Also known as AMEX, American Express is easily one of the most recognized names in the world of credit cards.  Even though many people have Visa or MasterCard credit cards, they are still interested in AMEX.  With Visa, MasterCard, and AMEX being the most popular and preferred types of credit cards, they are all great although there are also differences between them as well.

Both Visa and MasterCard are methods of payment.  Both will allow different businesses to accept credit card payments using their systems.  Neither of the two issue credit cards on their own behalf, instead they rely on banks throughout the world to issue the credit cards for them, provide the credit, and then charge the interest.  Your credit card bill goes to the bank, as Visa or MasterCard doesn’t see any of it.

AMEX on the other hand, is very different.  American Express has their own payment system, and they also issue their credit cards directly to consumers.  Unlike Visa and MasterCard, AMEX runs the entire show.  Therefore, when a credit card says American Express on it, you instantly know who has issued the card, what payment system it has, and everything else you would need to know.

Even though MasterCard and Visa are used more throughout the world, American Express is always expanding their networks.  Visa and MasterCard are used in over twenty five million locations over the world, including third world countries, which makes them global credit card payments.  AMEX on the other hand, doesn’t quite reach this degree.  It is a great credit card, although it isn’t used around the world in areas where the other 2 dominant credit cards are.

You can get AMEX credit cards with rewards, although you’ll need to be careful where you look and what you select.  Normally, with Visa and MasterCard, you’ll have to look at hundreds of banks before you can find the best choice.  With AMEX, you can look at their website and find out what they offer and what type of APR you’ll have to pay.  Most of the time, you can find a credit card with low interest and a great spending limit – providing you have good credit.

AMEX also has several advantages that it offers customers in North America and Europe.  The credit card is accepted widely in both areas, offering you credit cards with great features and very attractive looks.  AMEX offers you great rates, good rewards, and excellent customer service as well. 

American Express also offers you Blue, which is a newly introduced credit card that offers you increased security, no annual fee, and 0% APR for the first year or so.  Depending on your credit, you may be able to get an extended period with no interest.  After that time has expired, you pay low fees, which makes it a great credit card for anyone looking for a deal.  Blue is the newest card from AMEX, and will rapidly become one of the best – due to it’s amazing features.

In the world of credit cards, American Express is one of the best.  They offer you a variety of different credit cards, designed to meet just about everyone’s needs.  You find them online or through a local provider, although online is the preferred way to go.  Simply fill out your application, and if you have good credit, you’ll be approved.  Before you know it, you’ll have a credit card from AMEX – and be ready to experience life in the fast lane.

You can find the best choice of credit cards and pre-paid cards at www.CreditCards.us (http://www.creditcards.us)

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Most of what we hear in the media when it comes to credit is negative. We hear terms like crisis, crunch, and stories of all of those people who are in over their heads in unsecured debt.

Most of us are in a low to middle financial bracket, and are more susceptible to the ill effects. Companies have a host of offers that cater to us middle of the road folks and an equal amount of products that can assist those who truly are in over their heads.

There is another class of people out there, though. 2009 statistics show that only 2% of Americans are millionaires and even a smaller portion of that 2% actually qualifies for the highest tier of cards.

Have you heard of the black card? These cater to the extremely wealthy. They are not advertised because they are by invitation only. Once you qualify for the highest tier and meet the minimum requirements for the black card, will you get an invitation.

You are probably curious; what are the minimum requirements? Obviously, you must not have any negative items on your report.

Likely you have to spend at least $250,000 annually. If you have enough assets to afford this, the $5,000 application fee and the $2,500 annual fee probably wont bother you.

If you do qualify, what are the perks? Free first class stays in participating hotels, a stake in a private jet, and luxury services like free spa service, first class upgrade on airlines should you not want to use your jet, and a key to those secret lounges in airports. The specific benefits will vary company to company.

If you have an excellent score, spend a significant amount per year then you will qualify. You should investigate the rewards packages because that will be the biggest differences between offers.

In addition with all the recent uncertainty in the markets, those with a good rating are very valuable assets to the credit card issuers.

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2. American Express Black Card known as the Centurion Card
3. APR – black art or consumer protector?

While vacationing in India for a few weeks a while back, the unthinkable happened; I lost my wallet. I luckily still had a passport, but I had to figure out a way to get money wired to India so I could get to the airport and get back home. Had I lost my passport as well, this would have been a very different story.

It was difficult at first to find a place where my family could wire money to from the United States. All I was left with was a passport and suitcase, while I helplessly scoured for a wire service where I could get money sent. Finally, I found a place where my brother could send the money.

