It is the time of economic slump and everyone is worrying about their finances. In such circumstances Bank of America is offering an opportunity which they call Clean Sweep.  It is Bank of America ‘Debt Consolidation Plan’.

It is good to know about this offer and educate yourself to get maximum benefits from it. Let’s take a look at their original offer according to their marketing plan and its difference.

If you go through the offer you will come to know that instead of getting great help to get out of debt, the offer in fact pursue you to use the line of credit to go even further into debt.

The Debt Consolidation Offer Envelope

When you got the envelope about that offer you will be surprised to see from the back of the envelope, the sender is from Bank of America but the face had some interesting statements:

• One Phone Call
• One Predictable Monthly Payment
• One Fast Way
• To help you get out of debt

From the marketing incentives made on the envelope it seems that only one of the four items is perhaps true, i.e. “One Phone Call”. The others may be much exaggerated statements or straight away trickery. Let’s see the other offers.

One Predictable Monthly Payment

When you see the details inside the envelope says you will come to know that the interest rate offered is variable and can be adjusted regularly and go way up. According to Bank of America they adjust your APR on a monthly basis due to changes to the prime rate. Also the estimates are used for repayment term and payment amount. These estimates can be changed because of the change in APR, late or partial payments by the customer, fees, by taking additional advances or your enrollment in credit protection.

Criticism

It is not possible to predict monthly payment if the interest rate is variable and also it is certain that the prime rate will almost certainly go up from the low today. The statement given by Bank of America, to support predictable monthly payment is the use of formula to calculate it, is ridiculous. The statement saying use of formula is apparently designed to make you believe that it will be a fixed monthly payment in the enclosed offer.

One Fast Way

It is difficult to believe that the statement “One Fast Way” is really true. We are not sure that this Bank of America statement is just to add few lines in their advertisement or this offer might get you approved fast. The only possible way that this loan will get you out of debt faster is when you are currently being charged much higher interest rates.

Criticism

Inside the envelope you can see that Bank of America is advertising an interest rate will be in the range of 8.99% to 21.99%. Now the person who has already poorer credit report or a lower credit score will be likely to be extended higher interest rate. So most probably he will get the initial interest rate up to 21.99% high. Thus this statement covers the entire Bank of America debt consolidation plan giving advantage to them. That entire means is only the one paying higher interest rate can get it faster. It is not mentioned anywhere that you would even get out of debt faster even with the initial minimum APR since the rate is variable rather than fixed.  Changes to the interest rate will also impossible to predict, during the period of repayment.

To Help You Get Out of Debt

It seems mare a wish “to help you get out of debt”. Actually this offer is like trading one debt for another. It is simply the use of credit from Bank of America to pay off other debts. Taking advantage of this offer mean rather than getting you out of debt, you are simply sinking into it.

It is for sure that Bank of America would argue that by taking advantage of this variable interest rate offer that is subject to penalty interest rates of 27.99% and other fees and charges, that it is possible for someone to get out of debt. Yes, but not until the entire loan is repaid, and at what total cost?

Front of the Debt Consolidation Offer

Let us see the front part of the Bank of America Clean Sweep Debt Consolidation offer. On this we can see a series of bullet points which are their key promotion statements.

A loan amount up to $50,000: Starting from the 1st one and given and the specific information statements related to it. The statement is “A loan amount up to $50,000” with this there is a mark which leads to the following explanation.

“Approved accounts will have a credit line between $500 and $50,000 based on creditworthiness”: Than with the statement “pay off high interest rate debt” there is a mark which leads you to this statement.

“We may prohibit use of this account to pay off or pay down any account issued by FIA Card Services, N.A”: Now FIA Card Services is actually the subsidiary of Bank of America. Therefore this means that your previous debt with MBNA is now debt owned by Bank of America. And by this statement BOA is preventing you from paying a debt off owned by Bank of America. Read the full story

You can fall victim for fraud charges anytime, but you can escape from it if you are wise enough to protect your pocket from overpaying. If you are a customer of Bank of America then this is not your headache, as Bank of America has a solution to this problem. This is the main reason why Bank of America is offering zero Liability Guarantee on all of its debt and credit cards for all of its customers.

