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AskMrCreditCard.com Daily Recaps – 8th August 2012

By: Mr Credit Card
08/08/2012

Here is a today’s daily recaps on what’s happening here and around the web in credit card and travel land.

Ask Mr Credit Card stories and reviews

Visa Black Card Commercial : Back in Black

By: Mr Credit Card
04/16/2012


If you’ve had a chance to view the new commercial for Visa Black Card, you may find it interesting that the creators, Curt Morgan and Brain Farm out of Wyoming, are actually more familiar with creating sports related digital commercials. Notable commercials and video include Quiksilver, ESPN and National Geographic (as well as lots of snowboarding stuff). So, Curt Morgan may have been a bit surprised when approached to create the new Visa Black Card commercial. However, after taking a look at the high action commercial, you will see that it kind of makes perfect sense.

There were specific requirements for this commercial. In order to match the reputation of the Visa Black Card, the commercial needed to represent all of the fantastic aspects of a luxurious lifestyle. In order to pull this off in typical Visa Black Card fashion, Curt Morgan and Brain Farm along with Visa Black, concluded that the commercial would follow a female James Bond theme (by way of Donna Feldman) and include high action, high intensity and of course be completely black.

Who Is Donna Feldman

As Curt Morgan of Brain Farm mentioned, Donna Feldman certainly appears to be a natural for the female James Bond part of the commercial. Her appearances range from Deal or No Deal , Fashion House and ads for Caesar’s Palace, Sports Illustrated and Revlon, just to name a few. She has actually done quite a bit of work in various film and print ads. It is generally agreed that her look alone pretty much nailed the character needed for the Visa Black Card commercial.

The Perfect House in Southern California aka The Razor

Another luxurious part of the Visa Black Card commercial is the house that was used in filming. In choosing the house to use for the commercial, Curt Morgan said “We were looking for the house of our dreams…” and the house they decided upon happened to be located in Southern California, and known as “The Razor”. This house, or piece of art (as would be a more appropriate title) spans 11,000 square feet in the La Jolla Farms area of San Diego and includes 4 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms. It was designed by Wallace Cunningham and if you happen to have some extra cash lying around, is currently for sale at $19.3 million.

Transparency from glass walls that reach from floor to ceiling and the stunning optical illusions crated by the infinity pool are probably the most stunning aspects of The Razor. It is an amazing home evident even in photographs and for most of us, fits the theme that Visa Black Card attempted to portray in the commercial.

Trip to Monte Carlo

As if just traveling to Monte Carlo wouldn’t be extravagant enough, the crew for the commercial actually had to travel to Monte Carlo for only two shots in the video. The reason the trip was necessary, was because if you view the commercial, there is a black yacht. In true, exclusive, Visa Black Card fashion, this black boat is only found in Monte Carlo.

Curt Morgan mentioned that one of the challenges in shooting the commercial was committing completely to digital as opposed to film. The entire video was also completely live with no studio shooting at all which resulted in extremely adventurous and action packed scenes. From the super sexy, Donna Feldman driving the motorcycle down the winding road next to the The Razor, to jumping from the helicopter into the water (which she actually did) all the way to speeding away in a black yacht that can only be found in Monte Carlo to the tune of ACDC’s Back in Black.

In my opinion, the commercial succeeds in targeting prospective carriers of the exclusive Visa Black Card. If you are able to carry the Black Card, you quite possibly are able to also take part in a luxurious and high performance lifestyle such as the one that is led by Ms. Donna Feldman (minus actually becoming a female James Bond, of course.) The commercial successfully portrays all of the things that those of us non-carriers imagine the carriers take part in on a daily basis and wraps up the exclusivity of the Visa Black Card in a very nice, exciting, high intense, high action and high performance package.

Sources:

Donna Feldman
The Razor 

Explanation of the FTC and Upromise Settlement Order

By: Mr Credit Card
04/11/2012

Users of the rewards program and college savings plan, Upromise will be interested in the order filed by the Federal Trade Commission regarding Upromise. The final order which settles charges with Upromise, Inc. includes a number of new requirements that have to be followed in order to keep the college savings service going.

