Prepaid Cards are Actually Cheaper Than Bank Cards

Prepaid card businesses are once again being criticized by the Consumer Union, labeling it as a “bad deal” for customers. But the industry responds to the critics with conviction, saying that their loans cost lesser compared to banks.

Banks still continue to offer clients with debt-free accounts with their debit cards, and if you are responsible enough to handle your account, then it is the best value you can have for your money. There are banks like the First National Bank, St. Louise Community Credit Union, Royal Banks, Peoples National Bank, PNC Bank and many other banks that are based in St. Louise that still offer these no-fee checking account.

But if you are unable to qualify for these due to your credit history then, having a prepaid card can be the best alternative for you, although you have to pay for it of course.

Credit Unions always complain about the fees that seem to never stop coming when they open a prepaid card account. According to the complainants, they are only informed about a few fees when before they signed up for a card.

The fees would include a $3-$14.95 activation fee, monthly dues of $1.95- $9.95, withdrawal fees that range from $2 to $ 2.50, even inquiring your remaining balance would charge up t0 45 cents to a dollar. There are even those cards that would require you to pay a fee when you buy drinks or inquire in their customer hotline. About one third of prepaid cards even charge customers if they do not use their cards for a long time.

If all these small fees are accumulated then we could really see that these prepaid cards do require a lot of money to own and keep. But according to Bretton Woods consulting firm’s study, checking accounts have bounce checks that amounts to about $25 to $30. If Consumers Union actually considers these fees then it would mean that prepaid cards are cheaper compared to financial institutions like banks.

This is an important fact to consider since these prepaid cards are already taking the role of bank cards for millions of citizens in the United States.

Prepaid cards are like debit or credit cards which contains the amount of money that a costumer has deposited in it. Majority of then have the MasterCard and the Visa logo imprinted, owners can have their paychecks or other retirement pensions liked directly to the card, they can also reload with it cash.

Citibank and Jet Airways’s 13 Year Alliance Comes to an End

Jet Airways Ltd recently had to say goodbye to their 13 year credit card partner, Citibank. The bank has decided to have its own airline credit card and saw no further need to continue its credit alliance with the Indian airline company.

This decision was further established through the realization that airline industries had difficulties in keeping their customers loyal to only one airline company. This is according to Citibank India’s business manager Anand Selvakesari.

He further denied the allegations that the decision of the company was affected by Jet Airways’s current problem in the industry. According to data, the airline industries in India have been suffering from great losses in the past 3 years due to the continuing rise in the prices of fuels, airline companies’ stiff competition and the high airport fees.

According to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, Indian airline companies are going to be posing their accumulated loss of about $1.3-1.4 billion in their capital this calendar year

Jet Airways also has a low cost airline subsidiary called JetLite which increases the probability of the company to acquire customers.

Jet Airways also released a statement that they are planning to arrange with other banks to have a broader range of customers. This alliance was one of the oldest and longest that Citibank had in the country.

In 2007 the bank’s credit cards had declined from 3.2 million to only 2.2 million but it is consistently trying to regain its losses and improve their loans.

ICICI Bank Ltd, the greatest rival of the bank had an alliance like Citibank’s and Jet Airways with Kingfisher Airways. But Indian airline carriers are starting to open their doors to other financial partners to appeal to the masses and making their range of customers broader. This is move will be saving their airline industry from falling to even deeper peril.

New Law Requires Auto Dealers to Share Credit History

A new law has been passed by the United States District judge this week and this requires automobile dealers to share their bad credit history report to their clients. This gesture ensures the protection of costumers from automobile lenders’ high interest rates.

It is now mandatory for car dealers to supply transparency to their customers about their current financial standing even if it involves a third-party lender. District Judge Ellen Huvelle has required these companies to follow this new regulation to give caution to clients for the possibility that their automobile dealers might be unfairly charging them with high interest rates because of past credit status.

After the long altercation between the National Automobile Dealers Association, also known as the NADA and the Federal Trade Commission or the FTC, Judge Huvelle came with the decision to require car dealers to inform their buyers that they have had bad credit history.

Before the new law was passed, there already is a current law that required the dealers to inform their customers about their increase in the interest rate if it is caused by bad credit history. However, according to the NADA, a loan coming from a third-party persona like a financial institution was an exception to this law.

