The patience is of course to wait for the payments that will never arrive.  Call me cinical, but i know students and i know how unlikely it is to get them to pay their bills (it’s about as unlikely as it is to get them to tidy up after themselves sometimes.)  So the type of college credt card you want is one that is prepared to offer you a low(ish) interest rate and allow you to make the minimum payments without hassling you until such time as you graduate and are able to pay off more and more.  The credit card company of course will charge an extorionate amount of interest on the money in an attempt to try to prevent it every being paid off; they want a constant meal ticket you see and you’ll never be able to pay them off unless you make significant and regular offers.

This reward system allows you to accumulate cash onto your card as a credit and then redeem your spending rewards at any shop that participates.  It is pretty much a guarantee that all major stores will be participating in the scheme in the near future, much the same as the way contactless technology has been introduced.  Barlclaycard were also among the first to use contactless technology too, so it’s clear to see that this major credit card company is ready for the next step on the evolutionary credit card ladder, even before the world is.

Watch out for the Barclaycard Freedom reward system on your Barclaycard in the near future.  And if you’re about to apply for a credit card then Barclaycard is definately one that you need to put on your list; granted, you need a huge income for one of these cards, but if you’ve got it then use it folks, the rewards speak for themselves.

There is no shame in collecting points for things, don’t get me wrong, but i am one of those credit card users who prefers to feel like an adult and not someone playing a gameshow.  I would like my rewards where i can see them and i would like them instantly if there are any at all.  This is why i go for cashback credit cards.  After all, can you think of anything that your current rewards credit card can offer you that money can’t actually buy?  No i didn’t think so.

So wouldn’t you much rather have the money and then you decide on what you want to spend it on rather than from a list of gifts or selected stores?  I know i would.  I collect cashback and i spend it on what the hell i want; what i really want.

The fee could end up taking a huge chunk out of the money you would have usually hanve saved by going with another company who doesn’t charge you for the privilege.  After all the idea of transfering your balance is to save money isn’t it, and buy a little time to pay it all off eventually?  If your balance is very high then paying a fee for the transfer simply isn’t worth it, and this is where those sneaky credit card companies get you, you see.  They can’t wait for you to transfer your money, and then they don’t care if you transfer it again to someone else, simply because they have made their money from your transfer fee!

When i say easy to use i mean that what they are designed to to happens without you having to do a single thing.  They work in much the same way as the football credit cards i mentioned in an earlier post.  All you do is spend money on the charity credit card and then a certain percentage of that money goes to your named charity.

The percentage is tiny, and it almost seems insignificant, but you must remember that there are many many people with charity credit cards and that when you add up all the other users of the cards you will soon see that whatever charity it is that you support gains an awful lot of revenue from this.  It’s certainly worthwhile sacrificing your other rewards in order to help a charity isn’t it?  Could this be your one selfless good deed?

It’s called the football credit card and it’s a relatively new type of credit card that has been born from the charity credit card types and things like that.  If you can donate money to your favourite charity through using your credit card then there should be no reason you can’t donate to your favourite football club either should there?  Well that’s what the credit card companies have thought, and in a rather clever move they have decided to offer credit cards with your favourite football club as primary beneficiary of any rewards you might get from spending money on your card.

That’s right, every time you spend some money your football club will get some cashback!  This is a great way to support your football team withouth even trying; in fact when you go to buy your overpriced football strip, do it with your football credit card and you might just help that little bit more!  It has to be worth it doesn’t it?  Especially if your team isn’t doing so well!

You simply have to analyse your income and expenditure closely before you even bother to apply.  I don’t mean look at it the way a credit card company does, which is basically to see if you are earning enough per year to match their records.  You may very well be earning enough money and your credit score could be fabulous, but you never know what might happen and it’s best to control yourself.

You need to take into account what you’re paying out of your income, and seriously ask yourself why you want or need a credit card.  If it’s for the rewards or cashback and you intend to pay it off every month then this is a great idea – IF you stick to it that is!

The amount of people who get themselves a good credit card and ruin it because they don’t keep up what they said they were going to do is astronomical!  You simply have to pay it off in order to get all the benefits from its use.  Remember that the credit card company doesn’t actually want you to pay it off in full every month, and when you start doing this they’ll increase your limit if you’re not careful, and this is where you could fail.

I am referring to contactless technology of course, and in particular the chance that your debit or credot card may be stolen and used to buy goods and services to the value of £10 without a PIN number or any identification!  This level is soon to rise to £15 also i think in the not too distant future.

If someone steals your cards and you don’t realise it until much later they could have spent an awful lot of money in various different stores before you report it missng.  It’s very important that you consider the implications of contactless technology and understand that you are at risk.  New technology like this is supposed to make life easier, instead we’re going to see an increase in card theft surely?

You simply do not want to forget this fact, if you do it will undoubtedly cost you time and trouble.  I didn’t say money because as i’ve said already, many people have credit card insurance that can cover losses and even those connected to identity theft.  I mentioned time and trouble because it doesn’t matter how much money someone takes from your account it’s always bad news and it always makes you feel like you’re not going to get it back and that somone has violated your personal details.  It’s a truly dreadful feeling.

Not only that, if someone has drained your balance, even if your credi card company is going to pay for what you’ve lost they won’t simply do it there and then will they?  You will more than likely have to fill in claim forms and all that stuff before anything is paid.  And i am being incredibly nice to the credit card companies at this point by not mentioning how perhaps some of them may not want to pay out!

Who knows what might happen?  It’s always best to look after your credit card and not give your details out to people in the street and over the phone.  Just be careful whatever you do!

Why they wouldn’t apply for one because of this i don’ t know, perhaps it’s because they can’t handle rejection?  Or perhaps it’s because when you get refused by a credit company the details of your credit scoring are recorded for future use by other credit card companies.  This is more than likely it isn’t it?  But it’s not all doom and gloom and you needn’t let this put you off.

Just because your details have been recorded, including your refusal, it doesn’t mean that a bank or credit card company won’t ever touch you again and they will certainly re test your credit score when you apply to them.  All it tells them is that you’ve attempted to obtain credit and been unsuccessful.  It doesn’t tell them to leave you alone or that you are a risk, and believe me these credit card companies want your business.  If you had been turned down twenty time and then applied to yet another company they would still carry out the credit score simply because they want you to pass it!  So don’t be afraid of your credit score so much, it’s not all bad; unless of course you have defaulted on payments recently.