What Is Upromise?

Upromise, Inc., is most known for providing a membership reward service which assisted consumers in saving money for college. With the service, you would use the web-browser toolbar that was provided. You would then use the toolbar for your online shopping through thousands of Upromise partner sites, such as with Overstock.com, Walmart, and Best Buy, and earn rewards. Rewards are also earned similar to credit card rewards on dining out, book travel and grocery coupons. You could even earn rewards from the Upromise credit card. These rewards are then redeemed for a savings plans in the form of savings accounts, 529 Savings Account Plans, payment toward an eligible Sallie Mae Student Loan, or just a check.

The Charges Against Upromise

It seemed like a handy dandy tool that may help consumers earn rewards like the many other toolbars out there that do the same thing. However, the Upromise TurboSaver Toolbar allegedly collected consumer’s personal information without disclosing that this information was being collected.

The information collected included minor things such as usernames and passwords, but also user information on secure websites such as online banks, credit card numbers, and Social Security numbers.

In fact, pre settlement order, the privacy disclaimer on the Upromise toolbar falsely indicated that personal information was secure and private with policies and procedures designed to safeguard information. They also claimed to automatically encrypt information but the filter used to collect the date was found to be too narrow and not structured properly. A lot of personal information that was entered onto web pages was actually collected without encryption.

Upromise defended the practices by claiming that some of the information was collected inadvertently but personal information was removed before transmitted. However, the failure to disclose the practice of collecting information was deemed by the FTC as failure to take reasonable and appropriate measures to protect consumers’ data.

The Settlement Order Between Upromise and the FTC

The Final Order by the FTC settling charges with Upromise does not require Upromise to discontinue collecting personal data as many people would probably prefer, instead they are required to disclose its exact data collection practices and ask for the consent before any toolbar products are added or installed. Other requirements include barring misrepresentations about the extent of the maintenance of the privacy and security of user’s personal information, among other things.

This order also requires Upromise to destroy data that has already been collected and to insure they have clear consent from the consumer to install any product similar to the Upromise toolbar. This disclosure also has to be separate from any other agreement, partially I would suspect, to insure that consumers are actually paying attention to and reading the disclosure. Consumers must also be notified of how the information will be collected and be provided instructions on disabling the toolbar and/or uninstalling the toolbar.

What Does this Mean to You?

The question however, is whether these types of requirements mean anything to consumers who probably never paid much attention the disclosures in the first place. How many Upromise users were ever aware that there was a security issue, or that their personal information was being collected? At some point, consumers will need to become more educated on how these services work and the potential risks of using these services. Upromise is guilty most of all for not disclosing information, but consider how many consumers ever thought to look into or investigate on their own how their personal information was being used when they installed the toolbar and shopped at participating retailers directly through the Upromise toolbar.

The other question is also directed toward consumers. At what point are we to be responsible for looking into and investigating services when we know full well, our information may be collected? And how many consumers will still choose to opt in on these services, even when they know that all of their personal information may be collected? Furthermore at what point if any, is the deal or discount worth sacrificing privacy?

Sources:

FTC and Upromise

FTC Decision and Order

Earn 10,000 US Airways Dividend Miles By Switching To Energy Plus Utility!

By: Mr Credit Card
04/10/2012

I recently received an email from US Airways offering me 10,000 bonus miles if I signed up and switched utility providers. Since we are based in the Philadelphia area, PECO was our long time provider. Alternative providers became available after deregulations.

To be honest, we have gotten lots of junk mails from “new” providers promising savings. If you read the fine prints, the promised savings is only guaranteed for one year and after that, who knows. It’s like the cable companies and high speed internet services. They tell you the savings for the year, but never tell you whether you will save in the long term! The reason why I never took up these offers is that in the event of a severe weather (thunderstorms, snow etc), PECO (the local folks) will send folks quickly to fix broken lines etc. I’m not too sure how this will work for out of state providers who promise only savings for a year.

So I guess it comes as no surprises that utility providers will team up with airlines and try to use air miles as the “bait and switch”!

