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Thursday,
July 24
Posted
2 p.m.
Affinity cards
for small groups
Affinity credit cards -- those
are the ones that are allied
with alumni groups, sporting
organizations and so on -- have
been in circulation for the
past 20-odd years. Most of them
support giant groups, like Notre
Dame alumni or NASCAR or the
Sierra Club. (Last year the
rage was "green"
credit cards that offered
a variety of good works, like
offsetting carbon emissions
for every dollar you spend.)
Regardless of the cause, this
is a good way to raise money
for your organization because
the groups get a set amount
for every account that's activated
and then a percentage of every
transaction. But mostly it's
been limited to very large organizations.
Now there's a company called
CardPartners that is offering
affinity Visa cards to small
groups, like a church or a school,
or a smaller nonprofit, such
as Guide Dogs for the Blind,
which is one of their clients.
Yesterday I spoke with the
president of CardPartner, Adam
Elgar, who explained that using
the efficiencies of the Internet,
they can serve these smaller
groups easily. An organization
just goes to the CardPartner
Web site and fills out some
forms online. The site will
assist the organization with
marketing the cards to their
supporters or members. UMB,
a bank based in Kansas City,
handles the card issuing and
also does the credit checks
on card applicants.
The organizations aren't required
to sign up a minimum number
of cardholders. "For the
organizations, it's risk free,"
Elgard said.
Another difference with this
program is that the cardholders'
names and information don't
get shared with other companies.
"People respond to the
fact that they're in control
of who gets the mailing,"
he explained.
So finally smaller groups can
benefit from an affinity program.
Of course, terms and conditions
and interest rates are all set
by UMB, and from what I read
on one of the card applications
on their Web site, the terms
and conditions are pretty much
standard credit card rules --
fine print included.
Comments? Questions? E-mail
plastic_rap@bankrate.com.
Friday,
July 18
Posted
8 a.m.
Good credit
score can save money
The Consumer Federation of America
and Washington Mutual have released
a study
(conducted by Opinion Research
Corp.) that found that less
than 31 percent of Americans
understand what credit scores
mean. And they estimate that
if Americans raised their scores
by 30 points, the total annual
consumer savings in interest
payments would be $28 billion!
We here at Bankrate talk about
credit scores a lot because
we know the importance of them.
I like to say that the magic
words for a story to get lots
of clicks on the Web site are
"credit score" and
"credit cards." Bankrate
readers know how important they
are.
Bankrate offers many tools
and articles to help people
raise their credit scores. First,
we've got a tool that estimates
FICO scores. If you're going
out to buy a car or are applying
for a new credit card, you should
know your FICO range so you
can negotiate the interest rate
you'll pay.
And if you want to raise that
score 30 points -- and save
money -- start with these three
easy ways to improve it.
It's like losing weight: It
doesn't happen overnight. You
have to show the credit bureaus
that you have improved the way
you handle credit, that you
aren't a risky customer. That's
what the credit score really
tells a lender.
If you start on your improvement
track now, though, by the time
the holiday shopping season rolls around,
you might have earned those
30 points and can ask for a
lower interest rate on your
credit cards. Go get 'em!
Comments? Questions? E-mail
plastic_rap@bankrate.com.
Friday,
June 20
Posted
2 p.m.
Gas stations
drop cards
Here's a petroleum-made product
that isn't being found at many
gas stations these days: credit
cards. I wrote last week about
many of the gas stations around
the Palm Beach, Fla., area offering
a lower price for cash so that
the station owners can avoid
paying the credit card interchange
fee, which is about 2 percent
of a sale. But the interchange
fee increases as the cost of
the purchase increases.
Today the Associated
Press is reporting the trend
of gas stations not accepting
credit cards because of the
high fees they have to pay.
The article quotes a spokesman
for the National Retail Federation,
a hard critic of the interchange
fees, making good sense:
"We have always contended
that it doesn't cost Visa
and MasterCard any more to
process a $1,000 transaction
than it does a $100 transaction,"
said J. Craig Shearman, vice
president of government affairs
at the retail federation.
Of course, MasterCard and Visa
counter that the benefits of
accepting credit cards are worth
the fee.
These days, though, if you
can shave off a few pennies
a gallon, you'll drive a little
farther to that station or fill
up your pockets with cash.
Comments? Questions? E-mail
plastic_rap@bankrate.com.
Wednesday,
June 18
Posted
4 p.m.
Card debt per
borrower dips
TransUnion, one of the three
major credit bureaus, reported
today that the national average
credit card debt per borrower
dipped 1.25 percent in the first
quarter of 2008, from the previous
quarter. They also found that
delinquencies have declined.
The average credit card debt
is now $1,673 per borrower;
it was $1,694 in the fourth
quarter of 2007. Still, that's
up from where it was a year
ago at the same time: In the
first quarter of 2007, the average
was $1,584.
The highest increases were
in Alaska, Hawaii and Alabama.
The District of Columbia had
the greatest drop in its average
credit card debt.
Delinquencies declined across
the states, with North Dakota's
delinquency rate dropping by
27.2 percent from the previous
quarter.
How come people are paying
down their credit cards? I'm
just guessing here: Perhaps
this is their only line of credit
left and they can't afford to
lose it. I don't think the government
stimulus checks were in our
hands by the end of the first
quarter. Who knows -- maybe
next quarter the pay-down rate
will be even higher, thanks
to Uncle Sam.
Comments? Questions? E-mail
plastic_rap@bankrate.com.
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