Tag Archives: banks

The Basic Credit Card Types (Page 1 of 3)

It may seem incredible, but credit card issuers clog the mails with over 2.5 billion offers inviting people to apply for a credit card. Even those who would not qualify for a conventional credit card due to serious credit problems are now able to get one; some credit card issuers even specialize in this particular type of market. And according to financial gurus, there are at least a billion credit cards in active circulation throughout the United States alone.

Credit has been an economic cornerstone for some time now. Surveys show that the average American household is estimated to have at least twelve credit cards, including charge cards. While you may tend to think that one credit card is pretty much the same as the next, there are in actual fact distinct characteristics for each different credit card type. It is good to know these difference between the three different types of cards in the market: a bank credit card, a travel credit card, an entertainment credit card (although nowadays the combined travel and entertainment card has become more common) and a retail credit card or house card.

Bank Credit Cards You have probably noticed that most credit cards bear either the logo of Visa or MasterCard together with the name of the bank. It would appear that the credit card has been issued by either Visa or MasterCard. That is not quite an accurate assumption: these two companies do not issue credit cards directly to the consumers. Most of the credit cards on the market today are offered by thousands of banks around the globe. Each bank is linked to the credit card association, because are not allowed to issue any kind of card unless they are association members.

Visa is a privately held membership association, although it is preparing to go public. It started as an association of banks in California and the West Coast. There are over 20,000 financial institutions in the membership rolls, and virtually all of them offer Visa Card. MasterCard is also a membership association, similar to Visa, and originally consisted of member banks in the East.

A bank credit card is in reality a revolving credit line. When you receive your statement, you can pay all or part of your balance each month, run up the balance again and so on. Being a credit line, the account comes with a pre-determined credit limit that depends on key factors like disposable income, credit history, etc. The credit limit can be as low as a $100 or as high as many thousands of dollars.

It is possible for card holders to get themselves into trouble when they do not properly manage the revolving credit line. When you carry a balance instead of paying it off, the credit card issuer starts charging interest on that balance — in some cases, this interest could be pretty steep. The interest rate varies widely, depending on who issued the card, but you could expect the average credit card interest rate to be at about 18 percent.

For instance, if you carry forward a $1,000 balance for 12 months, you pay $180 in interest per year or $15 every month. If you maintain a $1,000 savings account, you will earn about $40 in interest per year. Those who get into trouble will have to reduce debt, and one of the more common ways to go about this, is to arrange for credit card debt consolidation, which helps lighten the interest burden.

How local Small Businesses can grow with Business Cash Advance influx in 2012?

With the beginning of every new year small business owners ask themselves how they can grow and stabilize their local ventures against big box vendors and national enterprises. Questions they ask themselves are

What are their new business plans to achieve this year?
What will be their marketing and growth strategy for the new year?
Should they grow their businesses geographic footprint?
Should they invest in new hardware / equipment to enhance productivity?
Can upgrading their existing location help in sales?

All these questions when answered with a positive YES translates into one single adjective “Working Capital”. Which brings them to the next question, where can they get the required business capital in a timely and hassle free manner? Traditional lending options like, banks, leases and family money take a lot of effort and require asset’s and a long business history coupled with impeccable credit. Even if you have all that is required you still need to wait for the money to be funded for quiet some time. What’s the answer than,

“BUSINESS CASH ADVANCE”

Have you been turned down by the banks?
You cannot achieve your business plans without business capital. Business cash advance loans don’t need great credit score. They look more at your forecasted credit card sales than your history of credit score.

How quickly do you need the money?
Bank loans can sometimes take months before they go through. If a chance provides itself today, it may not be around the next day. You can typically get the money you need within few days with business cash advance.

Flexible payment schedule
Bank loans requires that you pay a set amount each month irrespective of the business performance. It become really difficult during time of recession to keep up. A business cash advance takes a portion of your daily credit card sales to pay back the funds. The advantage of this is that when you have a slow period, your payback is less.

Majority of businesses enjoying the facilities of Business Cash Advance are the one’s who were turned down by the banks for not meeting their prerequisites laid down to qualify for the advance, such as bad credit history, type of business, not having a collateral to offer and other requirements. A business cash advance is a definite way out in this complicated business environments. It can either be a life line for a shattered business or a path to a more successful future.