Ironically, just before I left for the trip my brother cautioned me to keep an extra stash of cash and an extra credit card in case I lost my wallet. I foolishly ignored him, figuring nothing like that had ever happened to me so it was better to keep everything in one place ” my wallet.

At the time, I didnt even have enough money to make a phone call but luckily a vacationing couple from Florida gave me enough to make a call and grab some food. When I called my brother, the first thing he asked was if hid extra cash and a credit card.

The moment I realized I lost my wallet, I was on the bus ride to a town I planned to explore before deciding on a place to stay. So while I awaited my funds, I had no place to go.

If you ever find yourself in a similar mess, make sure to have someone to get in touch with back home, then pass along the code of the location you would like the funds sent. This code is available at all locations and significantly speeds the process along. Also, to avoid getting shortchanged ask your sender to ensure the funds are converted converted to the correct currency.

Although it was still a wonderful trip, I most definitely learned a valuable lesson.

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Tennessee allows for non-judicial foreclosure. Therefore, your lender does not have to go to court in order to foreclose on your property. The usual process is for you to receive notice by mail 20 days or more before the scheduled auction date. A trustee performs the actual sale, not the lender.

At any time before the sale is performed a person who owns the house in foreclosure may file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy and stop the foreclosure sale (there are a few exceptions to this, but it need not concern us here). The reason filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy stops the sale is because when a person files a bankruptcy an automatic stay goes into effect. The automatic stay stops most creditor actions against the person and the property the person owns. This means the foreclosure sale cannot take place or is voidable by law if it does take place.

In order to file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy there are several things you need to do and bring to your bankruptcy lawyer. At a minimum you must have filed your taxes that were/are due in the year you are filing bankruptcy. You must also bring a copy of the tax return or a tax transcript indicating that you did file. You must also bring a list of ALL of your creditors. You are also required to have the last 2 months of pay stubs if you receive regular wage income. Finally, you need to have a government issued photo ID and a social security card.

One element of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy that is different than a Chapter 7 (”straight” or “liquidation”) bankruptcy is the Chapter 13 Plan. It is the Chapter 13 Plan where you propose to pay your creditors, most importantly your mortgage holder. This will always include paying the regular monthly note along with an “extra” amount that will be large enough to pay off the arrears in a period of 36 to 60 months.

After filing for Chapter 13 you will have to pay for any property you wish to keep if that property has a lien on it. The debts are referred to as “secured” debts – examples include mortgages and financed vehicles. A debt that does not have a lien attached to property is referred to as “unsecured” debts. In a Chapter 13 you may be able to pay anywhere from 0 cents on the dollar up to the full amount, depending on things like current income, income over the previous six months, and the total value of your personal and real property.

Some property, like cars, can be subject to a “cram-down” in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. A debt is crammed down when the secured debt is reduced to reflect the value of the property rather than the actual amount owed. An example would be a car that has a payoff amount of $20,000 but the car is only worth $10,000, the cram down would result in a secured debt of $10,000 and an unsecured debt $10,000.

In order to go into effect, a Chapter 13 Plan must be “confirmed.” Upon confirmation the Chapter 13 Trustee will begin paying your creditors. You make payments on your Chapter 13 Plan either directly or through a payroll deduction.

At the completion of your Chapter 13 Plan you will be caught up on your mortgage. You will then resume paying your lender directly the regular monthly mortgage. Any unsecured debt that was not paid will be “Discharged” meaning the creditors cannot take any adverse action against you.

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No one erases bad information unless it’s inaccurate. Only wrong information can be changed. Accurate information remains on your credit report for seven years from the time its initially reported (ten years for bankruptcy). Even information about payments you fall behind on but now are paid in full remain on your report for the same period of time.

Credit repair services can’t ask for payment until they’ve kept their promises. Federal law also requires credit repair services to give you a explanation of your legal rights, a detailed written contract, and three days to cancel (this applies to for-profit services, not to nonprofit organizations, banks and credit unions, or the creditors themselves).

Be cautious about emails for credit services. Many unsolicited emails are simply frauds.

You can fix mistakes on your report yourself. If you were recently denied credit because of information in your credit report, you have the right to gain a free copy. Otherwise, there is a small fee, unless your specific state provides a free one each year. This is very common. It does not cost anything to question or dispute something appearing in your credit report. Follow the instructions provided by the individual bureaus. The major credit bureaus are: Equifax, 800- 685-1111, www.equifax.com; Experian, 800-682-7654, www.experian.com; and TransUnion, 800-916-8800, www.transunion.com. Contact all three, as the information each has may vary.

