4 Store Credit Cards that Can Help Rebuild Your Credit

Using store credit cards may not offer the same value as conventional credit cards, still they are an effective way for consumers looking to mitigate their credit problems. If your credit score is low, a store credit can be a good option for you to rebuild your credit, as they are easily available than normal credit cards for which consumers need to have an adequate credit score. In addition, store credit cards are also a good alternative to subprime credit cards that carry higher interest rates. In this blog post, we have listed four store credit cards that you can use to get some significant discounts as well as improve your credit score.

1. MY BEST BUY Reward Zone Credit Card

MY BEST BUY credit card comes in two categories — MY BEST BUY CREDIT CARD and MY BEST BUY VISA CARD. Though both the cards offer a five percent back in rewards as well as promotional financing, the later also allows two percent back in rewards for dining, grocery, and gas purchase, outside Best Buy. You can use the MY BEST BUY VISA card to get one percent back in rewards for everyday purchases as well. The BEST BUY Mastercard has no annual fee.

Note: The reward you get for gas purchases on MY BEST BUY VISA is only available through April 2016.

2. Walmart Credit Card

Just like MY BEST BUY credit card, consumers don’t have to pay any annual fee to get this store credit card. Though the card does not offer substantial rewards, they get customers some discounts on gas and special financing offers. Unlike some of the other store cards, the Walmart credit card gives its applicants the privilege to also receive a monthly update of their FICO credit scores.

3. Kohl’s Charge Card

Kohl’s Charge provides its credit card applicants discounts at least 12 times a year. You receive a 20 percent discount on your first purchase. In addition, when you become their MVC or Most Valued Customer, you receive six more offers every year. Applicants don’t have to pay any fee to sign up for or use this credit card.

4. Lowe’s Consumer Credit Card

Consumers can use this store credit card to either get a five percent discount on everyday shopping or sign up for a 12-month or 18-month special financing. No interest is charged to your account till the moment you settle the card’s payments within 12 or 18 months, depending on the financing option you have chosen. The Walmart credit card attracts no credit fee. In addition, Lowe’s credit cardholders can also combine the special financing options with the five percent discount till their purchase values meet the minimum purchase threshold.

Conclusion

Store credit cards can be a great way to rebuild credit and resolve your credit score problem as the benchmark credit score to sign up for them is not as high as that required for conventional credit cards. However, these cards often have high interest and, therefore, should be used judiciously. In fact, it’s ideal to consult a professional offering credit repair services before you sign up for a store credit card or look for other ways to restore your credit.

3 Key Tips to Wisely Use a Credit Card

Getting a credit card may be easy, but using it smartly could be difficult. Depending on how consumers use their credit cards develops good or bad spending habits. Responsible use of credit cards increases the credit score and makes people eligible to secure mortgages and auto loans at lower interest rate. On the other hand, reckless or unplanned use of credit card leads to bad credit and consumers might end up spending thousands of dollars paying for late fees and interests.

Ways to Avoid Credit Card Pitfalls

Proper financial planning might help consumers get through a monetary crisis without causing a dent to their credit score. It is always better to set certain rules on usage and repayment of a credit card to achieve financial stability. Here are a few tips that might help an individual manage credit card wisely:

1) Regular Payments

Debtors need to pay off their credit card balance every month, without a fail. Clearing the dues every month eliminates the need to pay interest on the purchase made using the credit card. To avoid paying monthly interest, they need to keep track of their expenses and avoid overspending.

2) Don’t Skip Payments

If you have a significant balance on the credit card, look for ways to get out of the debt. Try to make the minimum payment every month because missing out on a payment will cause late payment fees, and affect your credit score.

3) Don’t Spend Over 30 percent of Credit Limit

Keep the credit utilization rate of your credit card below 30 percent to maintain a healthy credit score. The credit utilization rate is inversely proportional to your credit score, which makes it all the more important to check your spending. Someone with a credit card limit of $2000 should try to keep the balance below $600.

 

Many consumers often discard the idea of owning a credit card by seeing its negative impact on their credit score. Let’s learn why having a credit card isn’t a bad thing:

 

• Many credit cards offer reward programs such as miles point and cash back, which may be useful for the card owner.
• Plastic money might protect card owners from losing any money due to theft. Even if you lose your credit card, you would not have to pay for the fraudulent charges if the thief maxes out the credit limit.
• When you make timely payment of credit card bills every month, it improves your credit score and builds a positive credit history. The habit of making on-time payments may help you get a home or auto loan at a lower interest rate.

 

There are two key aspects of successfully manage your finances and the credit score. Firstly, never spend more than what you are supposed to pay at the end of the month. Secondly, if you use the credit card to borrow money, it is essential to make a payment schedule in advance to pay off the balance in the shortest possible time.

4 Common Issues with Credit Cards you Might Face

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. This applies to a good extent with credit cards as well. The reason, while credit cards are great finance tools that bestow us with borrowing power, they also pose threats of penalties and interests if you do not use them wisely. Worry not, however, as the common credit card problems are easy to solve. We discuss 4 of them and their solutions through this blog.

