to pay the amount fully when the statement arrives. It is for the rich and famous. They have spending power beyond the credit limit and they are capable of settling the amount fully upon receiving the monthly statements. Their lifestyle demands a card that they can spend freely and it is only limited by their spending power as demonstrated by their spending pattern. American Express is such a card.

Credit card: People who can exercise self–restrained will find this type of card useful. They don’t do impulse buying and they limit their purchases to what they need and not what they want. They pay promptly and fully and not just pay the minimum amount. They incur no late charges and finance charges. Visa and MasterCard fall into this category

Debit card: This type of card is suitable for young graduates who have secured their first job with decent pay and they want to have their first experience of using a credit card. The card is linked to their current or savings account so they will not overspend. They don’t run the risk of building up debt. You can’t use the card when your fund is exhausted. Visa and MasterCard are the issuers for this type of card.

Prepaid card: This type of card is for people who are budget conscious. They load the card with a specific amount for specific purposes and they spend accordingly. There is no overspending and there is no debt. You can get this type of card which is also issued by Visa and MasterCard.


Choose an appropriate card to suit your current lifestyle.

Credit Cards and the Malaysian Budget 2010

With effect from January 1, 2010, principal cardholders and supplementary cardholders of credit cards and charge cards will have to pay an annual service tax of RM50/- per card and RM25/= per card respectively. More and more people are using credit cards in Malaysia. The number of credit cards in circulation has increased from two million in 1997 to eleven million in August this year. This does not include 285,000 charge cards in use. Service tax of RM50/= was previously imposed with effect from January 1, 1997, and abolished on April 1, 2001. The latest service tax is to promote careful spending among Malaysians.

Credit card transactions growth dipped to 6 percent to RM38.9 billion in the first seven months of the year, compared with an 18.2 percent increase in the same period last year,

Individuals with credit card related debts seeking the services of the central bank’s Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency increased by 38.6 percent to 7492 from a 75.9 percent growth to 5406 in the same seven-month period last year. These accounted for 74 percent of total cases under the Debt Management Programme.

For those people who are holding 5 or 6 cards, it means an extra expense of RM250/= to RM300/=.just to keep the cards. It is time for them to reduce their cards to not more than two. Too many cards mean too much temptation to overspend and too many cheques to issue to settle debts from too many banks.

Credit Card is a Lucrative Business

Financial institutions make money from cardholders all the way from the moment they receive their cards until the day they close their accounts. Furthermore, banks charge merchants a fee for accepting credit cards as payments for each and every credit card transaction.

Let’s take a look at all the credit card charges imposed on cardholders:


1. Annual fee: An annual fee of around RM150 is charged to your card every year.

2. Cash advance fees: 5% of the amount drawn, subject to a minimum of RM15/=

3. Late payment charge: 1% of the total outstanding amount, subject to a minimum of RM5/= and a maximum of RM75/=

4. Returned cheque fee: RM50/=

5. Finance charge: Finance charge for cash transaction is 1.5% per month or 18% per year. The finance charge for outstanding amount is between 13.5% and 17.5% per annum.

6. Replacement card: RM10/= for the first time and RM50/= for every subsequent replacement

7. Request for card statement: RM5/= per monthly statement

8. Request for sales draft: RM15/= per copy

9. PLUS/CIRRUS ATM withdrawal: RM10/= for each cash withdrawal.

10. PLUS.CIRRUS account enquiry: RM2/= for each transaction

11. Conversion for overseas transactions: The bank will impose a 1% administrative fee.

12. Closing of account: RM10/= upon closure of credit card account with credit balances.


As for merchants who have signed up to accept credit cards as payment they are charged a merchant fee or a discount fee of around 2% for every sale transaction. A merchant with a monthly sales volume of, say, one million, a bank will deduct RM20, 000/ =.and remit the balance of 980,000/= to the merchant. Can you imagine the amount of fees banks can collect from retail chains like Giant, Carrefour, and Tesco every day?

In order to avoid all these charges, as a cardholder, you have to make sure that you make payment promptly and fully every month and you have to take care not to issue a bounced cheque.

5 Tips to Choose a Credit Card

All the banks are going after you to sign up for one or more of their credit cards. How do you determine which one is best for you? Consider the following 5 points to make up your mind:

1. Free For Life: Look for a card without charging annual fees. CIMB Petronas MasterCard is such a card. You can save around RM100/= to RM200/= per year.

2. Low-interest rate: Check around to determine which card charges the lowest rate in interest on outstanding amount. This is not an important consideration when you pay credit card bills fully on time.

3. Rewards or cashback: You have to decide which one is your preference. Would you like to accumulate points to redeem for goods or you prefer to pay less with cashback or rebate? For me, I would like to pay less at the end of the month to reduce my expenses and cash outflow.

4. Gas, airline miles, or grocery card: It all depends on which one you use the most. When you are always on the road, get the CIMB Petronas MasterCard. When you do a lot of grocery purchases get the Giant-Citibank Credit Card You pay less when you use both cards for your petrol at Petronas and sundry purchases at Giant. If you are a frequent flyer you may wish to consider Air Asia Citibank Card and accumulate points and fly for free later.

5. Customer satisfaction: According to J.D. Power and Associates’ report about 2009 Customer Satisfaction With Credit Cards, they have identified the six key factors of interaction, fees and rate, billing and payment process, rewards, benefits and services, and problem resolution. American Express ranks the highest among credit card issuers for a third consecutive year. Get a card with a financial institution that gives you the most customer satisfaction.