What is 0 Liability Guarantee?

Basically 0 liability guarantee provide protection against the fraudulent charges and purchases that are charged by others that are using Bank of America debit and credit cards. To get protection against these fraudulent purchases and charges, you should report any purchases in quick time that are made by others. You should avoid sharing your account or personal information with other people.

Main Features of 0 Liability Guarantee

Bank of America has made it easier for you to deal with fraudulent charges and purchases. The best features of 0 liability guarantee are as follows:

• First of all, you are not considered responsible for any type of fraudulent charges with 0 liability guarantee and this is guaranteed.
• The best feature is that all the fraudulent charges that have been made with your credit ir debit will be redeposit in your account by the next business day.
• The liability guarantee which is offered by Bank of America is featured on all consumer credit and debit cards offered by Bank of America.

Frauds Are Monitored

Bank of America regularly monitors the accounts of its customers for fraudulent activities. If they find any fraud then they alert you in quick time. So you can rely on you bank and stay relaxed from fraudulent charges and payments that can attack your account anytime.

Resolving Fraud Issues

Bank of America offers you great services against any type of fraudulent charges and payments. If you feel that your account has been used fraudulently then you can call Bank of America for help. You can contact them and report that fraud or any other type of suspicious activities.

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There are some fun facts about the fifty credit cards have been found, which are combined for you to read them when you find free time like during the weekend to enjoy the weekend. Some things, that you all already knew, such as American Express Centurion card has fees of $ 2500 per annum and a $ 250,000 annual consumption requirements, but others have not, like American Express has begun shipping, and then launches into financial services.

Historical Nuggets

1. At the beginning of the credit cards, they were used only to recover the balance provided by individual stores and used only in those stores. In 1950, the Diner’s Club offered the first credit card, which could be used at different places.
2. Diners Club card gives this only to first two hundred customers, which could only be used at twenty-seven restaurants in New York City.

History of American Express

1. American Express began shipping in 1850. Shipments of products in the United States and exploitation are not very extensive and United States Postal Service was also very slow. Their main clients were banks that were subjected to different financial instruments such as equities and other observations. They started to sell money orders and traveler’s checks in 1882 and issued their first credit card in 1958.
2. In 1984, Platinum American Express Card billed as very exclusive, and had an annual fee of $ 250, which was $ 484.84 in 2006. Today, their very exclusive card is black Centurion American Express card, which has a fee of $ 2,500 per annum.

History of MasterCard & Visa

1. MasterCard and Visa are network holding the banks and different financial institutions. American Express has its own business and the subsidiary of Morgan Stanley is Discover Card.
2. Visa was originally named as BankAmericard which was offered by the Bank of America in 1958, at California. In 1970, they created an association called the American National Bank Card, Inc., which includes all those banks in the United States who issued the card, which has not changed its name to Visa until the 1976th.
3. Visa is the reality of Visa International Service Association.
4. Visa logo colors were chosen because the sky is blue and gold in the share of hills, California, where Bank of America was located.
5. Originally formed as the Interbank Card Association and has attained brand and logo of Master Charge in 1969. In 1967, MasterCharge was originally formed by the four banks in California, which came together to form the Western States Bankcard Association against the U.S. bank card by Bank of America. In 1979, MasterCharge was renamed as MasterCard.
6. In 1984, to prevent fraud, MasterCard uses a hologram on their cards for the first time.

History of Discover Card

1. Sears introduced the Discover Card in 1985 and gained popularity because it has no annual fee.
2. At the time, Brokerage Dean Witter Reynolds Organization was also owned by Sears and Discover brand was joined into the organization. When Dean Witter merged with Morgan Stanley in 1997, Discover went along for that ride also.

