Credit Card Blog

Intuit has just made it easy to process card payments anytime, anywhere. GoPayment, Intuit’s new mobile credit card processing software, lets you take credit card payments on your cell phone or other mobile device. All you have to do is swipe the customer’s credit card using a blue-tooth enabled card reader, and all of the card details populate a form on your cell phone. Then you send off the payment for approval, and the sale is done.

GoPayment will be convenient for small businesses that don’t operate from a traditional office setting. You can choose a card reader that has a built-in printer for on-the-spot receipts, or you can send customers their receipt through e-mail or text message.

The GoPayment card swiper is small enough to easily fit in a shirt pocket, while the card reader with built-in printer can comfortably clip on a belt. Card details can also be entered manually. GoPayment is available for a set-up fee of $59.95 and a monthly charge of $19.95. It can be used on any cell phone with mobile web browser software.

You can view Intuit’s GoPayment product demo here.

It is obvious to state that if you are laid off from your job, you immediately go into conservation mode. Most workers are not afforded the advantage of having advance notice of a job layoff, but economic indicators tell us that we all are vulnerable.

Consider that Whirlpool Corporation just announced that they will close their plant in Evansville, Indiana, Idling more than 1100 workers. The closing will come in the summer of 2010. Far more serious than a layoff, these people will have no jobs in less than 12 months. So the best thing to do is to plan now for the worst that is to come.

Pay off Credit Cards- If you have money with which you can pay off cards then by all means, do so. Use the method that makes sense for you by paying off the balances that are costing you the most in interest and other fees, or by paying off the small ones first and rolling your payments towards the larger balance cards.

Save Money- Begin to save money into a liquid account as soon as you can (if you are not already). A savings account will work ok, but if you know you have a long period of time in which to do this, you might consider a higher interest yielding account for this purpose.

Stay Away from 401k- Avoid raiding your 401k or other retirement money to use for paying bills. The only possible exception to this is if you are under 30 years of age, and you can use what you have built up to completely pay off your unsecured and possibly auto loans. Even at that it is not recommended.

Begin looking for another position with another company right away. Do not wait until the layoff or job loss hits. Polish your resume and hit the streets.

Turn on your monitoring activities. You have probably heard this before, but it is the one thing that you can do right now and it’s free. Monitor EVERY account that you have, and do it OFTEN.

Monitor Credit Card Activity Watch your credit card account activity carefully (WEEKLY). There are some identity thieves that are stealing small dollar amounts (between $6 and $12) out of thousands of accounts. You might be surprised at the number of people who refuse to do anything about that small amount. At least have your credit card number changed so that it does not happen again. In fact, change your credit card number every several months to help keep you from being a victim.

Monitor Checking and Savings Watch the activities on your checking and savings accounts (EVERY FEW DAYS). Avoid giving out your bank routing number and checking/savings account numbers to creditors. If you pay with your credit card number, it can be turned off and a new one issued with little interruption to you. Getting a new checking and saving accounts are major hassles.

Monitor Credit Reports Performing a weekly check of your credit report is too much overkill. But, depending on your comfort level, a quarterly check is definitely not overkill. At the very least, an annual check is mandatory.

Remember, this is your financial health we are speaking about, and your money is at stake. The bad things that can happen to you not only include incredible inconveniences, but also loss of money that will be almost impossible to replace. The old adage of “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” applies.

Looking for new and innovative ways to stay out of credit card trouble? Most of the good ideas have been presented, but here is one that might help. This one involves your behavior and attitudes towards credit cards.

Continue in Crisis Mode

Even though things might be improving and you can see the credit market beginning to open back up, continue to operate as thought there is a crisis. That means, continue to pay down your balances and aggressively clean up your credit. Be vigilant about credit card accounts that you have – do not open any more.

Keep extra income flowing as long as you can. If you have taken on a part-time job or jobs that are bringing in some much needed additional money, keep working them. Use that extra money to reduce debt and build up savings.

Retain the expense savings efforts that you began months ago. In reality, these might be things that you will want to embrace as positive lifestyle changes. These include shopping with coupons as well as more price consciously, shopping at thrift stores and yard sales.

Doing this along with other energy savings ideas can help you keep more of your money and when it comes time to pay bills, you will actually have some cash that is left over.

Using a mindset of intensity towards reducing your credit card and other debt will go a long way to helping you become more financially stable, even when times get better. Think of how much better off you will be then.

It’s a problem that many card holders have faced lately: interest rates are increasing across the board, even for long-time customers who’ve never missed a payment. When faced with such a situation, card holders have two choices. They can keep the card and agree to the higher rate of interest, or they can close the account and pay off their balance at the previous low rate.

It’s not a choice many people are happy with, especially since closing credit accounts can affect your FICO score. But experts insist that closing the account won’t do much harm to your credit score, since your credit report will keep the history of that account for several years after it’s closed. Since the length of your credit history is one factor in your overall credit score, this is welcome news to card holders who want to dump their high-interest cards.

One warning: as credit standards continue to tighten, it might be difficult to get approved for another credit card, especially at a low interest rate. If you only have one or two cards and don’t plan to carry a  monthly balance, you might be better off keeping your accounts open for now.