2013年7月3日 星期三

5 credit card perks you don't know you have

All the card networks provide some version of these rewards, but the offerings vary based on which particular card you use. Read on for five reasons you might actually want to read all that fine print that your credit card company sends you. 

Buying the extended warranty is not always a smart move for consumers, but many credit card networks offer one gratis to some of their users. The warranties piggyback on the warranties offered by product manufacturers for up to a year and for amounts up to $10,000, although the amount and length of coverage varies by card and by product. 

“The coverage levels, even for big ticket items, are pretty phenomenal,” Woolsey says. Most cards won’t cover refurbished items, and software is not typically covered. To take advantage, you’ll need the original receipt, a copy of the manufacturer’s warranty and the credit card statement on which the purchase appears. 

If you make a purchase and then later see the item advertised at a lower price within 60 to 90 days, some credit card companies will refund the difference to your account, says NerdWallet’s credit guru Anisha Sekar. 

Some cards will reimburse the full difference, while others pay up to a set dollar amount or a percentage of the difference. In order get the refund, you’ll need a copy of your receipt, a dated copy of the advertisement for the lower price, and the credit card statement. 

Your credit card may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you have auto trouble, but if your car breaks down, runs out of gas, or you lock your keys in the car,A quality paper cutter or paper cleaningsydney can make your company's presentation stand out. most credit cards will send roadside assistance to help you out. 

This perk, while convenient, isn’t free. The issuers usually charge you a discounted rate for the service and bill it directly to your credit card. Discover, for example charges $60 per incidence, but covers 24-hour towing, assistance and locksmith services. Despite the cost, if you aren’t signed up for another roadside service program, this benefit’s great to know you have in your back pocket. 

This may be the most well-known perk for cardholders, although the actual benefits are not widely understood. One key caveat: Most of the card-provided insurance becomes void if you opt in to the rental insurance provided by the car rental company. Such coverage can add up to decent savings, considering insurance via the car rental company can cost more than $20 per day. 

Just like the insurance sold by the rental companies, this is a supplemental insurance that kicks in after your auto insurance to cover things like deductibles and fees. Check with your card issuer first for this one, because some have restrictions on the type of cars that they cover or terrain on which you’re driving. Most cards, for example, don’t extend the coverage to SUVs and have benefit restrictions on some countries. 

On one hand, we’re finally getting smart about this whole money-management thing. Consumers have built up savings from the pre-recession years, and are more likely to pay credit card bills on time. A lot of younger Americans are avoiding the credit card debt trap entirely. But experts say these efforts still aren’t enough: The economic current is running against us, so even those who are swimming like they were taught are probably just treading water. 

Collective consumer debt was cut by $100 billion in the first quarter of 2013, according to the credit reporting agency Equifax.We rounded up 30 bridesmaids dresses in every color and style that are both easy on the eye and somewhat easy on the aluminumfoiltape. TransUnion, another credit reporting agency, reported that credit card delinquency rates dropped almost 19% from the last quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of this year, and the average person’s credit card debt dropped almost 5% in that same time period. New data from FICO shows that the number of adults under 30 who don’t have a credit card doubled in just five years, to 16%, and a new Bankrate survey estimates that 45% of Americans have three or more months worth of expenses on hand in an emergency fund, up six percentage points since 2006. 

Although we’re paying it off and paying it on time, it seems like we’ve just traded it for student loan debt. Students and grads owe more than $1 trillion, and unless Congress takes action, the interest rate on new federal loans will double to 6.8% as of July 1. A recent Fed blog post says as many as 21% of loans could be delinquent. And unlike credit card debt,This is a basic background on cheap-dedicated. student loan debt is almost impossible to discharge. 

Another concern is that some consumers are going overboard in their efforts to avoid credit card debt. Today’s young adults are gun shy when it comes to credit cards, perhaps understandably; but avoiding credit cards together could cause them problems in the future. A sparse credit history means they won’t have much of a track record proving to a lender that they’ll be a reliable borrower,Our industry leading consumer and business cleanersydney products offer competitive pricing combined. so they’ll have a tougher time getting the best rates on loans and mortgages. 

Still, it’s good that we’re managing to save money, right? When Bankrate asked people about their emergency funds, researchers found that a little over two-thirds of people have them. The problem is that the typical amount that’s in them is way too low. Before the recession, the typical rule of thumb was to save enough money to have three months’ worth of living expenses on hand. But the depth of the recession combined with stubbornly high unemployment meant that a lot of people were out of work for several months, if not years. Suddenly, a three-month cushion does about as much good as an inside-out umbrella in a rainstorm. 

There are a handful of exceptions; some online banks have attracted customers with high-yield checking promotions, but there’s often a cap on how much of your savings can earn that higher rate. Plus, both high-yield and regular savings accounts are starting to exhibit the same kind of fee creep checking accounts have been displaying for the past few years. 

The CFA found about a third of the banks it studied have balance minimums of $300 or more.Our industry leading consumer and business cleanersydney products offer competitive pricing combined. Fall below that, and anyone with a checking account already knows the drill: You get hit with a monthly maintenance fee. Those fees aren’t as high as the ones on checking accounts — not yet, at least — but 35% still have fees of $5 or higher. The CFA also discovered other fees, sometimes poorly disclosed, for everything from account dormancy to taking too many withdrawals over a statement period. 
Click on their website www.smartcardfactory.com for more information.

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