Customer service is outstanding ! They return calls & keep you up to date along the way.

NCF does exactly what they promised to do & more. !!!

Linda – Wellington,Florida

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Angela – YONKERS,New York

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It could prevent you from leasing an apartment or getting your dream job.

A credit report is an outline of your borrowing and repayment history.

It is important to know and keep monitoring your credit score.

By law, consumers have the right to acquire a free credit report yearly from the three credit reporting agencies, Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax.

You can do this through annualcreditreport.com.

How many Americans are checking their credit reports?

The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and Vantage Score were surveyed in 2016.

The researchers found that 32% of Americans had never obtained a copy of their free credit report.

Furthermore, 16% had not received a copy in the previous 3 years.

32% had received a copy in the previous year, and another 19% had received a copy within the previous 3 years.

These figures would indicate that many Americans do not check their credit report regularly.

You need to beware of scams 

Like you, scammers know that you can get a free credit report each year.

They are waiting to con you out of your money, your personal information, or both.

Impostor sites will attempt to deceive you into paying for what should be free credit reports.

There is a well – known phony site that stipulates you must register for a trial subscription to a credit monitoring service to get your “free” credit report.

To register for the trial, you need to give your credit card number.

If you fail to cancel the subscription before the end of the trial period, your credit card will be charged.

This charge will continue each month until you cancel the subscription.

You could be charged for months if you are not checking your credit card statement regularly.

How common is Identity Theft?

An account takeover involves another person using either your debit or credit accounts to make transactions.

In the past five years, 46% of Americans have been the victim of credit card fraud.

The Nilson Report estimates that losses reached $24.71 billion, which is a 12% increase over the previous year.

47% of the global credit card fraud happens in the U.S.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics indicated that in 2014, 17.6 million incidents of identity theft were reported to law enforcement.

86% of victims reported fraud connected to an existing bank account or credit card.

An identity takeover is when thieves use the social security number, name, or other personally identifying information to assume the victim’s identity.

Your ID is filled with false work documents, false medical records, unpaid taxes, and criminal charges.

Cyber-criminals do this by stealing your personal information when you are not on a secure internet connection.

How does a Credit Freeze work?

A credit freeze (sometimes called a security freeze, credit lock, or credit report freeze) ensures that an individual’s credit report is inaccessible.

It is mainly used by victims of identity theft that want to stop the thieves from opening new credit lines in their names.

This will work because a creditor will access your credit report before approving new credit.

If the credit report is inaccessible, it will be evident that something is suspicious, and the application will be denied.

You will be provided with a PIN or password which needs to be used whenever you want to unfreeze the report for a specific period.

This will allow a specific third party (e.g., employer, creditor, insurer, etc.) to access the report or allow you to remove the freeze entirely.

The individual will be required to prove their identity, along with providing the PIN/password.

Creditors who have an existing relationship with you (e.g., a credit card issuer whom you have a card with) are still able to access your credit report, but it must not be used to extend new lines of credit.

What about EMV Technology?

EMV technology is a computer chip on the front of the credit card.

When a transaction is completed, the EMV chip securely communicates with the payment processor.

The transaction is authenticated through a calculation of unique data packets for every operation.

It verifies that the card is not counterfeit.

In 2015, the U.S. upgraded to EMV which made card counterfeiting almost impossible.

It doesn’t eliminate online fraud, and it resulted in fraudsters focusing on new accounts instead of existing accounts.

By the end of 2015, there was a 113% increase in new account crime which added up to 20% of all fraud losses.

Fraudsters open new accounts using stolen Social Security numbers.

How to Avoid a Scam

There are steps you can take to avoid a scam:

• Type the URL straight into your browser ensuring that the spelling is correct. Some impostor sites take advantage of misspelled sites.   Don’t open links or attachments.  Also, cyber-criminals can steal your personal information when you are on an unsecured wireless internet connection.
• Don’t disclose your credit card number. You will not be required to give a credit card number for a genuinely free credit report.  If the company is requesting a credit card number, it is probably looking for a way to charge you in the future.
• Don’t sign up for a free trial to any subscription package. You will not need to sign up for anything to receive a free credit report.
• If you do sign up for a free trial subscription, be sure to cancel before the trial period ends. Your credit card won’t be charged.
• Do not use unreliable companies that charge a fee for your credit report. You may be giving your social security number to criminals.  Make sure you have a secure connection like https before disclosing confidential information.  It is best to do business with companies you know.
• Be careful of companies that advertise free reports and then try to persuade you to order additional services you do not want, e.g., alerting you if someone accesses your credit score.

