Identity theft has been a rapidly increasing problem in recent years. Often banks and credit card companies will send you all sorts of documents and applications (mostly not requested) only for it to be put in the trash. That was until we were told to tear up all these documents on the premise that this would help protect against identity fraud.
Well, according to (NBC News) you can think again.
“With five applications, and a little muscle, we started ripping. Scotch taped them back together. And wrote around the tape filling out the application the way an identity thief might if he’d been digging in our garbage.
The result is a messy, crooked, patchwork each time. Who would possibly give a credit card based on this type of application?
The answer: Some of the biggest banks in America. Of our five taped-up applications, three returned new credit cards to us - lines of credit worth more than 21-thousand dollars.”
According to KSL.com:
In a statement, chase card services says it has “rigorous policies” for handling applications and a “special handling process” for the rare torn applications. In this case, however, “it is clear to us our procedures were not entirely followed for this particular application...and we are investigating.”
For the two cards it issued, Bank of America, which merged with MBNA, says the applications “both went through the proper verification processes” and that “the signature, social security number and birth date matched” a (current) customer with excellent credit.
I guess, the moral of this story is to invest in a cross shredder!
According to Morgan Stanley Cashback credit cards are the number one reward option selected by customers.
Recently produced figures indicate 70% prefer cashback, 21% prefer retail discounts and 5% prefer travel perks and incentives.
Morgan Stanley say in their report:
“Loyalty and reward schemes are becoming increasingly important for customers and represent the most important consideration for 29% of cardholders who have recently switched or are planning to do so. This means that reward programmes offering bonuses such as cashback are not far behind interest rates (31%) as the primary concern for consumers.”
Patrick Muir, marketing director of Morgan Stanley consumer banking, said:
“With the majority of people paying off their credit cards in full every month, using a credit card with a reward scheme really makes sense,” he commented.
“With focus shifting away from short-term offers, the popularity of reward schemes is no surprise.”
(Via the Thrifty Scot)
I guess it’s a question of “home sweet home” when it comes to racking up expenditure on UK credit cards over Christmas.
Morgan Stanley’s recent research suggests “A total of £344 is predicted to be spent by the average Briton on their house and vehicles.”
“Groceries, at a cost of £339, are expected to be the second largest area of credit card expenditure.
Overall, Britons will spend an average of £1,270 on their credit cards between October and December 2006, Morgan Stanley indicates.”
(Via QCK.com)
With so many attractive credit deals out there these days, it can be exceedingly hard resisting the temptation to load yourself up with more plastic. Offers like 0% interest for six months, frequent flyer miles, cash rebates, shopping discounts and even charity donations are offered to tempt you into taking a particular credit card.
This is all good news for financially savvy consumers. However, for those of us who operate up to 50 credit cards this could all add up to one hell of a financial headache.
Some of us are saying enough is enough and getting out while they can.
Susan Morris of Pittsburgh Tribune Review is someone doing just that and here’s why:
“The reason is simple: having multiple cards makes it too easy to get into financial trouble.”
Consider the following:
• Each card has its own credit cycle. If you have several cards to pay off each month, it’s easy to forget the different due dates.
• There is a huge spread in the different cards’ finance charges. It makes sense to limit your card use to the one(s) with the lowest fees.
• Rather than improving your credit score, having multiple cards can actually hurt your credit status. Lenders assume, correctly or not, that holding multiple credit cards increase the risk of your going into debt.
• You don’t impress anyone with the number of cards you have. Credit reporting agencies are primarily interested in how promptly you pay your bills, not in the number of credit cards in your wallet.
Posted by Peter Brady on Mon 20th November 2006 at 10:25 AM, Filed in Credit News
Recent figures from Australia’s Financial Services Ombudsman (BFSO) indicate that complaints about credit cards have increased in the past 12 months, according to new figures. This seems to echo a global discontent with credit card companies and some of their sharper practices.
Ombudsman Colin Neave released the 2005-06 annual report in Melbourne and said that “for the fifth consecutive year credit card disputes have dominated the number of complaints to his office.”
They accounted for 37.5 per cent of complaints about banking products.
Mr Neave said “33,559 telephone calls were made by consumers to BFSO case officers during the past financial year an increase of more than three per cent on the previous reporting year.”
Consistent with many other countries there was also an “increase in consumers experiencing financial over-commitment and hardship because they had been signed to a product, such as a credit card, which they could not afford to make the repayments on.”
(Via The Age)
