Online Financial Tips

Archive for January 17th, 2012

Need to put pizazz in your checking? Save when you order checks online at 50% savings over bank charges plus get to view a huge variety of designs. Besides getting more style choice, when you order personal checks online you save the sales tax.

Millions of Americans do not qualify for a credit card and opportunity to put a card with a MasterCard or Visa label in their wallets in the form a debit card is enticing. Using a debit card will deduct payments directly from your checking account. With no need to provide I.D. at the checkout counter or many trips to the ATM it may make sense to your situation. Now that your ordered your cheap personal checks and have your checking account tied to your debit card, you’re in business.

Sometimes a debit card can be a smart choice if you are trying to control a spending habit. With a debit card you can only make as many purchases as the money that your checking accounts can cover. There is a hitch, however. If you overdraw your checking account, expect to get hit with a heavy overdraft fee that could range in dismal $30 to $35 charges for each (just like a personal check) overdraft. Using a debit card with overdraft protection is a preferable choice whereby the debit charges can be paid out of your savings account or a home equity line of credit when your account becomes overdrawn. But with the protection, the discipline may just fly out the window.

Debit cards require you have to keep accurate and current records so you have no big surprises. Overdraft fees can mount up quick. However, using credit cards, you don’t have that problem, plus you’ll get money or other rewards back at the end of the year.

Naturally, if the debit card is lost or stolen you’ll want to report it immediately. Most cards will limit your liability if promptly reported. With debit cards issued by Visa or MasterCard, you are not liable for charges made if your card is lost or stolen. Under federal law, cardholders aren’t liable for more than $50 if they report unauthorized purchases within a certain period of time.

I’m a fan of using the traditional checking account. You’ll have a first-hand handle on your transactions and an immediate written record of the transaction. Beside buying cheap check personal check design features you get by ordering online, you’ll save more money. Jockeying pocket cash, cheap checks you order online and credit cards will give you more money back at years end than relying on debit cards.

A lot of people ask, “where do I order checks online?” Purchase from a reputable company and look for the “lock” icon to insure security. The below sites offer personal and business checks at 50% savings off bank prices with over 800 styles to choose from. If you have a business or just want a personal touch, consider using personalized photo checks and photo cards. A digital logo or a picture promoting your niche business can be easily uploaded. You’ll have a business card as well as a check and will get more bang of the buck at no extra cost.

If you can ration yourself with walking around cash in your wallet without hitting the ATM machine all the time and see the reasoning behind using credit cards in order to earn that big refund at the end of the year, you’ll not use debit cards. Visa gives you 3% back on your gasoline and other purchases. Discover card gives you 2% back on everything each and every time their credit card is used. Other cards have similar give back deals and will put a bigger smile on your face at years end.

Using credit cards has become a part of everyday life in the 21st century. People no longer have to bring cash with them when they go shopping, regardless of what they’re buying. Some people do it for the convenience of not carrying cash; others use it to purchase items they cannot afford at present.

Though the concept of credit has been around for over thousands of years, the credit card itself is a relatively new invention, created at the middle of the 20th century by businessman Frank X McNamara. Head of the Hamilton Credit Corporation, in 1949 he went for a meal with Ralph Sneider, his attorney and Alfred Bloomingdale, a close friend and grandson to the founder of the Bloomingdale’s store. The topic of conversation at the dinner was a problem customer of the Hamilton Credit Corporation.

The customer in question had gotten into trouble when he had lent a number of his charge cards from individual gas stations and department stores to his poor neighbours who needed items in an emergency. In return, the man required his neighbours to pay him back the cost of the original purchase plus some additional money. Unfortunately for him, many of his neighbours were unable to pay him back quickly enough, which led him to borrow money from the Hamilton Credit Corporation.

At the end of the meal with his two friends, McNamara reached into his pocket for his wallet to pay up, but was embarrassed to realise he had forgotten to bring his wallet. He then called his wife at home and had her bring him the required amount of money. Annoyed at the idea that someone with enough funds would have to pay on the spot for a purchase, McNamara vowed never to let this happen again.

Merging the two concepts from that dinner, McNamara came up with a new idea – a credit card that could be used at multiple locations, with a middleman between companies and their customers.

At the time, stores would make money with their own charge cards for use only in their stores, thus advocating customer loyalty and maintaining a high level of sales. However, the new card, called the Diner’s Club, needed a different way to make money since they weren’t actually selling anything. To make a profit without charging interest, which became a much later concept, the companies that accepted the Diner’s Club credit card were charged 7% for each transaction while customers were charged a $3 annual fee. The newly founded company initially focused on salesmen as customers, since they would often need to dine at multiple restaurants to entertain clients, giving the company its name.

In the beginning, progress was difficult – merchants didn’t want to pay the 7% fee and didn’t want competition for their own store cards; while customers didn’t want to sign up unless there were a large number of merchants that accepted the card. However, the concept of the card grew and in 1950 the total number of Diner’s Club users grew from 200 to 20,000 people.

The demand for credit cards quickly led to other companies, such as American Express and the Bank Americacard – later known as VISA – entering the market. Today credit cards are a multibillion pound industry and potential consumers are spoilt for choice, having to compare credit cards before filling in applications, making it all the more remarkable that it all started from a chance dinner and dinner topic.