Below is a screenshot of the email I got from US Airways.

usairways energy plus email

Fine Prints and Details – So here are some of the fine prints of this offer. Firstly, you will receive the 10,000 bonus miles after 2 billing cycles (ie you have used the service for 2 months). You will also get to earn double miles for every dollar you spend on “supply portion of the bill”.

This offer is available only to Pennsylvania residents serviced by Duquesne Light Company, Met-Ed, PECO, Penelec, PPL Electric Utilities or West Penn Power. Another important thing to note is that Energy Plus is currently offering service to most customers that fall under the residential and small business rates classes. Below is the rate classes for companies that are eligible to switch.

The eligible Duquesne Light Company rate classes are RS and GS.
The eligible PPL Electric Utilities rate classes are RS, RTD, GS1/G1D, GS3, GH1, GH2 and SA.
The eligible Met-Ed and Penelec rate classes are RS, RT and GS.
The eligible PECO’s rate classes are R and GS (<100KW) rate classes, The eligible Penelec’s rate classes are RS and GS-Small rate classes, The eligible West Penn Power’s classes are RS and GS rate classes. Another thing to be aware of is that if you have solar panels and are using net meters, Energy Plus does not offer that service and if you do switch, you do not get any credits back from them. But the good thing about this deal is that you can open unlimited accounts. So if you have a home and a business office (that is not home based), you could potentially get 20,000 bonus miles! To be honest, 10,000 bonus miles is not enough for me to actually even bother switching utilities. But if you are going to switch to a cheaper provider, check if you have any similar offers from your frequent flier programs. I would go through your old email inboxes. If US Airways is sending this offer to residents in Pennsylvania, you can be sure they are partnering with other utilities in other states. And if you happen to want to switch to that partner, then you may find some extra miles coming into your account! usairways energyplus page

usairways energyplus - continued

Starwood Around The World In 5 Meals Sweepstake

By: Mr Credit Card
04/05/2012

Starwood is now conducting an “Around the World In 5 Meals” sweepstakes. This is how it works.

To enter the contest, you have to pick 5 SPG restaurants that you would love to have your meals at (if you win the prize). You will choose the 5 restaurants from www.spgaroundtheworld.com/map. After you have chosen the your 5 dream restaurants, you will then register online at www.spgaroundtheworld.com. There are a couple of other ways to get more additional entries. You could

  • Dine at a participating SPG restaurant and each time you dine, you will be given another entry in the sweepstakes.
  • Each month, you would also register by sending an email with your name, email address, phone number and spg number to restaurant@starwoodpromotion.eu. You can only do this once a month

    • spg around the world

    The entry period for the contest ends at 29th June 2012 and winners of the draw will be informed on 13th July 2012. Winners will be contacted by email and must respond within 5 days.

    What is the prize? You will get a 10 day rountrip coach tickets for you and a partner to the 5 restaurants destinations that you have chosen. You will get 2 nights standard double bed room at that Starwood Hotel and you will also get complimentary breakfast (up to $20 each). The retail value of the prize is $23,000. The guest you bring must be above 18 years old (can’t bring your little one).

    So if you are SPG member, remember to sign up for it. And if you are an Amex Platinum card member, remember to sign up for the SPG membership if you have not already (and get your Platinum Status). Then sign up for this sweepstake. You might as well get one entry in.

    Tip: Best now to choose restaurants that require long travels because you’ll be totally wiped out if you do win this prize. You want to spend a nice 2 days in the hotel and not too many hours in the plane!

    Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card

    Chase Sapphire Preferred 50,000 Bonus Points Has Ended

    By: Mr Credit Card
    03/30/2012

    Newsflash – The Chase Preferred 50,000 Sign Up Bonus Points offer is ending on this morning. In fact, you should consider it ending Sunday night just to be safe. For the last couple of weeks, their own website has been showing a sign up bonus of 40,000 points rather than 50,000 points on our site.

    On another note, the regular Chase Sapphire (the one without annual fee) is only offering 10,000 bonus points on Chase own website versus 25,000 bonus points on our site. This 25,000 bonus offer has also ended.