Protect Your Credit

You should be vigilant about checking your credit card statements for suspicious transactions.

Make this a daily, or at least weekly, routine.

Also, keep checking your credit report.

If you are making an application for credit, your first step should be obtaining your credit report so you can challenge erroneous items if they appear.

Steps to Take if You Are the Victim of a Scam

If you are the victim of identity theft, you need to change your online bank login, social media accounts, and passwords.

In some cases, you will need to close old accounts and change your email address.

What else can you do?

Contact Credit Bureaus – You can put a fraud alert on your credit reports by contacting one of the three national credit bureaus.

Fraud alerts can prevent a thief from opening extra accounts in your name.

You will also be contacted if an existing account is altered, and before a new account is opened.

You only need to call one of the three credit bureaus to register your fraud alert.

The company you call is compelled to contact the other two.

Within 24 hours, the three bureaus will be alerted.

File A Police Report – You should record a report at your local police station.

Contact Your Card Issue – Alert the fraud department of each card issuer and inform them of the identity theft.

File a Complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – The FTC deals with complaints from victims of identity theft, refers complaints to law enforcement agencies, and provides information to victims.

Complaints are also referred to companies and other government agencies for further action.

The FTC will also investigate companies for infringements the agency enforces.

Account Take Over – You have been a victim of an account take over, involving another person using either debit or credit accounts to benefit from the transactions.

If you are aware of unrecognized charges or suspicious activity on your statement, immediately contact your card issuer.

Most card issuers will contact the vendor on your behalf and reverse the charges while investigations are taking place.

Under guidelines from the Federal Trade Commission and network accords, you are not liable for unauthorized charges.

By law, consumers have the right to acquire a free credit report from the three credit reporting agencies every year.

Companies will advertise a free credit report on their website.

They will then try to get money with offers of free trials for a short period.

Disclosing your credit card number could result in loss of money and at worse identity theft.

It is important to check your credit report regularly and take steps to deal with any suspicious transactions.

The safest way to do this is through the three credit reporting agencies.

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Kim – Cortland,Oh

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CHRISTOPHER – JACKSONVILLE,FL

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Paula L – Rosenberg,Texas

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Research has indicated that by the end of 2017 new credit card debt will reach $60 billion.

We will owe $1 trillion overall.

How do people fall into credit card debt so easily?

Well, a lot of credit cards start with 0% interest rate, then quickly increase to 25%.

This is a significant addition to a simple purchase.

Credit card interest is the primary way in which credit card issuers make their money.

When you make a purchase, the bank pays the payee and then charges the cardholder interest during the borrowing period.

Before deciding what interest rate to offer, banks will check national and international (if relevant) credit bureau reports.

This will identify the card holder’s borrowing history with other banks.

How Much of a Difference Does Interest Make?

It’s hard to comprehend exactly just how much of a difference interest can make.

So let’s break it down.

Say you have $5,000 in credit card debt.

A 18% interest rate will mean you’re paying back more than $2,900 in interest on that debt.

A 13% interest rate will mean you’re paying back $1,800 in interest on that debt.

And a 10% interest rate will mean you’re paying back $1,200 in interest on that debt.

As you can see, a 8% difference in rates will mean the difference of $1,700!

With some credit cards having an interest rate as high as 25%, it’s not hard to see how someone can dig themselves a big hole.

Terms and Conditions

Being familiar with the terms and conditions is important.

Check the agreement copy you received when you opened the account.

The agreement will state when the interest rate will change to the prime rate.

Usually, the higher price will come into play at the start of the new billing cycle after the prime rate increases.

The Bank of America’s World Elite Mastercard’s rate will increase on the first day of the billing phase that starts in the same month in which the index is published.

The margin and the index make up a variable rate.

The margin is the unchanging part of the price and it makes up the bulk of what you will pay in interest.

The card issuer governs it.

The index is the fluctuating part of the rate.

It is the prime rate calculated by and published in the Wall St Journal.

When the margin rate is 10%, and the index is the prime rate of 3.25% your total interest rate will be 13.25%.

When the prime increases by a quarter point, the rate will rise to 13.5%.

How to Contend with Rising Rates

The best way of combating rising rates is to keep a zero balance.

Pay off your credit card monthly.

This will eliminate concern over interest rates, and you will get free use of the money until the due date.

There is a period in your billing phase when you can make purchases without being charged interest.

It starts on the first day of the statement phase and ends on the payment due date.

This is a bonus if you use your credit card to get bonuses or a short-term cash flow.

If you purchase on day 1, you would have 55 days to pay it off before you have to pay interest.

A purchase made on the second day would get 54 days interest-free.