Payment Decline

It really gets on your nerves when you see your credit purchase declined. While this could be either due to an exhausted credit line or a late payment, you should immediately contact your credit card company in such a case. As a way forward, it is, therefore, ideal to always contact your credit card company before swiping your card for a big purchase or travelling to a foreign country. At the same time, try to avoid making repeated charges (of identical payments) to the same merchant during a single visit.

Late or Missing Payment

Handling a credit card is a great responsibility. You miss one payment and it accompanies costly late fees and penalties with it, thereby adding to your debt. To beat such odds, either go for an automatic bill payment method, if your credit offers it, or use email and text alerts to pay your payments on time. You may also consider a credit card that doesn’t penalize for late payments. At the same time, use free credit reports online—log on to http://www.annualcreditreport.com –to ensure everything is in place. In case of any errors, contact a professional credit restoration company for help.

High Annual Fees

Not all, but most credit cards carry a high annual fees that, at times, can be too much to handle for cardholders.  To address this issue, contact your card issuer requesting him to waive off the fee. Depending on your rapport, and credit worth, the lender may either waive this fee off or present a retention offer in the form of miles or additional points. The option is to transition your existing card to a credit card that does not carry an annual fees.

Too Much Debt

Though credit cards increase your borrowing power, their ineffective utilization may land you into a debt-trap hard to get out of. No wonder why good credit restoration companies always emphasize to maintain a low credit-utilization and debt-to-income ratio. If you have a lot of debt to pay, put a stop to your credit cards for a while and use other modes of payments. You may then apply for a new credit card that does not levy any interest on the balance transfer.

Conclusion

While using a credit card responsibly helps you avoid late fees, penalties and increase your credit line, avoiding to settle your payments timely reverses the situation. To ensure that credit cards never becomes a burden and continue to serve you for what they are meant for, monitor your credit reports regularly, and implement sound debt management strategies.  At the same time, look for errors that deteriorate your credit report, and get the errors rectified as soon as possible.

Secure Your Future with a Better Credit Score

Emmett Pinkston spent 30 years in the military. He likes to boast about his high-level security clearance that would give him direct access to the White House. However, the irony is that he couldn’t get hired to check baggage at the airport. The officials at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) turned him down as his credit report had negative details. This is the impact that a low credit score can have on your employment as well as financial plans.

In order to avoid such embarrassing moments due to a poor credit score, you need an appropriate solution. The most ideal one could be hiring the services of a professional credit repair agency. Repairing bad credit will help you avoid the situation mentioned above. They take all the necessary steps to remove negative details from your credit report and also dispute any inaccuracies that your credit report may have.

The Impact of a Bad Credit Rating

A bad credit rating can have a negative impact on your borrowing options. Defaulted payments and past bankruptcy can leave blemishes on your credit report. Apart from these, debits on energy bills and missing credit card payments could also have an impact on your credit score. This can have an adverse effect on your future financial plans, especially when you are trying to secure credit.

Credit agencies compile your credit report from a number of sources like the electoral roll and how effectively you have paid your past bills. The lenders decide whether or not to provide you with a loan depending on your credit score that is displayed.

A Secure Future with Credit Repair

Regardless of the credit mistakes that you have made in the past, a credit repair agency can provide you with accurate information and assistance to have a better future. A better credit score will enable you to unlock a number of financial opportunities. Whether you plan to buy a car with the latest features or own a beautiful home in the lovely neighborhood, a credit repair agency will help you in fulfilling the dream.

A higher credit score will help you get the best rates when you plan to take out a mortgage loan. A professional credit repair agency will take all the necessary steps to determine whether there are any discrepancies in your credit report. They will also guide on how to maintain your credit score.

It’s important to ensure that your credit score is accurate and taking the effective steps to improve it will help you to get the best mortgage loan as well as credit card. A credit repair agency can help you out in this process.

The Impact of a Low Credit Score on Your Investment Decisions

Managing your credit is a difficult task. This is the reason why it is important to keep track of your credit score and credit report. While your credit report tracks your credit history, your credit score calculates and predicts your credit risk to lenders. Your credit score can range from 300 to 850.

A low credit score indicates that you are at a high risk of not paying your debts. Few lending agencies will give you a loan if you have a low credit score. This is the reason people look for a credit repair agency to help them to fix their credit. A bad credit score will have a negative impact on your investment decisions. Here are some of the common side-effects that a low credit score may trigger.

Higher interest:

One of the major results for having a low credit score is that you’ll end up paying higher interest rates on your credit cards other loans. For creditors and lenders, a person with a bad credit score is a risky choice. Over time, you will end up paying an interest rate that is much higher than what you would have paid if you had a better credit score.

Another setback that you may face is the inability to get approvals for loan and credit applications. As creditors know that a person with a low credit score is a risk, they might not be willing to lend you money. You may find that your applications are being rejected as a result of a bad credit score.