    Whistleblower Linda Almonte vs JP Morgan Chase Debt Collection Allegations

    By: Christina
    03/27/2012

    If you happened to be involved in a consumer debt lawsuit with JP Morgan Chase last year or around the beginning of this year, you may have wondered why your collection suit may have been halted or even completely disappeared. This event was the result of an investigation into Chase credit card’s collection activities. According to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and numerous Chase employees, as well as whistleblower, Linda Almonte, Chase bank has allegedly engaged in the following “errors” or unlawful activity when collecting debts:

    Affidavits of Amounts Owed Were Not Verified – According to employees, affidavits were not verified. Employees were told to just sign them because they were time sensitive. A practice known as robo- signing, the mass signing of important documents by banks in foreclosures, was also allegedly occurring with documents filed by Chase Bank and collection accounts. This practice is something that may result in all banks and companies that provide any type of loan or mortgage, to be investigated.

    Unreliable Attorneys and Inaccurate Information – Court filings and documents prepared by external attorneys as well as the litigation operations for Chase Credit Cards were inaccurate and unreliable. Attorneys known as “outhouse attorneys” were hired by less populous states in place of in-house attorneys. Outhouse attorneys were paid according to the amount of money that was recovered. Not only that, these attorneys were only connected to the litigation system and were a part of firms such as Mann Bracken, LLP which were known for inaccurate recordkeeping.

    Out of Date and Unreliable Technology – Apparently JP Morgan Chase utilized patchy technology and bank computer systems which disagreed on the amounts that were actually owed. The computer systems used were unable to communicate well. Whatever the case, it seemed that each different computer system (TSYS, TCSF and RMS) would come up with a different amount owed.

    According to the investigation by Americanbanker.com, TSYS is a system that is licensed from Total Systems Services Inc. It is the interface which consumers use to check their credit card balance online. The Total System software handles only current account. When accounts are late or delinquent, it is passed on to another system called TCSF. This system is used by the folks in collections and litigation. When an account gets charged off, they get moved to another system called RMS. The three different systems do not show the same number when it comes to the amount that is owed by the bank.

    Most of these findings are based on information from former and current Chase employees and from whistleblower, Linda Almonte who worked as an executive in the Credit Card Litigation Support Group in Chase’s San Antonio office. Almonte claimed she was terminated in 2009 because she objected to the sale of debts that included incorrect balances owed. It was because of Almonte’s claims that the OCC shutdown the collections operation in April 2011.

    Problems With Whistleblower Linda Almonte – Linda Almonte was hired as part of a replacement crew and noted the problems with the systems. She was concerned especially about the faulty and inaccurate recordkeeping of the law firms that were used for the lawsuits and documents almost never matched Chase’s records. Documents were misplaced and destroyed and Almonte ended up being terminated.

    Why Ignore Inaccuracies? – Chase Bank was able even amidst the financial crisis in 2008 to expand and increase recoveries and were able to recover $1.2 billion in debt by 2009. Litigation and lawsuits ended up being extremely profitable to JP Morgan Chase. It could only be speculated that these errors an inaccuracies were ignored because debt collection resulted in so much money. Many former employees also believed that the inaccuracies were not large enough to matter. Still, once the inaccuracies are added up, it could result in thousands of dollars. Besides the fact that reporting different amounts owed kind of makes you wonder how reliable the collection practices are in the first place.

    What this Means to Consumers – If you are one of the many cardholders that were transferred to Chase when Providian and Washington Mutual were bought out, you likely ended up with a closed account. Almost immediately upon merging, Washington Mutual cardholders found themselves with lowered credit limits (and thus maxed out cards), higher interest rates, and closed credit cards. In one broad sweep, Chase sunk a lot of cardholders who were part of the sub prime market that was once Washington Mutual. Many of those cardholders were able to sign up for hardship programs with lower interest rates and smaller payments (although the cards are still closed and cannot be used).