A purchase made on day 30 would mean you had 25 interest-free days.

If you are in a lot of debt, this is not always possible, and you will need to negotiate with the card issuer.

You can ask for a review of the interest rates.

Contact the card issuer to see if they can reduce the interest rate or give you a fixed rate.

You will have a better chance if you have a reliable payment record.

When negotiating with the card issuer:

• Emphasize the length of time you have been with the financial institution.
• Refer to other accounts.
• Summarize the history of on-time payments.
• Research deals with different cards and shows them to your credit card company. Check if they will match the rate.

It is also important to be aware of your utilization ratio.

This is the amount of revolving credit you are presently using divided by the total amount of free revolving credit.

Basically, the amount you owe divided by the credit limit.

Let’s say you have 2 credit cards.

Together, the credit limit is $10,000.

You have a balance of $5,000 on one of the cards.

This means your credit utilization ratio is 50%.

Do you have a high-interest rate that makes it impossible or difficult to make your payments?

Request a new payment plan that is suitable for your budget.

However, a longer payoff interval may mean you will pay more in total interest charges.

A survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International in 2016 determined that all you have to do is ask.

A represented sample of 1495 adults were contacted.

Of these 981 had a major credit card.

9 out of ten (89%) who requested that their late fee was waived were granted the request.

More than 3 out of 4 (78%) who asked for an interest rate reduction were successful.

A recent survey in 2017 showed similar results.

According to the survey results, everyone should be asking for these benefits.

The survey found that only a small number of credit card users, about 1 in 5, had made each kind of request.

These days it’s a lot more expensive to procure a customer than it is to keep one.

The credit card provider will do what they can to retain one.

Transfer Your Balance

Utilizing a credit card balance transfer can be an efficient way to pay off debt quicker and save hundreds of dollars on interest (even after paying a balance transfer fee on the new card).

Let’s say you have a $3,500 balance on a card with a 17% Annual Percentage Rate, and you are not paying any more than the minimum $95 due each month.

At this rate and if you have stopped using the card, it will take 53 months to pay it off.

Adding the interest will mean you will pay almost $5,000.

If you can get a card with an 18 month 0% APR on transfers, you’d have to pay about $195 a month to pay off the balance before the promotional APR expires.

That is only $100 more than your present minimum payment.

You would pay the balance off faster and save hundreds on interest payments.

You can also merge multiple balances on one card.

This will simplify your finances.

Is a Balance Transfer the Right Move for You?

If you are in a good financial place (e.g., your credit card balances are modest and not maxed out, you have a good credit score and a stable job) transferring a high APR balance to save money and pay it off faster makes sense.

However, if most of your credit cards are maxed out, or your credit score has been adversely affected by late payments, you should consider other options.

The reasons for this are:

• You will need a good credit score to get a balance transfer credit card. That rules out most people who are in a lot of debt or have made late payments recently.
• If you are in a lot of debt a balance transfer could make it worse. Balance transfers provide immediate relief from high-interest rates.  However, they give you more credit that you will use when you need it.

After You Get the New Rate

You need to pay on time as late payments will result in an interest rate hike again.

Maintain a credit utilization ratio of under 35%.

If you are maxing out your credit limit it will decrease your credit score, and in turn increase your interest rate again.

 You are Protected Under the Law

The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD) of 2009 is a federal-based law.

It essentially changed consumer rights and credit card issuers’ practices.

Restricted Interest Rate Increases – increases on existing balances are only permitted under certain conditions:

• The cardholder makes a late payment
• When a promotion rate finishes
• There is an adjustable rate

Credit card providers can only increase interest rates on new operations after the first twelve months.

The card issuer is required to give 45 days notice before significant changes come into effect.

Restricted Universal Default – credit card providers can no longer raise interest on existing credit card balances based on a customer’s payment accounts with other distinct credit issuers (other creditors and utility businesses).

If at least 45 days notice is given universal default can still be used on potential credit card amounts.

Credit card issuers can raise interest on future card purchases, and there is no limit to how high-interest rates can go.

If credit card accounts are founded on variable APRs (as most are), when the prime rate goes up, interest can increase.

Research has indicated that most Americans get into massive credit card debt.

The interest charged by credit card providers accounts for a significant proportion of this debt.

Many credit card holders are not negotiating with their banks to get better terms.

Try bargaining, and if this is not successful, you can apply for a credit card balance transfer and get an interest free period to allow you to pay off your debt.

Essentially you aim to make monthly payments and work towards a zero balance.

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Donnell – Land O Lakes,FL

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Laura – Orlando,Florida

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Christian – Houston,TX

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