If your financial problems have reached the point where you do not see a way out and you feel as though you are drowning in debt, your best way out is through declaring bankruptcy. Filing may well allow you to get your finances back on track Thankfully, there are now several web sites that are there to help people like you with bad credit to find the fast personal loans that you need. When you have bad credit, the first thing that you should be looking for is a loan company that
Credit card negotiation is something that the average credit card holder can and should do on a regular basis. Sure, there are numerous financial planners, tax lawyers, and debt consolidation companies that will gladly handle the negotiations for you; but if the idea is to put yourself in a better financial position, why would you pay someone to do what you can do yourself? This article explains how credit card companies make their money, why they are willing to negotiate, when to negotiate, and how to negotiate a better deal on your credit cards. There is even a bit of a script included, in case you are unsure of what to say in your first negotiation. How the Credit Card Companies Make Money A credit card gives you the ability to spend money that is not yours. Of course, you have to pay it back, and unless you pay off the entire balance within the first billing cycle, you will pay interest on the amount of your debt. That interest is one of the primary sources of revenue for credit card companies, but it is by no means the only source. According to CreditCards.com, the credit card industry took in a whopping $43 billion in late payment fees, over-limit fees, and balance transfer fees in 2004. That is enough to support the entire industry, though you will never hear the CEO of a major credit card company admit it. Let's talk about the people who do not incur late fees, over-limit fees, or balance transfer fees, and who keep their accounts in good standing. They usually have above average credit limits and below average interest rates. Why do credit card companies treat them so well if they are making so little money from these people? If they pay their balances in full each month, the credit card companies don't even get to collect finance charges; the credit card companies make zero from these folks, right? Wrong! When a business sets up a merchant account, which gives them the ability to accept credit cards, they sign a contract allowing the credit card companies to collect a small fee for each transaction. This fee generally ranges from five cents to half a dollar; but when you consider how many millions of credit card transactions are executed each day, you can see that it adds up! The fact that credit card companies have several methods of generating revenue is exactly what gives you the opportunity to negotiate with them. They are not one-dimensional with their finances, and neither should you be. Why Credit Card Companies Will Negotiate Credit card companies make scads of money from their worst customers through late-payment fees and over-limit fees. As we now can see, their best means to make money from their best customers is to entice those customers to use their cards more often. A savvy consumer can use that fact to his or her advantage. When to Negotiate First, be sure your account is in good standing. To be in good standing, your account should meet these criteria:
- No late payments in the past six months
- No over-limit penalties in the past six months
- The account must be open for more than six months (obviously)