    Bad debt accounts that were once Providian and Washington Mutual, although lacking proper documentation and considered unreliable, were sold to second-hand debt buyers who were suing account holders when the debt was not supposed to be sold in the first place. These past account holders may also want to be aware that because of the investigation, JP Morgan Chase & Co. has currently halted collection lawsuits and judgments in six states, California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New York and Washington. Collection cases in most other states have either slowed down or only exist in very small amounts. As with any collection account where litigation is involved, it is recommended that you meet with an attorney. Now that it seems records, robo-signing, attorney records, and computer systems are all reporting inaccurate information, it may be in your best interest if you have delinquent accounts (old or new) with Chase, that you especially consult an attorney before agreeing on payment or going to court.

    It is not clear yet how Chase Bank will approach the bad debt accounts while they are being investigated for their numerous alleged violations and inaccuracies. Collection claims have decreased quite a bit nationally and many have been completely dismissed altogether. If you happen to be one of the thousands of debtors in this situation, a former account holder of a Washington Mutual or Providian card account that has been sued, or is being sued, you will want to consult an attorney. Make sure you are aware of you options before agreeing to any kind of plan that Chase has to offer. At least at this point and until the rest is somehow straightened out.

    References
    1. Linda Almonte whistleblower complaint in 2010
    2. OCC probing JPMorgan Chase Collection Practices
    3. JPMorgan Chase Credit Card Collection

    Ritz Carlton Is Now An Ultimate Rewards Partner

    By: Mr Credit Card
    03/26/2012

    Chase has just announced today via a press release that Ritz Carlton will now be a points transfer partner on their Ultimate Rewards Program. Cardholders will now be able to transfer their points at a one for one ratio to Ritz Carlton.

    This is great news for Ultimate Rewards and Chase in particular because they are expanding their hotel partners and making the program so much more attractive. It means that cardholders of the Chase Sapphire Preferred(SM) Card and the Chase Ink Bold can now transfer their points to Ritz Carlton.

    In addition to Ritz Carlton, Ultimate Rewards already has Marriott, Hyatt, Priority Club as their hotel partners. Because Ritz Carlton is actually the Marriott program and Ritz Carlton already has a card with Chase, I guess it should come as too big a surprise when that they are now a points transfer partner.

    But just as a guide, you need anywhere from 30,000 to 70,000 points to get a free night stay at their hotels. As a recap, there are five tiers to the Ritz Carlton program. The first tier requires 30,000 points, the second requires 40,000 and they increase in 10,000 points increments until the fifth level, which requires 70,000 points. Ritz Carlton points can also be redeemed with Abercrombie and Kent and Neiman Marcus.

    This agreement also ups the ante on the Membership Rewards. As Chase has Continental United (the largest domestic airline) and SouthWest (large domestic “discount” airline) as their partner, they are putting the squeeze on Membership Rewards. Ultimate Rewards already has the upper hand for Marriott, where you can transfer points one for one, whereas Membership Rewards only allows you to exchange points for “Marriott Gift Certificates”!

    For Ritz Carlton members, this is another opportunity and perhaps reason to get either (or both) the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and the Chase Ink Bold, as they both are now offerin 50,000 sign up bonuses! (The Chase Sapphire Preferred 50,000 bonus may go away soon as their website is now showing only 40,000 sign up bonus!).

    Since the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and Ultimate Program was first launched, they have simply kept improving both products. The Sapphire Preferred added double points for travel and dining last year. Chase added SouthWest and Korean Air. And now, with the latest addition of the Ritz Carlton, I think we can make a very argument that the Sapphire Preferred Card is the best travel rewards card at the moment. Perhaps we can also say that for the Ink Bold in the small business space.

    Congrats to Chase for this new partnership.

    Sources
    Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC Partners with Chase To offer Ultimate Rewards cardmembers Luxury Travel Options.

    Digital Playground Porn Site Hacked By the Consortium: It's Easier Than You Think

    By: Mr Credit Card
    03/21/2012

    If you are a fan of porn or Digital Playground, Inc., you may have noticed a slight problem recently with the web site and your account. On March 9, hackers known as The Consortium announced that they had successfully broken into the servers at Digital Playground and  stolen over 72,000 usernames and passwords as well as 40,000 credit cards.

    One might think this was an amazing act of genius by the hackers, except in their own words, it seemed like it was fairly simple. According to MSNBC.com, The Consortium claimed that not only were the usernames and passwords unprotected and not encrypted even of the stars, but the credit card numbers and  credit security codes were also in plaint text and not secure as they should be.