Getting denied for employment:

You credit score plays an important role when you are planning to apply for a job in the finance industry or upper management. These jobs require you to have a good credit score. You may be turned down for a particular job as a result of negative items on your credit report. High debt amounts, outstanding bills or bankruptcy can have an adverse impact on your dream job.

Difficulty in getting an apartment:

The trend is now for landlords to check future tenant’s credit report before they rent you an apartment. Most landlords check your credit report to conclude whether it will be a good option to have you as a tenant. Having a low credit score can shatter your dreams of getting a well-furnished apartment on rent.

A low credit score can have a lot of negative impact on your future investment plans. However, credit repair companies are here to assist you in the case of a low credit score. They take all the necessary steps to restore your credit score by evaluating your credit report and checking its accuracy.

Improve Your Credit Record

Buying on credit is a sure fire way to wreck your credit score if you find yourself unable to pay back the debt. Down the line, when you need a car or home loan and are unable to qualify for a reasonable interest rate or even the loan itself, you might just find yourself in a bad situation with damaged credit. In this scenario, you will need a professional to help. ‘Can somebody help me fix my credit record? Or, ‘help me with my credit repair” now!

A professional credit repair company can figure out how you can increase your credit score. Once they get your credit report, they will devise a path for you to remove obsolete and erroneous information, Professional credit report experts will document each error, and help you dispute and even remove them from your credit report. They may also write a letter comprising the details of each error to the concerned bureau.

Search online for a credit repair company with a good reputation, client testimonials, and a transparent process. As you would with anything, shop around for a credit repair company before you choose one. Make sure that you feel confident that the company you choose will work with you through the entire process and can align with your specific goals and any necessary timelines. It is worth the extra effort on your part to feel confident that the credit repair company can indeed help you fix your credit.

How to Choose a Credit Repair Company

If you are asking yourself the question ‘How can I repair my credit score?’, use the following checklist to help you choose the right credit repair specialist:

• To begin with, disputing your credit with a credit bureau is not the only thing that you will be required to do if you are to increase your credit score. Hire a company that can manage this process for you.

• Be aware of your rights pertaining to credit repair. There is the Fair Credit Reporting Act that credit repair companies invoke for disputing certain items in a credit report with a credit bureau. This is one aspect of credit repair that has helped a lot of people increase their credit scores.

• While disputing with a credit bureau is the prime job of a credit repair company, the latter, as mentioned before, can employ other tactics too to make a client’s credit report look as blemishless as possible. Your credit repair specialist can request that your creditors refrain from reporting negative accounts to credit bureaus. If possible, a credit repair company could even call into question the authenticity of a reported debt.

• Ultimately, the decision about choosing a credit repair company has to made by you and you need to be as prudent as possible. Luckily, there are laws governing credit repair companies as well. These laws were formulated to prevent people from falling prey to credit repair scams.

• Another way of verifying the track-record of a credit repair company is to cross check their Better Business Bureau (BBB) report. If the reports show that the company has been given a low rating or that too many unresolved complaints have been registered against it, you can start looking for other options.

Here’s hoping that the guidelines shared help you make an informed decision.

What Are Credit Repair Services Exactly?

People from all walks of life, socioeconomic status, and age groups can have credit problems resulting from bad decisions, divorce, times of financial difficulty and hardship. In other words, needing credit repair is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, its a common need many of us face when we are trying to get a new job, mortgage a home or purchase a new vehicle. So, what exactly are the benefits of credit repair services?

Benefits of Credit Repair Services

There are many benefits to having a good credit score including access to loans and mortgages. New job opportunities often require credit checks. You may also want to take out a loan to pay off debt. But in each case, poor credit scores get in the way. Even if you get a loan or mortgage, you will likely pay a higher rate because of your damaged credit. A mortgage lender might ask that you put more money down if you have a bad credit report.

Here’s where credit repair services can help. A professional credit repair company will partner with you on a comprehensive credit repair program that starts with a specific goal in mind. For instance, you may want to qualify for a good rate on a home mortgage or auto loan, earn security clearance, or land a better paying job. A professional credit repair services company will customize your credit repair project based on your goal and timeline. They will set up a regularly scheduled communications plan with you so the process is transparent and painless, accountable and efficient. A professional credit repair services company will also audit all credit entities, specifically: Tansunion, Equifax, Collection Agencies, Original Data Furnishers.

In the end, working with a professional credit repair services company is a means to you achieving your goal by way of repairing your credit. Not just by removing obsolete data from your credit report, but also by eliminating inaccurate and erroneous items damaging your credit score in ways you might not even be aware of.

The best way to find a professional credit services company is to do your research online. Look for companies with positive customer feedback and testimonials. Ask any company you may want to work for case studies and proof that they will be committed to helping you repair your credit. Also, always remember the best company is not always the cheapest. In fact, with credit repair services, as with anything, you often get exactly what you pay for.