Practice the Useful Things, That Make You Go

• If you are wondering that why there are low, minimum payments? It allows the consumer to get more debt while the minimum payment is kept low. You can give a person the ability to pay $100 per month, a credit limit higher than $ 5,000, if they only had to pay 2% per month. They could not have a credit limit of $ 2,000, if the minimum payment was 5%. Plus the minimum payment could be deeper debt not being.
• It is against trade agreements of MC, Visa and American Express for a seller to ask you to provide your phone number, address or other personal information for credit card transactions. In fact, some states make it illegal to demand all that information. But if there is a problem in transaction, then you have to provide this information.
• It is not necessary to submit a license to complete the transaction of credit card in accordance with the contract of merchants of MC, Visa, Discover Card and American Express.
• Under trade agreements, MC, Visa and Discover Card, minimum purchase amount may not require by the sellers. Under AMEX is an indication that the seller is not a barrier to use, but American Express has a policy of discrimination, if there is no minimum number of MC / Visa cannot be an AMEX’s minimum amount.
• Under the trade agreements of MC, Visa, and Discover Card, sellers may not charge fees for using the card but it still applies for AMEX by anti-discrimination rules. In some states it is actually illegal to charge for purchases by credit card. This rule does not apply to the authorities of government.
• On the other hand, it is authorized by all card companies to offer a discount for a cash payment.
• A trader may take a personal check requires that you provide a credit card number. It is against trade agreements to charge a credit card for exercising Express.
• You can reduce your interest rate by a phone call. Corporate credit cards are as mobile phones and cable companies are afraid that you go to join the competition. Use this to your advantage by comparing offers of credit cards and others with this information to your credit card company.
• When you use your card, you accept all the agreement of credit card holder; you do not need to sign anything. You also accept the updates when you use your card after you receive an update in the Agreement.
• Within 15 days of notice, fixed-rate credit cards can be changed. Fast is not fixed in the sense that a mortgage is fixed, this is the credit card company can be changed with only 15 days’ notice.
• If you have multiple balances the various interest rates on one card, payments are generally lower than the interest rate applicable to the budget. You do not have a choice in this matter and cannot claim that they have to pay more. So if you have a balance of $ 100 to 19.99% and a balance of $ 5.000 to 4.99% may apply for a $ 5.000 to 4.99% in the first. It should be noted in your agreement.
• The process of Credit cards sales works as follows:  To authorize the transaction value, seller sends the request. The credit cards company reduces the limit of credit after checking the previous card limit. It then sends the conformation about the cards health to the respective vendor. Money is sent to the users by the credit card companies after checking the deposit transaction sent by the seller. This is a very easy and fast process but still it some exceptions are implemented on it to get the better from it. Those exceptions are given below:
• A request has been sent by the Hotels and car rental companies, which is usually used to approve the estimated cost of a vacation or rent and it maintains a “lock” on your ticket within 10-15 days; either you pay for something other.

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You must be astonished to discover that even with the help of $10 on monthly basis; you can improve your funds. If you are making the payment of least amount required for credit card debt, then with the additional sum of $10 on monthly basis, you will be able to completely pay off your debt in relatively short time.

Saving by Paying More than the Minimum Amount

If you make payment more than the least amount required to pay for credit card, it will also support in saving cash. It is very simple, because you will repay little amount for the complete interest charges. Here is the mechanism of this phenomenon for your better understanding.

Paying off Debt by Making an Additional $10

For Bank of America credit card the least payment of credit card on monthly basis is one percent of your existing balance. If you add the interest payments and also delayed charges in a month, the figure will just go up. Now in an example, it will be exhibited how with an increase of your credit card payment by $10 on monthly basis will not only pay off your debt earlier, but also save money for you.

Let us just take an illustration where a credit card balance amount is $1,500 and the Annual Percentage Rate is 18 percent:

To make payment just with the minimum amount

The least payment on monthly basis is US$37. The total required time period to completely pay off the debt is 160 months or 13.33 years. The total interest payment during 160 months will be $1792.52

Pay $10 amount than least amount due of monthly basis

By adding additional $10 your monthly payment will become $47. This will reduce the total payback period to 44 months. The total interest payment during this time will be $555.76.

The prospective savings

Now, just with the addition of $10 more than the minimum monthly payment and continuing with it till the complete payment of debt amount, you will be able to save $1236.76 in terms of interest payment. You will completely knock off your debt just in 44 months.