The FTC said that dealers were supposed to be obligated to share this crucial information with their clients and the Judge agreed. Getting an auto loan with bad credit is a very difficult task to accomplish, and customers are even bombarded with higher interest rates.

But it does not always have to be this way. There are ways for you not to be caught in a very high debt when you try to get a car. They include getting away with dealership finance.

One way is to turn to credit unions, though they may be strict in giving you a full credit history check, their automobile loans are very much cheaper than those offered by dealers.

Another way is to do face to face lending. This type of lending will allow you to find people who would be willing to lend you loans that have rates lower than auto dealers.

One last tip is to check your home equity loan. This will not only ensure you of a low interest rate it may even help you in your tax rate. However, if you are careless and you are not able to pay back the loan you do not only get your car repossessed, you also lose your house.

College Graduates in Danger of Not Getting Jobs Because of Student Debt

If you recently graduated from college, you more likely have a student debt of at least $25,000 and looking for a job. Those without a degree are instantly disqualified from the American job market. On the other hand, for those who have a degree, your hopes might be futile.

Ever since 2010, student loan debt has exceeded credit card loan debt and auto loan debt.

San Francisco State University students, who have federal student loans, have an average debt of $18,000. SFSU approximates its default rate to be over 5 percent for the next year. This default rate is lower than 8.8 percent which is the national average.

Failure in paying debts damages credit value, and job applicants with bankruptcy records are avoided by a few employers. Moreover, poor credit hinders a person to be able to get loans that can help put up a business or get loans for a car or house.

However, the sad truth is that federal student loans can be paid only after graduation and normally takes 20 years. This is why a few students stop pursuing their dreams because of the prospect that the unemployment rate for college graduates of this year will be 50 percent.

The country’s three richest people would have to give 4.5 percent of their respective incomes to maintain federal loan rates at their current point for all students. According to a recent study, 35 percent of the college expenses are paid by families. Thus, while higher education fees increase, household income decreases.

In addition, another problem is the country must have an education system that is appropriate with the economy and public welfare needs.

These issues must be solved as soon as possible because if not, the next generations of graduates will only end up overwhelmed with misery. There must be an improved educational system that is within the means of all income groups.

Protect Your Children’s Identity from Being Stolen

Can you imagine a pre-schooler owning a car and having debts amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars? And think of a teenager having a yacht and lots of credit.

These cases are real according to NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit. A lot of children are growing up having debts because their identities were stolen. The bad effects on these children with stolen identity are bad credit, bad background, loan that were defaulted and lost opportunities. It also costs families of these children $13 billion every year.

The researchers believe that these people who are stealing children identities are involved in an organized crime and illegal immigration. They target the social security number, birthdates and other vital information that could be used.

Identity theft of children below five years old has increased by 105% versus last year according to the research made by AllClear ID.

The CyLab of Carnegie Mellon University has conducted a study which shows that 10.2 % of the 43,000 children they checked had their identity stolen. The CyLab study was the first to conduct the first large scale study on stolen identity of children. While the 10.2% may seem a small percentage, this is 51 times than the stolen identity of adults according to CyLab.

One of the victims is ten- year-old Reilly Dennedy. Reilly’s mother said that the identity of his child was stolen 11 years before Reilly was born. It was easy for the thieves to use social security numbers because the numbers are released sequentially. At present the social security numbers are not anymore released sequentially.

It was found out by Dennedy with the help of police that one thief used Reilly’s name to acquire credit and another used her social security number to put up a utility account.

According to Cylab, the thieves used the stolen identity to buy large items like homes, cars, boats and even to get loans and employment.

The victims have never found out who stole their identity.

Dennedy is the Chief Privacy Officer at Mcdee. He is also the founder of The Identity Project, a website which educates people on how to avoid identity theft. But it is ironic that his family is a victim of this theft. He said he never thought it could happen to his family.

The crime is fast growing because not enough penalties are imposed on those who are involved in the crime, according to Dennedy. Parents have to be very careful in protecting their children’s identities including the infants.

The CyLab recommends that

* Creditors must do careful and detailed background checking.

* Parents should secure safely the social security number of their children.

* Parents should educate their children at early age about Cyber security and to secure and protect their social security number.

* The cyber risk of children should be checked regularly to find out whether their identities are secured and not stolen.