    Many users were told to simply change their passwords and notify their credit card companies of the breach, however based on the nature of the content at Digital Playground, it would seem more likely that users are unlikely to report the incident to anyone. The Consortium did mention that the intention is not to steal from anyone but to make a point, and for this reason would not be releasing any of the credit  card information. So in this respect, customers and  credit  card holders are safe.

    However, this incident does bring to light just how easily a site with 72,000 usernames can easily be hacked. Whether you are a customer of a porn site such as Digital Playground or not, you will want to make sure that the web sites which hold your personal information and credit card numbers are protecting that information. The Consortium is not the only group of hackers out there, furthermore, there are hackers whose jobs are to steal credit card information. It is important that you pay attention to the merchants and web sites you are dealing with online.

    How to Keep Your Credit Card Information Online

    Sometimes it isn’t really about how safe you are when using your credit card, but how safe the sites are that you are sharing your card information with. Just last year Sony was hacked and 25 million users’ information was involved. Keep in mind that this incident may have occurred by hackers who weren’t just trying to prove a point but may have actually planned on using the information for nefarious purposes.

    When using your credit  card with any web site, the basic security checks include the following:

    Look for the padlock icon on the status bar of your browser. This symbol lets you know if the site is secure. Also, https as opposed to http in the browser, indicates that you you are on a secure server that uses SSL and your information is enc rypted. This at least makes it difficult for someone to get your credit card information while you are entering it onto the site.

    Use a credit card instead of a debit card online. As we’ve stated in earlier articles, you have more protection if someone hacks into a site, steals your card information and then goes on a shopping spree, if you are using a credit card than if you use a debit card. Not to mention that debit cards are also usually linked to bank accounts, which can result in more damage if the information is stolen.

    Make sure your computer is secure. Lock down your wireless network and make sure you have updated anti virus and spyware software. This may not help so much in preventing web sites from getting hacked but moreso prevents hackers from getting your information by installing hidden programs onto your computer.

    Also, as the hackers in the porn site case noted, pay close attention to the usernames and passwords you choose when signing up for memberships on web sites. Both should include a combination of at least alpha and numeric characters and of course refrain from using your own name and other information. You should refrain from using the same username and password on all sites, simply because if one web site, such as Digital Playground is hacked, the hackers have all of the information they will need to get into any other accounts you may have online.

    What to Do If a Site You Use Has Been Hacked

    Otherwise, there isn’t much you can to do to keep from being a victim in situations where hackers break into web sites and steal all of the information that is available. In the porn site hacking, The Consortium mentioned the Digital Playground site as having numerous holes in their almost nonexistent security measures. If you have become a victim of computer hacking or a site you use your credit card on has been hacked, you will want to make sure you take the following steps:

    Change your password if you plan on continuing membership with the web site.

    Make sure you change any information you have on other sites that share the same username and password. Also change the password  on the credit card account that was used.

    Contact your credit card company and let them know of the hacking. They may want to cancel the credit card and issue a new one depending on the severity. If not, they can at least be on the lookout for fraudulent purchases or suspicious activity.

    Find out how the company will help. In certain instances, when a web site is hacked, the company offers assistance with free credit monitoring. Although not entirely helpful in easing worry, Digital Playground did offer members a free month membership on their rival porn sites. Either way, usually the company will try to make amends with its customers when such a breach occurs.

    And then of course, you may want to check your credit reports regularly afterwards anyway, just to be sure there aren’t any new unauthorized accounts on your credit. Remember that hackers usually gain access to all information including name, address, birth date and credit card. They have anything they need to open new credit card accounts and can cause even more unsuspected damage.

    Can You Raise Your Credit Score 100 Points in 6 Months, 1 Year, 2 Years?

    By: Christina
    03/19/2012

    This post aims to answer the following questions that we get asked all the time by readers:

    Most of the questions are from readers whose credit scores have taken a hit due to bankruptcy filing or missed payments and delinquent accounts. Their scores are normally in the 500 or low 600 range. While anyone can improve their credit scores by 100 points, how fast the improvement comes is uncertain, but there are circumstances where rapid improvement is possible. We’ll explore this later in this post.

