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58 year old Ms. Toni Riss of Texas was happy when her application was approved by First Premier Card but she almost got a heart attack when she found that she has been charged 79 percent interest instead of the starting rate of 29.9 percent.

Around the same time Ms Riss made her charge, First Premier bank came up with a new credit card for which the interest rate was 79.9 percent. However, when many had bad debts on this card, they brought it down to 59.9 percent CNN said. 700,000 people signed up for the card later and the majority had a balance at the end of the month according to CEO of the Bank Miles Beacom.

According to card act, high interest rates are legal. Though they charge high interest rate for their credit card, they have heavy demand from those who have bad credit. The bank says that there are 3 million customers and gets around 200,000 to 300,000 applications per month. It also issues 50,000 cards a month.

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Consumer credit scores fell a whopping two points since January 2010, according to a survey released this week by Credit Karma.

The company, which provides a quasi free credit score, said the national average credit score was 667 last month, down one point from December and two points from January 2010.

That’s much lower than the so-called average credit score from Fico, which weighs in at a healthy 713.

Consumers in Los Angeles and Philadelphia fared the worst, with credit score declines of five points, while New York residents saw an average decline of four points, and Chicago, Houston and Seattle residents saw three point declines.

However, seven states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and South Carolina still have what’s considered fair to bad credit scores of 650 or lower.

The report revealed that Massachusetts had the highest credit score nationally with an average score of 685, while Mississippi was lowest at 631.

Since January 2010, the average consumer with an account:

- Decreased credit card debt 9% to $7,200
– Decreased home mortgage loan balances 4% to $173,967
– Decreased home equity 5% to $49,469
– Increased auto loans 3% to $15,140
– Increased student loans 9% to $28,715

Remember, the best way to raise your credit score is to simply pay all bills on time and keep debt levels low.

If you’re curious where you stand credit wise, click to get all 3 credit scores free for 30 days.

I can still remember all the CARD Act opponent’s claims that the days of credit card rewards would disappear once those well meaning banks are pummeled by oppressive regulations.  According to the industry, these regulations were only going to hurt consumers, as banks would be forced to end their reward programs in order to survive in the post-CARD dystopia.  They really only had your interest in mind, after all.

Glad I Called B.S.

Sure enough, credit card companies have tightened credit and raised interest rates.  They are still in business to make a profit, but now they have to try harder to find customers that represent the best risk.  Predictably, this has led them to use more bait to lure potential new customers. If yo

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Just about everyone knows that living in a Metropolis is much more expensive in terms of the cost of living then living in a smaller and less populated area. This is why people who live in large cities must realize that it is even more important for them to create some sort of personal budget with which they can still put a small amount of money away towards savings. There are many Dallas financial planners who specialize in helping people who have families to set a budget for savings. Because of the sheer volume is quite simple to Find a financial planner in Texas . Some people do not understand the importance of having someone who is experienced in the field of financial planning to help make decisions for them. They think they can sail through life and manage their own money with absolutely no negative repercussions. This may be true for some people but others will need help as they may not be as good when it comes to managing their money. Read more…

We can’t all be Robert Kiyosaki (“your strategy is all wrong; buy my book”) but nothing can stop you from using the money you have to its fullest potential. I’d do what my favorite advisor, Tim Gunn, always says: “Make it work!”

Opt for investments that provide fair returns

Nothing is worse than having another person profit from money you gave them to invest. Sadly, that’s precisely what’s happening if your money is languishing in CDs (certificates of deposit), savings accounts or money market funds!

These financial institutions are effectively borrowing from you, loaning/investing it elsewhere, and waxing fat on the difference. If you want your money to earn its keep, so to speak, conservative dividend stocks are a viable alternative; there are a number of companies that pay out annual yields of up to 9 per cent. You could say their tag-line, if they had one, would read “no flash, all cash”. Or something like t

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