Identity Theft Online

What to consider before you divorce

January 21, 2012 – 6:38 pm

Mediation is cheaper than giong to court

Every January I write an article telling you how to go about getting divorced. I hate it. But there is no getting away from the fact that more divorces are initiated after the Christmas holidays than at any other time of year. Christmas is grand when things are going well, hell when they’re not. There is also no avoiding the fact that among the 115,000 or so divorces every year, there’s no such thing as a good divorce. How can there be with children’s lives, home ownership and all other possessions at stake and the misery of lost love chucked into the mix?

That said, there are ways to make your break up unpleasant rather than downright nasty. The best way is to try mediation – something all divorcing couples heading for court are now obliged to consider. Mediation simply means staying out of court and trying to make a settlement in front of an independent negotiator instead. It’s ch

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Tags: Divorce

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Discover Card free balance transfer deal ends soon

January 21, 2012 – 7:11 am

Hows your post-holiday financial hangover? Lets hope you dont have one at all, but, if you do and your credit scores healthy, you might well be thinking of exploring balance transfer credit cards. Many of these offer a break of 6, 12, 15 or even 18 months from high credit card interest rates through 0-percent APR introductory periods on the amount you transfer.

Balance transfer credit cards: two caveats

Before you get too excited about that weight being lifted from your shoulders, you need to heed three warnings:

1. As with most credit, you cant always get it if you really, really need it. Credit card companies arent crazy (mostly), and they wont lend to you if they think you are already in financial trouble. The stronger your credit report, the better your chances of approval for the card you want.
2. Dont see balance transfer credit cards as additional lines of credit. Its a classic mistake to transfer a balance and then run up others on the cards you zeroed.

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Tags: Balance Transfer, Transfer

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ProPay vs. PayPal for Credit Card Processing

January 19, 2012 – 6:31 am

Being a business owner, you want to be able to cash in on the credit market, but accepting credit cards comes with responsibilities and fees.  Protecting customer’s information to avoid credit theft and fraud is a major responsibility and keeping fees in check to maintain profitability is important.  Thats why choosing a reputable credit card processing company with affordable fees is vital.  Two of the major processing companies for small business owners are ProPay (www.propay.com) and PayPal (www.paypal.com).

ProPay

Probably the lesser known of these two options, ProPay caters to small business owners for all of their credit card processing needs.  Business owners can visit their website at propay.com and do a side by side comparison of the accounts offered.  Signing up for an account is done quickly and easily online.  ProPay uses encryption and tokenization to secure customers information and uses ProtectPay to remove customer data upon storage, thus keeping information secure.

Formed in 1997, Propay has been recognized as a leader in online credit card processing.      They are a Better Business Bureau member, a partner and member of the Direct Selling Association (DSA), and a member of the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA).  ProPay has been awarded the DSA partner of the year award, and the ETA Independent Sales Organization of the year award.  They are Trust-e certified and an eBay accepted payment provider.

PayPal

With 100 million users, PayPal is more widely known by most individuals.  PayPal is broader in their scope as they offer accounts for personal use as well as business use.  Their merchant account system is similar to that of ProPay.  Business owners who choose paypal.com, can visit the website and sign up for a merchant account in less than 15 minutes.  PayPal follows PCI compliant safety standards to ensure the security and safety of customer information.

In business since 1998, PayPal is recognized for and does most of their business through eBay, the online auction site.  Merchants who sell through eBay can use PayPal to safely and securely process their transactions.  PayPal uses veriSign identity protection on their website for their customers’ security and processes billions of dollars in transactions annually.

Comparison of Business/Merchant Accounts

ProPay                                                                    PayPal

Three types of accounts:  Premium Plus, Platinum, and Custom One merchant account type with tiered processing structure Annual fee based on account type No Annual Account fee Fee for smallest tier account:

2.99% + $.30 per transaction + $59.95 annual Fee for smallest tier account:

2.9% + $.30 per transaction Linked prepaid MC Linked PayPal debit card Transfer funds to linked bank account $.35 per transfer Transfer funds to linked bank account Transfer funds to another ProPay user for free Transfer funds to other PayPal users as a “gift to friend” for free No monthly processing minimums No monthly processing minimums Accept all major credit cards (globally) Accept all major credit cards (globally) Process cards online or by telephone Process credit cards online only Fixed rates for each account tier Variable rates based on amount processed Secured electronic card reader available Secured electronic card reader available ProPay JAK for smart phone processing None available Lower processing rates available for swiped transactions N/A Use on eBay with eAuction account Primarily used on eBay

Depending on what you would like your credit card processing account to do, either option could be a good choice.  Both companies offer similar benefits in linked cards, transferring funds, and almost identical processing fees.  If you are a small business who will primarily sell online through eBay then PayPal might be the best fit with no annual fee.  If you are a brick and mortar small business then ProPay might be the better choice, with options for calling ProPay to process a transaction, processing a card manually online via the online terminal, or by adding the ProPay JAK to process on the go, the annual fee might be worth it.

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Tags: Card, Credit Card

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Is That REALLY Affordable?

January 18, 2012 – 8:23 am

During the heady years prior to the financial crisis of 2008, many people thought that they could afford bigger homes.

Unfortunately, as low-rate mortgage reset, it became painfully obvious that those homes werent affordable at all.

But we dont have to go nearly that big. In college, I assumed I could afford something because it fit neatly on my credit card.

Often, I bought items immediately, telling myself I could afford it because I could just pay it off with my next paycheck. Sadly, what usually happened is that I found I couldnt pay off the credit card balance; only the minimum payment was affordable.

Before you buy something especially if you use credit to do so it is a good idea to take a step back and see if it really is affordable.

Do You Have the Money for It Right Now?

One of the first questions you have to ask yourself is whether or not you have the money for it immediately.

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Debt Management Plan: How to Create One?

January 17, 2012 – 10:05 am

Whether or not you accept it as true, being snowed under debt is not a matter of life and death. Every night for you may be wasted just fretting on how to break even yet you actually don’t need to. The key is to set up a debt management plan and take control of your life. While there are many companies that offer this service, it is something you can do yourself.

With only 3 steps, you can already craft a debt management plan.

1. Primarily, put together a list of creditors and figure up the total balance due. In doing so, you will be able to gauge precisely how much the sum you are compelled to settle. Under such circumstances when money is loaned from more than a few various creditors with variable interest rates on every amount, the ultimate amount can be hard to determine. N  Nevertheless, with the intention of generating a solid tactic to do away with your debts figuring out the entirety of the duty-bound money owing is very important.

   Don’t overlook the fact that several arrears cannot be roped in debt management programs. Tena

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Tags: Debt, Debt Management

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