Prepaid Cards: More than Just Budgeting and Control Category Rss Feed - http://www.ezine-articles.co.uk/rss.php?rss=62

By : Divya Sharma Submitted 2010-01-06 23:19:25

Originally launched over 10 years ago as a budgeting tool for youngsters shopping and gaming online, Prepaid Credit Cards have come a long way since with a host of mature prepaid propositions which help you do more than just budget your spend. - What are Prepaid Cards Prepaid Debit Cards or Prepaid Credit Cards, as they are also known, are essentially like bank issued debit or credit cards but with one or two major differences; unlike bank issued cards, there is no credit or overdraft facility and you can only spend using your prepaid card once you have loaded it with the appropriate funds. Hence, they are essentially a "pay before" solution. - The Original Prepaid Card: Budgeting and Control Prepaid Cards were originally introduced to the UK around the time of the dot-com boom when it started to become clear that youngsters would be spending a significant proportion of their time online - shopping, gaming and chatting. A few innovative businesses realised that they would need a tool to allow these youngsters to make purchases online and hence, prepaid cards were introduced with a relatively low level of regulation and sophistication. The obvious benefits of these cards were that they allowed youngsters the freedom to manage their finances and develop money management skills and whilst also allowing them to learn about financial responsibility in a controlled environment where they would not be able to overspend or get into financial difficulty. Furthermore, it allowed parents to use online account management tools to monitor balance, spend and transaction history thus giving them the comfort that they were still in control. Hence, the original prepaid cards proved extremely popular as tools for budgeting and control but there is a lot more to prepaid cards than just budgeting. - Prepaid Cards Today: Benefits beyond Budgeting As the prepaid market has matured, so have the products. We now have specific cards for travel, money transfer, poor credit history, shopping, gifting, youth and the use of prepaid cards has extended beyond just consumers to businesses that are using prepaid cards as payroll and expenses cards as well as payout cards. Some of the ways that growing prepaid industry maturity has helped extend the benefits of Prepaid Card beyond just budgeting include usage as - A prepaid card for rewards or discounts as there are a few exceptional prepaid cards which provide discounts across shopping, groceries, petrol and other day to day purchases. - A General Spend card for those who don't have a bank account, or are newcomers to the UK and do not have a credit rating. - As a Travel Card for those that are going abroad and prefer to carry cash on a card or are looking for a better rate than that provided by high street exchange bureaus. - As a Money Transfer or Money Share card for those who wish to share their funds with friends and family around the world - As an Internet Payment Card for risk averse spenders who do not wish to shop online with their credit/debit cards or for those who do not have a credit/debit card to be able to avail online shopping offers. - As an Anonymity Card for those who wish to protect their identity online from fraudsters or are keen to avoid embarrassing bank statements - As a Payroll and Expenses card for those employee's who want their wages to be paid on a card and save cheque cashing fees or those employer's who want to pay their staff using a card instead of cash/cheque What is clear is that whether it is the benefits of prepaid cards for budgeting or beyond, there is definitely a good enough reason for everyone to have a prepaid card in their pocket.

Author Resource:- Compare and Review Prepaid Debit Cards at Prepaid365 and read about the benefits and competitions of our top prepaid gift card pick for mums. Divya Sharma is the author and senior editor at Prepaid365 - the UK's prepaid card comparison portal.

Article From Ezine-Articles

Tips on How to Repair Your Credit

If you find inaccuracies on your credit report, the responsibility lies with you to begin the correction process. You must write letters explaining what the problems are and how you want them fixed.

There are more credit mistakes on credit reports than you can possibly imagine. The first step is obviously to get a copy of your report.

Then you must go over it with a fine toothed comb to ensure accuracy. Once you find a problem you need to address it with the specific creditor.

Remember that each credit reporting agency maintains its own database of information. So one agency may report something inaccurately while another may have it correct.

In many cases this means to remove an item that has made its way onto each bureaus agency report, an individual must write three sets of letters and follow the process through with all three different agencies in order to be sure an item comes off from the reports. Once notified of a problem an agency will contact the creditor or reporter of the item in question and seek a response regarding the accuracy of the item.

A general rule is also that you must report one item per correspondence. This cuts down on any confusion that may come from reporting multiple errors.

Once you find you have completed the task of notifying the agencies, follow up once again or check the report again. Just because a letter has been written and a creditor has not responded within a given time frame does not mean that the agency will remove the report without further follow up and an additional correspondence.

On the other hand keep in mind changes may take a month or more to appear on a report. While the process for proper credit reporting is in place, assuring accuracy of your own credit report rests with you.

Sometimes one of the best ways to improve your credit score is to do nothing. That is one of the few things in life that work this way!

The simple passing of time can be a big reliever to your credit score once negative items have ended on your report. The only disadvantage to this is that you must be patient and let time pass to fix your report.

Even those with the best of credit cannot buy more time or speed the passing of time. Generally the date used to trigger the passing of time in this context starts with the date of the last activity of the account.

Honestly, one of the best ways to keep your credit score, and report, in tip top shape is to stay out of trouble! Repeating your poor credit habits will just cause you more headaches in the future.