You can add an explanation to your report. If there is a good reason why you weren’t able to pay bills on time (job loss, sudden illness, etc.) or you refused to pay for something because of a legitimate dispute, give the credit bureau a short statement to include in your file.

Know that you cannot create another credit file. Fraud companies often offer to provide consumers with different tax identification or social security numbers in order to create a new credit file. This practice, called file segregation, is illegal, and it doesn’t work.

If you have credit problems, find a counselor. Your local Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) can give you advice about how to improve your credit record. The CCCS may also be able to make payment plans with your creditors if you’ve fallen behind. These services are offered for free or at a very low cost.

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Fair Isaac has finally released their much anticipated FICO 08 credit scoring model. This new credit scoring model has big differences from the previous FICO model.

FICO 08 is the first major change in Fair Isaac?s underlying scoring model since the early 1980?s. Fair Isaac estimates this new scoring model will better predict risk of default by 5-15% over prior models.

Many experts estimate it could actually improve the current risk predicting model by upwards of 50%. FICO 08 was rushed for release in 2009 in response to a big demand due to changing economical conditions.

FICO is used by most large banks and financial institutions so understanding the new changes are crucial. Many lenders will quickly be integrating this new scoring model into their lending decisions.

Many of the basic principles of FICO will remain the same. The score range of 300-850 will continue with the new model.

One of the most positive changes is that collection accounts with initial balances less than $100 will NO LONGER have an impact on the credit score.

Very small collections such as small medical bills will have no affect on the credit score if the initial balance on the account was less than $100 at the beginning of the reporting of the item on the credit report.

The new model will also be more forgiving on consumers who are late in one area, but not late in other areas on their credit. So if a consumer is occasionally late on a credit card account, the score change will be less than if that consumer was consistently late on all their payments.

The effect of an authorized user account will also change with FICO 08. There will be no more ?piggybacking?. This is when a customer with challenged credit gets added as an authorized user to accounts of someone with good credit to increase their scores.

With FICO 08 this is only permitted for the consumer?s immediate family.

If the consumer has too few accounts, closed accounts, or has accounts inactive, the damage to the score will be greater than its predecessor FICO.

FICO 08 now contains more scorecards with between 12- 16 estimated. This is versus the 10 prior scorecards that existed with older FICO model. These scorecards are secret mathematical models that are used to assign a credit score.

Each scorecard is specific to an industry. For example the Mortgage Industry Option Scoring Model uses its own scorecard and weighs past mortgage history heavier than all other accounts while calculating a credit score.

FICO will be a big upgrade for Fair Isaac. Most lenders and all three major credit bureaus are quick to implement this new scoring model due to its increased ability to accurately predict risk.

For more questions on credit scoring and the enforcement of consumer credit rights visit www.PerfectCreditFast.com.

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If you are currently trading for a living or want to take on trading as a future substitute of a current job, then you should remember to take trading as a business. You need to treat it as a business.

How are you going to treat trading as a business? You need to give some consideration to the fact that how you are going to deduct your monthly expenses such as your computer equipment, your quote feed, your DSL line, travel to investment conferences and continuing education seminars. You should think whether you need to form a private limited company or a public limited company.

This can help you save thousands of dollars annually. You should seek advice from a tax specialist so that you can take advantage of all the regular and necessary expenses as business deductions.

Many people jump into trading without giving any consideration to these issues. For them the target is to start making money as early as possible. They need not waste time on other non trading issues. After you have consistently started making money in the market, it would be heart breaking to know that you cannot make expense deductions that could literally save you thousands of dollars.

Lets see what your expenses can be as a forex trader: You need to have a room where you have the required peace for trading. Then you have to have equipment that includes desktop computers, printers, laptop for travel and so one. Lets say these things cost you $5000. Suppose you rent a small one room office that could cost you like $500-1000 per month.

A price quote feed might cost you something like $200 per month. You need a good DSL connection for your trading, $50 per month for the DSL expense. You attend an investment conference that might cost you $1000 roundtrip airfare plus $300 per night for the night stay at a hotel.

There will be many business entertaining expenses for you. If you have business entertaining expenses and went to two investment conferences per year, you could be taking as little as $5000 to $25,000 per year in actual business expenses that could be deducted if you are running trading as a business.

Do you have a business plan? What business plan you have in place to protect the money you make in the market. If you are a small time investor and decide that trading for a living is something that interests you, you should think do you have the financial resources, time and emotional makeup to trade full time.

You need to cover your cost of living expenses, mortgage payments as well as your business expenses. As a long term trader what will you do when the market conditions change according to your system or methods?

The forex market offers you a unique opportunity to participate on a pay as you go method because there are no commissions. Forex dealers provide free charts and quotes. But you have to cover the bid-ask spread each time you trade as a trading cost.

