Bank Account Information For Choosing The Right One

1. The Amount Of Money You Are Planning To Deposit can be a big determinant in choosing the best bank account. While the default way to go would be to determine which account pays the highest interest or APY (annual percentage yield), bank fees can also be a major determinant. An annual study by bankrate.com shows that for an account to get interest while not having to pay any monthly fees with a check facility, the minimum balance required is $3,460. On the other hand for an account to have a check facility but not earn any interest the minimum balance to not incur any additional fees is a little below $110.
2. Using Your Check-Book: Certain consumers are not going to write too many checks and are not going to exceed the maximum number of allowed free check transactions by their bank accounts. In this case it may be beneficial for consumers to opt for a flat fee checking account. However, if you are in the habit of writing several checks it may be beneficial to talk to a banking representative and work out the best bank account option for yourself so that you do not get charged a high penalty fee for exceeding the number of allowed free banking transactions.
3. Economies Of Scale are what consumers get when they have several bank accounts with the same bank.  If you have been using several products offered by the same bank, make sure you get your fees aggregated or ask for discounts on your current facilities. Most banks nowadays have consumer loyalty programs.

Basic Bank Accounts To Choose From

In addition to the above mentioned considerations, consumers may also want to consider some of the accounts mentioned below to ensure that their funds are in the right place:

• Savings Account: When placing your funds consumers are often concerned with security. In this case bank offered savings accounts are the safest option, although they may not pay as high interest as some of the other available option they make up for the same by offering great security. In addition these bank accounts are backed by what is known as FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) insurance.
• Certificates of Deposit And Money Market Accounts: CDs require consumers to lock in their money for a period of 3 months up to five years. Another option may be investing your money in the money market during a bull market as the returns which the money market would generate would far surpass your interest rates offered by your banks.

These are some of the considerations consumers should keep in mind while choosing the best bank account.

References:

1. Pick the right account – CNN Money
2. Savings Account Overview – Money Instructor

Banking & Savings: Tips To Keep In Mind

1. Safety: One of the primary reasons why consumers use bank accounts is owing to fact that money in a bank account is safe. Let’s face it, no matter what, one cannot deny the security offered by a bank is far greater than any floor-secured safe, hidden closet or underground treasure trove. One might remember the federal government’s pledge to insure bank accounts for up to $250,000 per depositor during the credit crunch. However, come January 1st 2010 the normal insurance of $100,000 per depositor is said to return.
2. Convenience: Bank and savings fees are justified by the convenience factor. Apart from allowing you to safely store your money, banks allow you with a lot of other privileges like writing cheques or using ATMs etc. Bank saving accounts tend to pay lower rates on accounts which bear interest, in comparison to similar accounts which can be held with broking houses or mutual fund companies.
3. Beware Of Inflation: Unknown to consumers, inflation slowly erodes any interest that the banks pay you for your saving accounts. What you may not know about your bank and savings is that with the rising prices of goods and services some times it is possible for your money to lose out in a bank account.
4. Interest Rate Inequality: This is a commonly known fact about bank and savings that different bank saving accounts earn different interest rates. Interest rates are calculated differently at different banks. If you really want to compare your bank accounts, the best banking tip is that it might make sense to compare the Annual Percentage Yield. The APYs are always calculated using the same formula everywhere.
5. Getting Better Rates: A lot of consumers often use certificates of deposit (CDs) to earn better interest rates. However, it may be of interest to know that CDs require consumers to lock in their money for a period of 3 months up to five years. Another banking tip is the option of investing your money in the money market during a bull market as the returns which the money market would generate would far surpass the interest rates on saving accounts offered by your banks.
6. ATM Charges: This issue has become an increasingly popular one. Using an ATM of another financial institution can prove to be costly thus affecting your saving accounts. Not only do you get charged $1.46 by your bank for using another ATM, the other bank chares you a further $1.97 to use its facility.
7. Banking Without Banks: While this banking tip may sound absurd it is also true. You do not have to store your cash/money in a bank account. There are a lot of companies out there which are offering similar services to banks and with pretty much the same flexibility as a saving account. Examples of these institutions are credit unions, building societies, mutual fund companies, broking houses etc.

