FAQ about Credit Cards Help with Credit Card Choice

Thanks for addressing our customer support, Roxy. You can stop this junk mail flood. It will not take you much time and efforts and will not hurt your credit score. The source of your mailbox miseries is creditors' pre-approved lists with your name on them. As a rule, limited and no credit owners become victims of lenders' hyperattention. You can get rid of those offers by contacting credit bureaus. Ask them to remove your name from creditors' pre-approved lists. For that you can just call 1-888-5-opt-out (1-888-567-8688) and asked your name to be removed. Or you can log on to www.optoutprescreen.com and fill out a special form. You will need to leave your name, address and social security number. Once you address credit bureaus with this kind of request, and they take the necessary measures, still this doesn't mean that the next day your mailbox will be empty. But the amount of junk mail will gradually reduce and there will be less work for your trash can.

When a couple has a joint credit card account, both are responsible for regular monthly payments, no matter who made the charge. Thus, if one of you defaults, the other suffers from a negative record in his/her credit report and a credit score drop. Equally, when both of you make regular payments and never exceed the limit, you build a good credit history and a solid score. That is why a joint credit card account can be a very useful thing for a spouse looking to boost his/her payment records or start a credit history. But it might be as much hurting in the hands of irresponsible spouse. If you think your husband will keep on defaulting on the account, you’d better take your name off it and open your own credit line for which only you will be responsible.

If you have had an experience of a missed or late payment on your Chase card, you should be twice as careful and disciplined with a balance transfer credit card because another single mistake will boost your 0% intro APR on balance transfers on just low ongoing APR to a sky-high amount and you are more likely to end up with a new debt rather than rid of the old one. Another pitfall is your determination to make purchases on a balance transfer credit card. Well, while you do get the opportunity to earn rewards, you also run the risk of defaulting on your bill. If you do, there will be already two debts on your balance transfer credit card, instead of no. for your credit score we advise you to apply for one of American Express or Citibank credit cards, both of which are for good credit history and offer balance transfer services.

Ne'Dedra, it depends on how you will apply and manage it. I will give you a couple of tips that will help you to make the effect produced on your credit score positive. The first thing you should do is to find out what your credit score is. You can do it through ordering your credit report from any of the three major US credit bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion and Experian). You can do it for free once a year (once at every agency). After you learn the type of your credit score, study the supply of deals for your rating and choose the one that meets your demands and spending habits. Apply for this offer. You can easily do it online. You will just need to fill out an application form and submit it. Avoid applying for several deals at once. Most banks and credit companies get suspicious about it and this can drop your credit score. Especially, if you get several denials. As you start using your card, manage it wisely. Make payments on time, try not to max it out, keep your balances low. This will improve your credit score. If you do not follow these simple rules, your credit rating will go down.

You have a legal right to request a free copy of your credit report once a year. A second or third time will cost you a certain amount, but sometimes, in case of suspicious activity on your account or intention to apply for a new credit card, you do need to get the copy. You can get a copy of your credit report at one or all the three national credit reporting agencies, or credit bureaus, which your credit card reports to. Read the details of your credit card to find which bureau your bank works with and make a request to in writing. If you get the copy from all the three bureaus, do not be puzzled at the slight difference of their data. Each of them has their own methods of fixing your credit information and calculating your credit score but basically the data is right. For the true numeric expression of your creditworthiness, apply for your FICO score at a special website. You are strongly advised to check your credit report at least once a year and contact your credit bureau in case you discover some inaccuracies or fraudulent activity in it.