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Establishing credit when you are young invokes the classic Catch-22 situation. Most creditors dont want to hand out credit cards to people that dont have good credit histories. Buf if the only way to get credit is to have it already, what can you do? For college students, the answer is often quite simple fill out the credit card applications that seem to be just about everywhere. For some reason, credit card companies are willing to be a lot more forgiving about handing out credit to novices if they are enrolled in college.

Tens of thousands of college students take advantage of this situation every year, mostly to their own detriment. By the time the average student finishes college, he or she has a credit card debt of nearly $3000. Worse, there is probably a credit history that shows an occasional note of a late or missed payment. These are not the sorts of notes you want to have on your credit report when you are just entering the working world, but that is how it is for a lot of graduates today.

Does this mean that acquiring credit while in college is a bad idea? Far from it. In fact, obtaining credit cards while in school is a great idea, if you go about it the right way. Its a great opportunity to establish credit and good spending habits. If you are a college student, you should go ahead and apply for a couple of credit cards while you are in school. Once you get them, you should use them regularly. What you should not do is use them recklessly. Use them for the occasional expense that you might otherwise pay for with cash a meal, a movie, or a DVD. When the bill comes, pay it promptly and pay it in full. You should do this every month with each of your credit cards.

What this does is establish both a spending and a payment history. You can demonstrate to the credit card companies that you are capable of both using the card responsibly and making your payments on time and in full. This will, over a year or so, help you establish a credit score as well as a history of good payment. That, in turn, will come in handy later when you want to take out a loan to buy a car or even a home.

Many college students squander a good opportunity to establish credit by using their credit cards to run up huge balances they cannot pay. Dont get stuck in that trap; use credit cards as a tool to build your credit score.

Copyright 2007 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing , a firm devoted to informational Websites, including The-Debt-Consolidator.com, a site about debt consolidation, credit counseling, payday loans and personal bankruptcy.

# posted by cgocbjeg : 9:56 PM  0 comments

If you have not yet established a credit record for yourself or you are in the process of rebuilding your credit, getting a credit card can greatly help you. The fact is, credit cards are one of the best ways to build a credit history and increase your credit worthiness.

If you wondering why you need to build your credit, consider the following reasons:

1. Having a credit history makes it far easier to obtain utilities like gas, electricity and phone services in your personal residence. Without a credit history, you may be asked to put down a large cash deposit to ensure that you will pay all your bills on time.

2. If you plan to ever buy a house or condo, the higher and more extensive your credit history is, the better the rate you will obtain for your mortgage.

3. If you ever want to get a degree and borrow money to pay for it, having a credit history will make it far easier to qualify for a good loan.

4. If you ever want to open your own business, you need a positive credit history in order to obtain a business loan or line of credit.

In short, you have much to gain by establishing credit for yourself as soon as you can. The earlier you begin building your credit history, the more advantages you will create for yourself for any future plans you may have.

You can build credit in many ways, such as having a department store credit card, or taking out a small loan at a bank and paying it off, but having a credit card is actually a far more effective way to build your credit. The simple reason for this is that you can use a credit card to pay for all your regular and ordinary expenses for which you might be paying cash, and in the process, you are literally building your credit record.

For example, at the very minimum, you might as well use a card to pay for all your grocery purchases, gas station fill-ups, and clothing purchases. By paying off these purchases in full when you receive your credit card statement each month for as little as two years, you can be taking advantage of hundreds of simple opportunities to build yourself a credit history without any risk or pain.

So if you do not yet have a credit history or if are trying to improve your credit, dont wait any longer to apply for a credit card and begin using it as often as you can on your ordinary daily purchases. Many banking institutions are seeking new credit card business and are eager to find new applicants who need to build their credit history. They are especially interested in college students, young professionals, and people seeking cards in order to get special benefits such as airline miles or bonus points, and so you can find many attractive deals online from banks catering to your needs.

Copyright Ed Vegliante. You may reprint this article provided the resource box remains intact with a live link back to http://www.Credit-Card-Surplus.com.

Ed Vegliante runs the website http://www.Credit-Card-Surplus.com, a well organized credit card directory enabling the consumerto compare and appy for a variety of credit card offers. Find links to secure online credit card applications. Click here to view more credit card articles.

# posted by cgocbjeg : 5:24 PM  0 comments

In case you are a home based business owner who wants to accept credit cards payments from customers, without all the associated high fees, then look for credit card processing options.

There are several merchant account providers who offer special packages for the specialized industry of home-based businesses. You should carefully go through all the terms before making a decision on what way is the best to accept credit card payments for services rendered. Though there are pros and cons to be weighed and considered, the option of being able to accept credit cards from clients and customers is a huge convenience for you both.

For home based business owners, it has been a difficult and lengthy process in the past to receive payments from clients or customers but by having a merchant account, you can now accept payments through a banking institute or an independent sales organization. Home-based businesses must be approved in order to establish a true merchant account through a banking institute or independent sales organization. An underwriting process is important and it will also involve using your personal credit rating, and this will be reviewed and evaluated. Many merchant account providers offer high approval rates, and special account options for home-based businesses.

When the process is completed the home-based business owners can automatically deposit funds received from credit card payments directly into their account. There are fees that are charged by an Independent sales organization or banking institute, and while they are not as low as the third party provider they are often worth the ability of accepting credit cards.

Zed Miller, an expert business writer, regularly contributes his articles to various websites just to help merchants, small businesses and retail houses to expand their market base by accepting the prevailing mode of payments.

Visit http://www.merchantservicez.com to read more articles from this author

# posted by cgocbjeg : 4:27 AM  0 comments

When Marisa Galn checked her credit report, she noticed accounts that were not hers, but thought nothing of it. What she didn't know, however, was that these accounts were culprits that were negatively affecting her credit-and her ability to get a loan at her local bank.

Your credit score is a reflection of every piece of information on your credit report-whether it's yours or not! Be sure to review your reports from all three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union) for accuracy once a year and several months before applying for a loan. Over 70% of individuals are victims of at least one credit error often because a report is incomplete, contains information about someone else, or is out-of date. For example, if someone else has the same name as you do, their credit information may mistakenly be included on your credit report. Don't be a victim! If you notice an error on your credit report, you have the right to have it investigated and corrected.

Credit experts at ACCION suggest that you send the credit agency a dispute letter to initiate an investigation (visit http://yourmoney.accion.org to download a sample dispute letter). Include copies (not originals) of documents that support your position and prove your identity. Send your dispute letter and all relevant documentation via certified mail. Don't remain silent: clearly identify each item in your report that you dispute, state the facts, and explain why you dispute the information, and request deletion or correction.

Credit reporting agencies must investigate the claim within 30 days, and if the information proves to be inaccurate, all three credit reporting agencies must correct the information. If an error isn't found immediately, don't give up hope- you may also contact the creditor directly to resolve the problem. As a last resort, you have the right to tell your side of the story in a 100 word explanation attached to your credit report.

So go ahead and start investigating-it's your credit, after all!

Andrea Stiles Pullas has written a series of finance related articles. For additional information on related topics, visit http://yourmoney.accion.org

# posted by cgocbjeg : 1:55 AM  0 comments