Credit Card Blog

The FTC is suing CompuCredit, a company that provides credit cards targeted to individuals with lower credit scores and poor credit histories.  The system CompuCredit uses to determine eligibility for credit is being questioned.  While the company seems to take into consideration most of the normal factors for obtaining credit- like how long you’ve had credit, whether or not you’ve exceeded credit limits and whether you make your payments on time- they also have some strange factors to determine eligibility.

CompuCredit also factors what people buy with their credit cards to determine whether or not to extend credit to people.  Customers who use their credit cards to pay for marriage counselors are denied credit; as are individuals who pay for massage parlors,  billiard halls, or their bar tabs on credit.

It seems credit companies can do whatever they want.  At least the FTC is taking action with a lawsuit against this company for it’s strange approval processes, but I can’t help but wonder how much of this type of “stuff” is factored into our actual credit scores?  If it’s possible for a credit card company to use this information to deny or approve credit, it is probably just as possible for a credit report agency to use such information in the calculation of our credit score or history?

Using your credit cards sometimes offers good deals, even if you aren’t counting on the credit card rewards program.  Here are two promotions your travels might let you take advantage of:

Receive $25 off a round trip flight through Southwest when you purchase a Southwest gift card with a value of at least $100.  Purchase the giftcard online with your Visa card before June 30th to qualify (only United States issued Visa cards will qualify).  The $25 discount must be applied on Southwest tickets purchased between July 1 and Aug 30th, and you must purchase your tickets with at least seven days advanced notice of the date of travel.
Go to www.southwest.com/rapidrewards/giftcardvisa.html for more info. 

Get a $25 Visa gift card when you pay for your Marriott Hotel and Resort reservation with your Visa credit card.  Staying on a Friday or Saturday is required, and you must give code “V12″ when booking your hotel stay.  There are some restrictions.  Visit www.marriott.com for more info.

I heard about these deals through Tom Parsons of The Dallas Morning News.

RedBox is like a gumball machine for DVD rentals.  It’s one of the newer inventions that allow people to rent a DVD for $1 a night.  They’re found inside grocery stores and other retail areas.  People who want to rent a movie simply swipe their credit card, make a selection and out comes the DVD.  You can also order your DVD online and pick it up at any RedBox location.  When you’re done with the movie, you just return it to any RedBox location- not necessarily the one you rented it from.

Recently, RedBox announced the discovery of an illegal credit card skimmer attached to one of their RedBox locations, as well as several other locations that appeared to show attempts of skimming.  The skimmer is a unit that a criminal has installed so that when a consumer swipes their credit card, the card details are transmitted not only to the company you are making a purchase from; but also to the criminal who has intercepted the card details.  The skimmer on the RedBox found was immediately removed and reported on the RedBox company website so that individuals could check their records and make sure they hadn’t been victimized.

While super convenient, our credit card security is still a little less secure than we’d like for things like vending machine credit card acceptance.  If you use RedBox, here are the reported locations of the skimming and attempted skimmings:

- 1101 South Rural Road, Tempe, AZ (device removed before retrieval by perpetrator)
- 1620 El Paseo Road, Las Cruces, NM (evidence of skimming attempt)
- 2330 East Lohman Avenue, Las Cruces, NM (evidence of skimming attempt)

In a Montana casino, a single gambler used his credit card to obtain cash advances, with which he then used the money to gamble. The casino reported the cash advances as food or beverage sales, with each transaction between $50 and $600.

This is actually against the law in Montana, as the law prohibits gambling on credit. The idea is, a gambler might walk into a casino and lose everything he has in his pocket or bank account; but can’t lose his shirt because he isn’t able to run up a credit tab for gambling losses.

The casino had to pay fines, return the money to this particular gambler, and make a donation to the Montana Council on Problem Gambling. The law is becoming more strict, and every month a few new cases around Montana are investigated.

Other states have similar laws designed to protect individuals who have a problem with gambling. They keep taking out more money thinking they can recover the money they lost in previous gambling attempts.

By now you’ve heard of the iPhone, and maybe you even got some money back for purchasing it on your credit card at the original $599 price only to see the price drop to $399 10 weeks later (see that blog post here: http://blog.creditorweb.com/index.php/2007/09/10/bought-a-600-iphone-on-your-credit-card-get-your-200-back/)  

Have you heard of the upcoming G-Phone? It’s kind of a nickname.  Google isn’t really calling it a G-Phone, because they’re not really creating a phone device.  Instead, they’re working on software that helps cell phone users access Google services easier- including searching, email and maps.You’re thinking we already can do all that, right?  Google’s plans are a bit different.  Apple maybe revolutionized cell phones and how they can be so much more than just a mobile telephone- but Google plans to revolutionize the industry of phones. 

Although things are still a little hush-hush, it’s looking like Google’s approached a few leading cell phone manufacturers about building cell phones that are tailored to Google software… and soon your phones might be displaying commercials.

Commercials on cell phones?

Eric Schmidt, the Chief executive of Google, has been quoted saying that mobile phones should be free for people who agree to watch ads on their cell phone screens (that are about the size of a credit card and let you use them like a touch screen, shrinking and zooming in web pages among the regular cell phone features). A specific announcement could come as early as this week from Google and potential plans to partner with Verizon’s network.  

According to Times Online, a European news web site, “Mobile advertising is a rapidly growing market. Analysts Frost & Sullivan predict the mobile-advertising market in America alone will generate $2.1 billion (£1 billion) in revenue by 2011 compared with $301m in 2006.”

Would you stop charging your cell phone bills to your credit cards each month in exchange for watching advertisements on your cell phone?

It’s no secret that college students often find themselves with a mountain of credit card debt to go along with their college diploma. All over the United States, credit card issuers set up shop right on college campuses- enticing students to sign up for their credit card by giving away prizes and bonuses, sometimes as good as ipods or other high-ticket items.

Assembly Bill 262 is now on the California Governor’s desk. If its approved, part of that bill will put a stop to credit card companies setting up tables or otherwise hanging out on university campuses with their bag of tricks and prizes to lure the students into signing the dotted line.

We are excited to be launching our blog. For years Creditor Web has been providing you with informative articles on managing your credit cards and making wise financial decisions. Here you will find posts having to do more with interesting findings in the credit card industry rather than how-to type articles. We hope you enjoy our posts and find them both informational and entertaining.