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Cash Back Credit Cards – Solutions With "Catches" (Page 1 of 2)
Cash back credit cards are now being made available in a variety of new options. However, it is important for consumers not to skip over the process of researching all details of a card before applying. Cash back credit cards, although useful credit card solutions, also frequently carry with them several “catches” (targeted reward categories, high credit necessary to apply, potentially capped rewards) that consumers need to inform themselves about in order to maximize their effective use of the cards.
In a world of rising gas prices and falling employee compensation, it’s more true than ever that a small amount of cash can go a very long way. This, at least, is the logic behind the variety of new cash back credit cards that now flood the market from many major providers. These cards offer a number of different cash back plans for several types of purchases: cash back for retirement, for charity, for affiliate products. All are designed, at least in part, to encourage credit card use by returning some percentage of the purchase price to the consumer at the end of the year. It sounds like–and can be–a good deal, the literal truth of the classic adage “spend money to make money.”
But in addition to the good deal, cash back credit cards carry with them hidden hooks and lines. The card application always lists these plainly, but customers who just want to cash in on the promise of quick percentage rewards can often overlook the most crucial caveats of all. More savvy customers, however, should ask themselves maybe the most important question anyone can ask when considering a new credit card: what’s the catch?
The first catch is that the high-end cash back rewards don’t usually apply to entertainment, housing, or luxury items. Since these make up a large portion of most people’s paychecks, anyone who believes that a hypothetical 5% cash back guarantee will apply to everything purchased with that cash back credit card will be in for a rude surprise. The higher fees are typically targeted toward fundamental goods in our society: supermarket purchases, drugstore runs, gasoline. Most of the best cash back credit cards offer a flat 1% fee on other purchases, which can be substantial by the end of a year, but still possibly not what the customer who only glanced through the brochure expects.
Another big catch is the high credit rating necessary to get one’s hands on any of the best cash back credit cards. The most popular cards all require at least a good credit rating, with many asking for excellent. The effect of this is to push the target market of typical cash back credit card consumers toward two groups: first-time credit card applicants and the very financially prudent. And it is a nice bonus for people with good credit (or at least no bad credit) to be able to earn typically 1% of the purchase of price back on most goods, but for anyone in dire financial straits looking to put together some extra money through cash back rewards, it would be wise to look elsewhere.
What is Considered a Good Credit Score?
The credit scoring system that is available within the United States can be quite complex. In order to break it down on a basic level for you, the scoring system is done by three different agencies, each of which will have its own unique number based on your credit history. Although they all tend to be with in the same general area, at times they may differ by quite a few points. If you are wondering what is considered a good credit score, you need to understand that many lending institutions will choose one of the credit scores in order to decide your overall number. More than likely, it will be the score that is in the middle.
What is considered a good credit score is something in the mid 700s. Although this number will vary from lending institution to lending institution, this is an excellent number for you to shoot for whenever you are trying to get your credit score to the point where you can easily apply for a loan. What is considered a good credit score to most banks is 740 or higher. With this score you can usually walk in to the bank, sign some papers and get the loan that you desire.
It’s also important for you to understand that money is not as easy to come by as it was several years ago. Whenever the real estate bubble was at its height, money was extremely easy to come by and they were writing loans for people with almost any credit score, whatsoever. What is considered a good credit score now is certainly different than what was considered a good credit score at that time. Even during the time whenever all of these loans were being written, however, a good credit score that was well within the 700s was always smiled on and most banks never had any difficulty writing loans for those individuals.
If you have recently checked your credit score and found that it is a little bit low, you can always take some steps in order to raise it again. Making sure that you do not have too many small credit accounts attached to your name as well as ensuring that you are below 50% on all of those accounts and pay a little bit more than the minimum will help to boost your numbers considerably.