When you have a card, use it wisely. A credit card is for convenience and savings and not for credit. Pay fully and promptly every month to stay out of credit card debt

7 Tips to Prevent Identity Theft

According to Wikipedia identity theft is a term used to refer to fraud that involves someone pretending to be someone else in order to steal money or get other benefits. The term is relatively new and is actually a misnomer, since it is not inherently possible to steal an identity, only to use it. The person whose identity is used can suffer various consequences when he or she is held responsible for the perpetrator's actions.

How do you prevent identity theft? Here are the top tips:

1. Your expired credit cards: Destroy not only your card but the chip as well. Cut your cards into pieces so that nobody can pick up any clues by rummaging through your trash.

2. Review your monthly statements: Check your monthly statement to ensure that all charges tally with your records. Notify the bank when you don’t receive your monthly bank or credit card statements.

3. Use your credit cards with care: Make it a habit that transactions are done in your presence; this is to avoid fraudulent uses of your cards.

4. Personal information: Do not give away personal information over the phone easily especially those relating to your credit cards and passwords.

5. Shop online with care: Shop only at secure sites, such as https:// with an ‘S’.

6. Check your credit status: Get your free credit reports online from Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian or CTOS in Malaysia.

7. Keep your personal documents in a safe place: Your personal identification card can be subjected to fraudulent uses if lost. Your lost card can be used to obtain a bank loan by someone else and the crook allows the loan to default. Eventually, you are declared bankrupt without your knowledge. That is why you need to check your credit status from time to time.

Handle your credit cards and personal identification card with care to avoid needless identity theft.

Credit.com – A Website for Financial Products and More

Credit Cards

Credit.com, a company based in San Francisco. CA. was established in 1995 serving as an educator, advocate, and facilitator. It provides information about money, credit, loan, and more. Here are the services provided by Credit.com

Credit cards: You can get your credit cards by credit score or based on rewards such as airline miles and reward points. You can also choose between cash cards and gas cards or prepaid cards. There are also secured cards, business cards, and student cards.

Credit scores and reports: You can have a free trial of 3 credit reports and 3 credit scores from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion

Online banking and savings: You can compare savings rates from leading financial institutions and open an account online

Loans: You can also shop for personal, emergency, auto, home, or student loans here.

Debt help: Credit.com offers free debt consultation. They also offer assistance in tax and bankruptcy issues.

Knowledge and education: There is a credit learning center and you can get answers from the credit, real estate, lending, and legal experts. You can find useful articles on their blog about the financial world and participate in their forum

Credit.com is the place to be enlightened and gain knowledge about financial products before you make a decision for the most suitable product for you.

Financial Freedom - 7 Successful Steps

In order to achieve financial freedom, you need to, first of all, find out your current situation. When you are in debt especially credit card debts you need to settle those debts before you can start saving because the interest from the savings is very much less than the interest charged to your credit card's outstanding balance. Let’s look at the steps to be taken to gain financial independence:

1. The root of the problem: You can start paying off your debts especially your credit card debts but if you continue to adopt a lavish spending lifestyle, there will be no end to it. Find out if you are spending on what you need or what you want. Stop buying unnecessary items and be happy with what you have. You are one step nearer to reach your money goals when the problems are identified and you put a stop to it. If you are unable to give up your impulsive spending habit by using credit cards, the best thing to do is to cancel all the credit cards.

2. Allocation: Allocate an amount for essential items every month to cover food, petrol, children's education, housing loan, and utility bills. Stop spending any more on what you want.

3. Debt settlement arrangement: Look at all the credit card outstanding amount and other debts and use whatever money that is left to reduce your debts. Start by settling the debt with the highest interest rate. Select to settle a smaller outstanding amount from your debts. By doing so it gives you relief that you have settled one of your debts and give you the motivation to settle the rest.

4. Add new sources of income: You can do it right at home like I do. I write articles and I collect earnings from AdSense, though the amount is small. Two points to note here. With the additional income you can pay off your debts faster and you can set aside an amount for emergency from the extra cash.

5. Pay yourself first: When you are out of debt you can now put aside an amount every month. If you can’t do it all by yourself then you take up an investment-linked insurance policy to force yourself to save.

6. Time is an important factor in savings: The wonder of compound interest will help you to make your savings grow. The more you can save and the sooner you start the easier it is to reach your saving goals.

7. Invest your savings: When you have accumulated a substantial amount you can start looking for investment channels. This is an area that you need to be careful or else your precious savings will vanish in the air. Traditionally, you can invest in blue chips, unit trusts, and properties in selected locations.

Summary

First of all, you need to identify your financial problems and you put a stop to them. Is it unnecessary spending on your credit cards or is it your gambling habits? Spending on what you want will lead to more debts. Always set aside an amount to cover monthly expenses and pay off your debts with the balance. At this juncture, you can't start saving yet. The interest from your debt is very much higher than the interest you can earn from your savings. Pay the highest interest debt first but chose a debt with a smaller amount. You will get a little relief when one of the debts is settled. Try to supplement your income to reduce your debts faster and start earlier to save. When you are unable to discipline yourself to save, arrange with the bank for a standing order to pay monthly for, say, an investment-link insurance policy, When you have substantial savings you can look for investment avenues to give you a better ROI (return on investment). You gain financial freedom by taking these steps diligently.

Source: Financial Freedom- 7 Successful Steps