Creditors can be somewhat understanding of a bad credit incident, if corrected. This can be particularly true when the bad credit originated with problems outside of the debtors control such as emergency medical bills.

Repeated bad credit behavior is indicative of a problem you have with deeper roots. If you want your credit to improve, be good with your new credit and your old credit.

This means taking care to know what is going on with your report and to make sure your payments are on time. On time means never being 30 days late.

At fifteen days you may pay a late fee, but late items must hit 30 days overdue before they will be reported. Using credit does not mean abusing it, you need not run the card up to its limit.

To accelerate the rebuilding process try to have at least three active credit lines open, and be perfect with them. Car loans or mortgages count if you still make payments, as well as old credit cards if they can still be used.

Make sure when taking a new credit for rebuilding purposes that the creditor reports to the major credit agencies. Not all creditors submit information to the credit bureaus, and almost no debit card or check card issuers do, even ones with a MasterCard or Visa logo. Author Resource:- Jack R. Landry is a former creditor and has worked in the credit bureau business for 16 years helping individuals repair bad credit. He has been a guest lecturer for over 11 years.

Contact Info:
Jack R. Landry
JackRLandry@gmail.com http://www.SwiftCreditRepair.com

How To Become Financially Responsible

At a time when financial security is anything but secure, it is important to take several precautions to become more financially responsible and to better prepare for the future. In our contemporary culture, it seems there are a million ways to spend our money, and even more bills and obligations that seem to bleed our paychecks dry. Being financially responsible has never been an easy task, but it's effort that's worth taking. Once you've made the commitment to manage your finances more wisely, you can use the following suggestions to take control of your life and finally have the peace of mind that comes with becoming financially stable. Get Out of Debt The first step in becoming financially secure is to get out of debt. There are a variety of different forms of debt, but the only acceptable kind of ongoing debt for the financially wise is a home mortgage. And the worst kind of debt a person can have is credit card debt. Credit cards have astronomically high interest rates, and it has been proven that if people only make the minimum payments on their credit card bills, the interest charges will add up so that they will never be able to pay off the credit card. Credit card debt is financially destructive because you end up paying more money in interest, which means you're paying money that could and should be going toward something else more valuable. If the temptation to use your credit cards proves too strong, you may want to consider getting rid of them and just using a debit card to pay for your expenses. You may think this sounds limiting, but that's exactly the point. If you limit what you spend, you will have more money for what is truly important. Going into debt for purchases other than a home should be done only after careful consideration. Going into debt even for a vehicle is not a wise idea. Cars depreciate in value so quickly that when you buy a car, you should plan on driving it for several years. And it's just not worth your money to buy an expensive car that will depreciate quickly. Choose a reliable car that you can afford, and drive it for as long as possible. The best way to manage your debt is to follow an accelerated debt reduction program, where you pay off your smallest debt first and then work on your other debts. More details about an accelerated debt reduction program and how it works can be found on a variety of financial websites and from financial advisors. There are also a variety of other debt management services available, including Christian debt management. With Christian debt management people can receive financial assistance in ways that harmonize with their beliefs and philosophies. Downsize and Downgrade Another step to take on the road to becoming financially responsible is to downsize and downgrade. Examine your possessions and decide what you can live without, as well as what is too extravagant for your needs. For instance, is your home too big for you and your family? Or, is your car more expensive than it needs to be? If so, downgrade. Consider moving to a smaller, more affordable home and to perhaps drive an older model of vehicle. Or better yet, take public transportation or ride a bike and save enormous amounts of money on transportation expenses. Aside from these major downgrades, people should also evaluate how much money they spend on food and make adjustments if necessary. For those who are struggling financially, going out to eat on a regular basis is unwise. You can make your own meals at home for only a fraction of the cost. Keep a Budget If you are not sure where your money is going, try keeping a budget. You don't have to schedule where you're money should be spent; rather, you should just keep track of what you're spending your money on. This way you can become more aware of what you're spending your money on and where you can make needed cuts and adjustments. Because the best way to save money is to stop spending it. Saving Money Once you've made any necessary adjustments to your daily spending behavior and have gotten out of unnecessary debt, the next step toward becoming more financially secure is to save money. Ideally, you should aim to save enough money to be able to live for three months without any income. This provides a measure of security in case something happens and you are unable to work for a period of time. When saving money, the first steps are to set up a savings account and then to determine to not withdraw money from it, unless in a time of dire emergency. Making saving money a habit will also help ensure that you meet your goals. Determine a certain percentage of your paycheck to set aside each month or pay period, and put that money into your savings count. Savings accounts often gain interest, and the more money you put in, the more money you can make, so that even a small amount, such as 10%, can make a big difference in the long run. As you may have noticed, being financially responsible doesn't allow for a lot of self-indulgence or unnecessary purchases. That's not to say that you can't budget in a little fun here and there, but it does mean that you must recognize that your secure financial future is more important than momentary frivolity. By being willing to sacrifice and follow the above suggestions toward becoming more financially secure, you can be more confident in your ability to face the future and have a stronger peace of mind that you and your family will be taken care of during troubling times.

Author Resource:- Christianinfoondebts (http://www.christianinfoondebts.org/) is a Christian debt management. Art Gib is a freelance writer.

Article From Ezine-Articles