Tag Archives: payments
Information and Advice on Five Different Types of Credit Cards
How can you find the right credit card for you with so many different types of cards available? The first thing you need to do is start thinking about how you plan on using credit and for what. After you do this, you can start comparing all the different charge cards and credit cards available. Some cards offer you excellent value, and then there are others, which may cost more in finance and interest charges, provide incentives you may find useful. My advice is to research all the varying card rates, fees and benefits before making a decision.
Depending on your needs, you’ll find several different options which can fit what you are looking for. There are some cards aimed toward individual consumers, while others are built specifically for small business needs. To help you figure out what type of credit card would fit your needs, here is some information on five of the most common credit cards available:
- Standard credit cards – These types of credit cards are the most commonly used. They let the user hold a balance on the card all the way up to a set credit limit. After you make a purchase for an item such as a new TV, credit from that balance is used. After you make payments on that balance, that credit is made available to you once again. Keep in mind that finance charges and interest rates will be applied at the end of the month to your balance. You should also be aware of your card’s minimum payment that needs to be paid by a certain due date or be charged late-payment penalties.
- Premium credit cards – Premium credit cards are very similar to regular credit cards except these offer incentives and benefits. I’m talking about those Gold and Platinum credits cards. These offer incentives such as cash back, reward points, or travel upgrades along with many other different types of rewards just for using the card. However, they tend to come with higher fees and you will need minimum income and credit score requirements before you can be qualified for one.
- Prepaid credit cards – These credit cards require money to be uploaded onto the card before it can be used for a transaction. You do not have a renewing credit limit on these either since you are responsible for how much of a balance is loaded up on the card. They work very similarly as debit cards do, but are not dependent on the balance of your checking account.
- Business credit cards – These cards are intended specifically for business use. These cards allow business owners to keep all of their transaction separated between personal and business. They work nearly identical to a standard credit card does with mostly all the same rules and fees.
- Charge cards – Charge cards are basically credit cards without a limit to how much you can charge. The only requirement is that the entire balance must be paid in full at the end of the month. Since the balance is always paid in full monthly, they tend not to come with any finance charges or minimum payments. They ares however, subject to fees, charge restrictions, or card cancellations if you are late on your monthly payments.
My Loan Co-Signer has Died – Will I lose my car to the estate?
In order to be approved for credit, about 10% of borrowers in Canada need to give the lending company (usually a bank) assurance in the form of a co-signer. A co-signer is someone who has a good and established credit rating already, and who agrees to assume the debt in the event that the person in whose name the money is lent is unable to pay.
In many cases, the co-signer of a loan is a member of the borrowers family; most other people will not assume the risk, although it could be a close personal friend with a good credit record. In some cases, there is a risk that a co-signer may die before the loan is fully paid back, in which case the borrower may wonder what will happen to the assets purchased with the loan. In this scenario, we will use the example of a car in order to see how the situation will play out.
First of all, it is very important to note one thing; the co-signer of your loan does not, in fact, own the car that you needed to obtain the loan to buy. They are simply a guarantee to the lending company that someone will be able to pay for the car. Ownership will only revert to them if you have defaulted on the loan on your own, and they have had to make the payments themselves. In this case, the paper work will already have been changed to reflect the co-signer as the owner. In this case, you car will be part of the co-signers estate, but otherwise it is your own property.
Of course, the death of the co-signer does lead to other issues, even though the car will still be yours. Probably most significantly, you may have to report to the lending company that you no longer have a co-signer to cover you in case of default. Now, the odds are that if you are a responsible enough person to do this in the first place, you have been sure to make your payments. In that case you should have no problems; heres why.
Remember that the reason you had to have a co-signer in the first place was due to bad or no credit (probably no credit record). Once you have been making payments on a loan, however, you have established a credit record. Lending companies now have a basis on which to approve you for a loan, so you will probably be able to secure the loan without the need of a co-signer.
Of course, most people will probably not even think of informing the lending company should a co-signer die; as long as you continue to make your payments, this will not be an issue. If you do default, though, and the co-signer is responsible, your car will become part of the estate.