    While there are many factors that affect your credit score, the major credit bureaus have suggested that the following factors are the most important in improving your credit score.

    Pay Your Bills On Time – Every major credit bureau1,2,3 has said that the most important factor in assessing your credit score is whether you pay your bills on time. That is very intuitive. A creditor would want to know if you have been current on your payments recently.

    According to Experian1, late payments, delinquent accounts and accounts that have been sent to collections have a huge impact on credit scores. Making sure you pay all your bills on time is imperative in increasing your credit score.

    Setting email reminders with your creditors, or mobile text alerts and even using the autopay feature will help in this regard.

    Keep Balances on Revolving Credit Low – According to Experian1 and TransUnion2, keeping your balances low on revolving credit is also very important. Revolving credit includes credit cards and home equity lines of credit. TransUnion2 recommends having a balance of no more than 35% of your available credit (ie credit utilization ratio of less than 35%). Once again, this is intuitive. A potential creditor will want to know how much debt you are carrying.

    That means if you carry a balance on your credit card that is close to your credit limit, paying off your balance will go a long way towards improving your credit score. In fact, if you have any credit card debt or still have an outstanding balance on your home equity line of credit, paying down those balances is the best thing you could do. The feeling of not have revolving debt will probably outweigh any improvements in your credit score.

    Cleaning Up Incorrect Negative Reports – While paying your bills on time and paying off your credit card debts will improve your score, cleaning any incorrect negative information on your credit reports can rapidly improve your credit score.

    Negative items can appear on your report for a variety of reasons but once they are removed (assuming they are incorrect), improvements in your score happen quickly.

    Improving Credit After Bankruptcy – For those that have emerged from bankruptcy, there are two things you have to do and be mindful of to improve your credit score quickly. The first thing you have to do is to start rebuilding your credit.

    That may actually mean opening new credit accounts2. Secured credit cards are one way for bankruptcy filers to obtain credit and begin rebuilding immediately.

    But more importantly, folks who have been through BK are prone to have lots of errors in their credit reports. Debts that should have been discharged in bankruptcy may still appear. Their debts many have been sold multiple times to various collectors who are unaware that those debts have been discharged. In fact, you have to be even more diligent in monitoring your credit report up to about two years after your BK because of potential errors in reporting. Getting errors removed from your credit reports is one sure way to ensure that your scores improve as quickly as possibly.

    Improving Credit Because of Late Payments and Delinquent Accounts – Raising your credit score quickly from delinquent accounts is slightly different from the previous situation. Delinquent accounts stay on your account for seven years and there is nothing you can do to remove it.

    However, if you still owe money, there might be a couple of things you could do to help prevent further damage to your credit report. Credit bureaus tend to report the status of your delinquent accounts with certain codes. In this case, it ranges from R1 to R9. The best code is R1, which indicates the account has always been paid on time. R2 means you have been late for 30 days, R3 for 60 days and R4 for 90 days. The worst is R9, which is charged off debt.

    The key here is trying to prevent a “charge off” to your account because it does not matter whether a charge off is paid in full or partially settled. It is very detrimental to credit scores. The best course of action here is to try to work out a payment plan with your creditors and pay it off over time.

    Conclusion – It is obviously possible to raise your credit score by 100 points. How fast it happens depends on various circumstances. The foundation of having good scores are paying your bills on time and having a very low balance on revolving credit.

    Removing inaccurate negative items on your credit report can improve your scores very quickly if that is the cause for the drop in scores.

    For those who have just emerged from bankruptcy, establishing new credit lines (like a secured card) is the quickest way to rebuild one’s credit. Checking for errors on credit reports is also a full time job since they are most likely to occur as old debt gets sold to other collection agencies.

    For those whose credit has been hit because of late payments, negotiating with your creditors and getting your accounts reported as paid off or settled is a more palatable alternative than being charged off.

    References

    1. Experian : Tips To Improve Credit Score

    2. Equifax : Tips To Improve Credit Worthiness

    3. TransUnion: Improve Credit Score

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