You need to keep this in mind that trading is not free. Suppose you are a day trader, you trade twice a day with a 2 pips bid-ask spread. Suppose you trade 10 lots ($100,000) each trade. So your daily trading cost will be $400 = (2) (2) (10) (10). If there are 200 trading days in a year, it means $80,000. Not to talk of your actual trading losses, first you need to cover $80,000 as your trading cost annually.

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Poor Credit Restoration – Tips for Raising Your Credit Score

Nowadays, lots of people are dealing with tons of debt and terrible credit scores. Unfortunately, poor credit can affect you in just about every area of your life. It may even make a difference when you are looking for a career, apartment, loan, or even looking to buy a home. If you have credit that is fairly negative, credit restoration my be a great option for you to consider. While it’s easy to let your credit score slip away, it’s a little more difficult to bring it back up to where it needs to be. Here are some helpful tips that can assist you when repairing or improving your credit.

Get Your Credit Report

The very first thing you will want to do if you are interested in restoring your credit is get a hold of a credit report. You need to be able to see what is on the report so you know the standing of your credit currently before you start the repair process. If there are items on the report that are not accurate or that are out of date, then you need to dispute it. This way you clean up that credit report and get things back on track.

Work Now to Establish Good Credit

If you are working on credit repair, it’s important that you work on establishing some good credit. It’s easy to add a few great accounts to your credit report that lenders can see. Having a checking account, a credit card account, and a single savings account is a great start. Don’t do any more than that. This will give the appearance that you are being more responsible and stable financially. As you make sure that you keep each of the accounts current and paid, you will be able to find that you can establish some great credit immediately.

Try Getting a Personal Loan

Having different types of credit on your credit report can be helpful for credit repair as well. When you show that you can deal with various types of credit, it helps to increase your credit score. Try taking out a small personal loan. Then quickly pay it off. It will not only show diversity in the type of credit you have, but it will show that you are managing your credit effectively as well.

These are just a few of the important ways that you can work on bad credit repair. Of course there are other ways that you can work on repairing bad credit as well. Start using these tips to get you started and work on building your way to a better financial future with great credit.

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Fixing a nice rating on your credit report puts you in a situation that is extremely favorable much more than those persons with less that great credit scores. First of all, you will be granted priority when you apply for loans. Secondly, the higher your score, the better interest rate you will receive. However, you can still increase your FICO score by taking a few steps to repair your file. They are as follows:

Learn the provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the law which protects consumers and ensures that reporting bureaus and information givers do not take advantage of consumer rights in the process or reporting information for your report.

Give attention to the three versions of your report, that is Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax reports. You do not want to be disillusioned that a negative account will be removed from one version simply because you got a repair agency to clean out damaging accounts from another. This often happens, understandably from the fact that not all creditors report to all three bureaus.

Apply for secured cards to help put some record of positive information on your file. A new account will be established based on getting a secured card and this will be reported to your file as long as you have some activity going on. But you should exercise restraint in how much you spend from the money allowed you on your card. This is because higher expenses results in deduction from your score, while lower expenses, which can be achieved by not spending more than 20 percent of your total, adds to your total.

You should never end your restoration process with the previous three measure only. Registration with a reputable credit repair agency can help in getting rid of years of negative records and return your file to a healthy state. Alternatively, using the self-help restoration method has worked for a lot of people, provided that discipline is applied.

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Your credit report is something that is very important. After all, you need it for various reasons. You need it to find out if you have a good credit score. You need it if you want to get a loan from anyone or if you want to buy a home or if you would just want to lease someplace.

Yeah, it is very important because it shows exactly how capable you are of handling your finances and just how great you can pay any of the payments you owe. And if your credit just goes berserk, then you are really going to have a hard time if you need to go to some establishment that asks you to show them your financial situation.

But the great thing is that as early as you find out that your credit score is gone bad, then you will actually start doing things to put your credit back into order. It might not be as easy as reciting a nursery rhyme but it most certainly is going to be a much easier thing than you might think it would normally be. All you need to do is remember some credit repair tips which professionals in the field have shared with all of us normal folks.

First of all, you have to know just how bad your credit standing really is. And make sure that you are ready to face everything that comes with repairing it. And when you are sure, then it is time to find someone who will help you out with the repair. Of course, you do not just hire someone. You need to find a person who is an expert with this thing and who can really help you out.

Most experts suggest that you find a lawyer who is in tune with the credit laws. That way, you are following the right road and probably get to the end of it all faster. You can take note of what he suggests and you two are going to be working together to get it all worked out.

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