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Many people believe that credit scores, credit cards and credit history is very boring topic. Nowadays a plastic card that is credit or debit cards are present in almost all the wallets. Here are some of the most interesting and fun facts that will be shocking for you.

1. Visa Logo on the Credit Card

This is an amazing fact about Visa logo on the credit card. A visa logo’s Blue and gold Portions on a credit card represents the color of the California sky and California hills respectively, which is the state where Bank of America was founded.

2. Americans Fear of Debit or Credit Card Fraud

Americans are full of fear not because of terrorism, computer viruses, heath or personal safety. They are frightened because of the credit and debit card fraud according to a source: Unisys Security Index: United States, March 2009.

3. Worse Interest Rate

Suppose you are having it worse with a matched up 29.9% interest rate? Retail giant Argos rocked out with a branded credit card with a ridiculous 227% APR, UK in 2008.

4. Credit Score

1/3 of American adults do not want to check their credit score. Moreover, 2/3 of American adults who are 144 million people have not even checked their credit balance for many years. Don’t be the part of this list, which are unaware of their credit result from a long time, so for getting your score free as soon as possible contact at Credit Karma.

5. Credit Card Marketing

Each American family gets an average of six credit card offers per month in the mail. You can stop those irritating deals by going to ‘OptOutPrescreen’ in your mail. However, now you can save trees while reviewing credit cards on Credit Karma.

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The first “Modern Credit Card” that can be used for paying parties other than the card issuer was started in 1950. It was issued by Diners Club in New York City. Initially they were issued to about two hundred people, most of them known to the owner. These were used mainly at the restaurants and were accepted at 14 places initially.

Since then there have been many developments in the credit card industry. Here is a choice of 10 interesting facts about credit cards.

1. Most Expensive Credit Card

Black Centurion Card offered by American Express is the most expensive credit card at the moment. It has an annual fee of $2,500 and requires the cardholder to spend at least $250,000 a year through credit card transactions. In some countries it also requires a
one-time joining fee.

2. How Visa Card Came Into Existence

In 1958 a credit card was issued by Bank of America. In 1970 the other American banks also joined and its control was handed over to a joint financial venture. In 1976 the name Visa was given to this operation.

3. Cash Back Bonus

Sears introduced its Discover Card in 1985. It was a big hit not only because it did not charge any annual fee, but it also actually offered an up to 5% Cash Back Bonus.

4. Is Low Minimum Payment Good For You?

The answer is a big NO, because that means more of the unpaid debt, which ultimately means more INTEREST.

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During the past several years, the market scenario has completely changed. In order to retain the old consumers and attract new ones, financial companies are coming up with new packages and offers. Their sole objective is to help consumers and attain maximum cash in return.

The Latest Package of Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the well-known and reliable banks in the US financial market. Like other banks, Bank of America also introduces new packages for their consumers. The newest package of Bank of America is known as “clean sweep” line of credit. This package is aimed to those consumers who are in need of debt consolidation.

It is obvious that the banks and other marketing promotions are not always genuine; they possess some tricky games, too. The contracts company deal in may have some hidden clauses. They may not be visible in the time you sign the contract, but you will realize when you are made to pay the fees and interests of the service. So, you need to be very careful before getting into a deal. Actually the contracts of such organizations include some technical terms that might not be understood fully at that time could put you in a fix.

Moreover, there are some words in small size written at the bottom of the page. Consumers often do not read them and skip for grated, but these are things organizations catch people.

Similarly, “clean sweep” package also contains some hidden clauses. If you read the contents of the plan, you will see that it puts you into such a wild circle of debts. Even you will hardly be able to return the debt in full.

History of the Scheme

In reality, the scheme was introduced after the merger of Bank of America and MBNA. They advertised the package in debt consolidation loans and fixed the limit of borrowing to $25000. They also mentioned that the interest rate will not be more than 9.49%. However, this is the minimum rate, not maximum. The contract also states that these costs may vary as per the rates of interest published in the Wall Street Journal.

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