The above mentioned facts are a guide to help consumers understand their personal bank and saving options  better. It is always advisable for consumers to shop around prior to settling on a particular saving account or bank. It is also recommended that consumers should consider their own banking and budgeting needs as well prior to making up their minds.

For poor credit rating customers, getting a good credit interest rate is becoming a bigger problem during the recession. One fact to remember is that your individual FICO credit score has a directly proportional relation to the credit interest rate that will be offered to you (i.e. the better your FICO score the better the credit interest rate).

Getting the Best Interest Rate For Poor Credit Rating Consumers

Every consumer wants to get the best interest rate but for poor credit rating consumers, sometimes this becomes hard. It is therefore important to understand how much your FICO credit score affects your credit interest rates.

Every credit contract contains a certain element of risk within it. There is the risk that the customer will not repay the contract. In order to compensate this risk, lenders/financial institutions charge a higher credit interest rate to customers with a low FICO score. The philosophy behind this is that, clients with bad credit and lower FICO credit scores tend to carry a default risk.

FICO scores usually range from about 500-850, needless to say 850 being the best and 500 the worst. The chart below shows the relative credit interest rates you might be charged on a basic mortgage corresponding to your FICO credit score.

Bad FICO Credit Scores, High Credit Interest Rates

In the wake of the global financial crisis financial institutions are tightening credit policies like never before. They are lending less money even to those consumers who have good FICO credit scores making it harder for poor credit rating consumers to get the best interest rates. Financial institutions are now looking at things like default percentages corresponding to your FICO credit score. For example an accepted industry statistic is that consumers with a credit score of 750-760 usually have a default / arrears rate of 0.18%-0.20%. On the other hand for poor credit rating consumers with a FICO score of 540 or below the chances of a default are significantly higher as they stack up at nearly 20% or in other words nearly one out of five consumers with bad credit are likely to default on their payments. This is known as the risk rate and since consumers with bad credit are likely to have a higher risk rate, they usually end up paying higher credit interest rates as well.

Best Interest For Poor Credit Rating Consumers

Therefore, in order to improve your FICO credit score and become eligible for better credit interest rates you could take some of the following steps:

• Make sure you keep up with your credit contract repayments and make them on time.

• Get credit only if you need it and make sure that you do not accept any and every credit card limit increase that is offered to you.

• Keep you credit card and store card balances low as this can hugely affect you FICO credit score.

• Try and reestablish your credit worthiness if you are a poor credit rating consumer. Catch up on your missed payments and defaulted accounts, should you have any. Reestablishing your FICO credit score can go a long way in getting you the best credit interest rate possible.

A few simple steps can help vastly improve your FICO credit score and translate to getting you a better credit interest rate which in turn will save you a lot of dollars as far as far as repayments are concerned. When you start improving your FICO credit score, you automatically become a less risky customer and this will enable you to get the best interest rates on any credit contract.

Aside from the above mentioned, a credit report has information about your current and previous addresses, telephone number, date of birth, employment information and social security number. There is also a section which includes information about matters of public record like tax liens, bankruptcies and civil judgments. In short, a credit report is a credit history of an individual that includes information related to almost each and every aspect of this person’s financial life.

But the question is how an individual’s credit report can be obtained or is it lawful to obtain an individual’s credit report without his/her permission? There is a lot of information related to an individual’s credit history in a credit report and that’s why it has been declared unlawful to obtain an individual’s credit report without his/her permission.

Under federal law, any person (under false pretense) who willfully and knowingly gets information on a consumer from a credit reporting company e.g. get a credit report without his/her permission, this person will be fined under Title 18 US Code, or to be imprisoned for at least two years, or may get the both.

However, someone with a legitimate business need can be given access to your credit history and they include companies who considering granting you credit, insurance companies, landlords, employers (but with an individual’s consent), state or local child support enforcement agency, for account monitoring purposes for the companies with which you have a credit account and any government

Usually, written consent is required to an employer or prospective employer to obtain an individual’s credit report. Similarly, different potential creditors seek individuals’ permission to review their report.  However, an individual’s permission is not required when inquires are done regarding pre-approved credit offer.