Identity Theft Protection

Looking for a Credit Card for Christmas Shopping? Before you submit a credit card application, first review the main points which will help you choose the right credit card for your needs.

What Charges You'll Make - If you're going to use the credit card mainly for booking airline reservations and hotels, it might be best for you to get a travel credit card that offers sky miles and hotel points or cashback. If this will be an emergency credit card only, then your main concern may be for a low interest rate credit card with low fees.

When You'll Repay Charges - Will you pay off credit card charges in full every month, or will you carry a balance month to month? If you're going to carry a balance, you want the lowest possible interest rate as well as a low introductory rate. But if you'll payoff balances in full every month, then interest rate really doesn't matter so no annual fee and/or a long grace period would be a bigger concern. If you're going to carry a balance, be concerned about how the finance charge is calculated. The most common method is the Average Daily Balance, which means that the daily balances are added together and then divided by the number of days in the billing cycle. Stay away from credit cards that compute the balance using two billing cycles, as this method costs more money in financing fees.

What Amount You'll Charge - If you're going to use the credit card for all your monthly expenses, then you need a card that has a high credit limit and a high cashback percentage.

More info about Interest Rates, Credit Limits, Incentives, Fees and Penalties

Interest Rates - The interest rate (Annual Percentage Rate) APR can either be a fixed rate or a variable rate that is tied to another financial indicator, most commonly the prime rate. With a fixed rate credit card you know what the interest rate will be every month, whereas a card with a variable rate can fluctuate. Of course, even the interest of a fixed rate card can change based on certain events, such as paying your credit card bill late, exceeding your limit, or simply because the credit card issuer decides to change it after providing you ample advance notice.

Credit Limit - This is the amount of money the credit card company will let you charge to the card. This amount varies depending upon the card offer and your credit history. Be sure to get a credit card with an ample limit, because getting close to your max can hurt your credit score. Just remember that you don't have to max out your limit just because it's available.

Incentives - To compete for and to gain customers, many credit card companies offer rewards. Even if you normally use cash, why not use your credit card and then use the cash to make the payment during the grace period? You still won't pay interest and meanwhile you'll rack-up rewards. A credit card with 5% cashback will earn you $5 for every $100 charged. If your total bills come to $2,000 per month, you'll earn a free $100 every month. Look for a rewards program that you'll use and which offers flexibility, such as cashback or travel.

Fees and Penalties - Compare common charges such as late fees, overlimit fees, balance transfers, cash advances, and for making payments by telephone. Regarding balance transfers, look for credit card offers with no transaction fees and zero percent interest for at least 12 months.

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Identity Theft Protection

By Credit Federal | Published 04/27/2006

Credit Report News: TransUnion is helping businesses fight identity fraud through the use of ID Analytics ID Score, part of their Fraud and Identity Management Services.

By combining advanced analytics and decisioning technologies with vast multi-sourced databases and in-depth understanding of business issues, TransUnion assists organizations with a full range of fraud and identity management challenges, including compliance, identity verification, authentication, business process consulting and fraud response. Already in use by over half the credit card and wireless telecommunication markets in the U.S., as well as leading retailer, retail bank and online consumer finance companies, ID Score is now the standard for identity risk decisions. TransUnion complements ID Score by offering some of the most advanced fraud and identity management solutions available in the marketplace today.

The need for identity verification has grown in recent years due to an increase in identity theft and other types of application fraud. With associated business losses reaching $52.6 billion last year according to a study released in January 2006 by Javelin Strategy and Research and the Better Business Bureau, many companies are taking proactive means to catch criminals in their tracks.

Visit Credit Federal for information on how to report credit fraud and protect against identity theft.

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Identity Theft Protection - by <a href=http://creditfederal.com>CreditFederal.com</a> Credit Report News: TransUnion is helping businesses fight identity fraud through the use of ID Analytics ID Score, part of their Fraud and Identity Management Services. By combining advanced analytics and decisioning technologies with vast multi-sourced databases and in-depth understanding of business issues, TransUnion assists organizations with a full range of fraud and identity management challenges, including compliance, identity verification, authentication, business process consulting and fraud response. Already in use by over half the credit card and wireless telecommunication markets in the U.S., as well as leading retailer, retail bank and online consumer finance companies, ID Score is now the standard for identity risk decisions. TransUnion complements ID Score by offering some of the most advanced fraud and identity management solutions available in the marketplace today. The need for identity verification has grown in recent years due to an increase in identity theft and other types of application fraud. With associated business losses reaching $52.6 billion last year according to a study released in January 2006 by Javelin Strategy and Research and the Better Business Bureau, many companies are taking proactive means to catch criminals in their tracks. Visit Credit Federal for information on how to <a target='_blank' href="http://creditfederal.com/report-credit-fraud.html">report credit fraud</A> and protect against identity theft. This article provided courtesy of <a href=http://creditfederal.com target=_new>www.CreditFederal.com</a>, a personal credit resource of good or bad credit credit cards and loans.

Credit Tip: Need a high limit for Christmas credit card charges? If you have bad credit, consider a personal loan by refinancing your mortgage. Even if you have cash to buy Christmas presents, we recommend using a prepaid card to make purchases because it's safer than carrying cash.