With the rapid development in the financial world, the number of financial institutions has risen vastly. When there is a rise in a particular factor, it often leaves behind many drawbacks and same is the case with the financial industry.

Banking Frauds

Often we hear on the news about millions and billions of dollars of fraud which takes place in the banks because of the loop holes which allow people to make use of it. In order to tackle this problem, banks have now started providing text and email alerts. In order to subscribe for this service, you would have to sign up online on the website of your particular bank.

Using Email & Text Alerts

A survey showed that majority of the customers had said that they would sign up for the services but hardly a handful did. The reason behind this was the delay in the alerts which usually took place from the time the suspicious activity was suspected up till 48 hours. However, now Visa has resolved that issue and alerts are being sent in real time. Read the full story

Most of the credit card companies allow you to have access to cash advances as well. Cash advances allow the cardholders to withdraw cash out of ATMs in the same way as they would with a check card or ATM card. This is the reason why you’re given a pin number when you open a new credit card.

Difference Between Cash Advances and ATM’s

When you withdraw cash from an ATM, the amount is deducted from your bank account. On the other hand, cash advances are deducted from your credit line instead of your bank account, and carry costly fees and high APR.

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Getting free from credit card debt is a difficult task for many college students, but the good news is that there is a new piece of legislation that may help lighten this serious issue.

President Obama has signed the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act into law just a month ago. This Act is meant to reduce the fees associated with credit cards and put a limit on how high interest rates can go.

New Provision in Law For Students

Many people don’t know about it, but this law includes an additional provision that is meant to enhance the financial responsibility and help reduce debt among younger, college-age people.

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Paying taxes, and that too by going into debt may not sound appealing but can become the only choice when you are going through a tough time. The Internal Revenue Service has made it quite simple to pay your taxes by a simple whip of plastic. Just make sure you have a valid credit, debit or ATM card that’s got enough cash, and an Internet connection or a telephone.

Multiple Payment Choices

There are many intermediaries who handle the payments and accept all credit cards such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover, but charge a fee for it. This so-called “convenience fee” may be around $3.95 or it may be 2 to 2.5 percent of the tax which has to be paid. But these fees also change over the period of time so be careful and keep a check. The IRS recently changed its policy by making the fee for paying taxes by credit card deductible if you meet certain conditions.

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Boomerangs are L-shaped objects that return back to the person who throw them in any direction. Credit Cards are made of rigid and virtually indestructible plastics and hence they are a good candidate for the job of making boomerangs. A quick look at this Wikipedia Article will give you a fair idea of boomerang basics.

This is much easier for all of us if we can explain the process with images. so i have put up some before and after images of  a cute little boomerang made out of a stores card. It is more enjoyable when you do it with a valid card. expired credit cards are not that much fun to play with. leave them for your children to play with.

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When it comes to credit cards, American’s are least educated people around the world. Our knowledge about them comes mostly from friends and family or credit card sales people. After a long search on forums and blog comments I have come up with the list of 10 things that most of people should know about their credit cards and they don’t. It’s my contribution to help you learn more about your own credit card rights and providing you means and methods to protect them

1) Your Credit Card is Not Valid Till  You Sign it

There is a panel on the back of your card that says “Not Valid Unless Signed”. A large number of people ignore this or just write  “SEE ID” or “CHECK ID”. They become very shocked when some diligent merchants refuse their card.

Let’s have a look at what VISA’s procedures says about what should happen when a customer presents an unsigned card:

1. The merchant will ask for customer’s ID like Driving Licence or Passport.
2. Customer will be asked to sign the card. If he signs it, the signature on the card will be compared to the signature on his ID.
3. If customer refuses, the card will not be accepted.

It is a known fact that most of the merchants don’t follow this policy, but some like UPS are quite strict.

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