Categories
banking

ING Direct Sale: Who Will Fill the Void?

I’ve been a satisfied customer of ING Direct for nine years, so imagine my dismay to learn that this arm belonging to ING Group of the Netherlands will be sold off soon. If you are not familiar with ING Direct, I’ll explain. An easy-to-navigate online bank, ING offers high-yield on savings and checking accounts along with investments and mortgages. Unfortunately, ING Group was one of the banks to receive a government bailout. The Dutch government gave the bank €10 billion (roughly $14.9 billion), which it must pay back. To do this, ING plans to have its U.S. company, ING Direct, sold by 2013.

Who will replace ING Direct?
Who will replace ING Direct?

Several banks have bid on ING Direct, but no deals are in place yet. The most noteworthy player in the game right now is Ally Bank, owned by GMAC. Frankly, I don’t trust Ally because of its parent company. It seems impossible that such a bank could keep ING Direct running with the same set of customer and corporate values. It seems I’m not the only one concerned either. Financial bloggers everywhere are raising eyebrows and wondering where they will put their money if ING falls into the hands of this undesirable competitor.

In a perfect world, Motley Fool would buy ING Direct and run it with sound financial values, but that’s not going to happen. Some may choose to stay with ING Direct because Ally already offers similar banking products, making it less likely that the account structures will change. The rest of us are looking at other options, but few make the grade. Here are the options I’m considering:

PerkStreet

As an existing PerkStreet Financial customer and frequent guest writer on their blog, placing my savings at PerkStreet may be the best option. This is really a checking account, not savings, but I see no difference so long as I earn the cash. Balances over $5,000 receive 2% back on all non-pin purchases with the PerkStreet debit card. Everyone else gets 1% back. Special deals come up every month where you can get 5% off from selected retailers. Although I have yet to take advantage of the 5% cash back offers, I have been satisfied with the 1% earnings. Transferring my savings from ING Direct would add another 1% cash back to the account, yielding me an additional $600 a year for my trouble. No savings account can touch that return.

Smarty Pig

Another big contender, Smarty Pig, is an online savings account that currently pays 1.35% Annual Percentage Yield (APY). As far as I know, that’s the highest savings yield currently available. In addition, when you make non-pin purchases from selected retailers, you get 10% back on your spending. The social savings aspect of the bank allows family and friends to contribute to your account. Although the 10% on purchases is tempting, it only applies at retailers that have partnered with SmartyPig.

Ally

Ally Bank competes well against ING Direct, with a comparable 1% APY. This is the least likely option for me, given my distrust of the company. However, I like to keep an open mind and am willing to consider Ally if it turns out to be the best option. Checking accounts also earn interest, but at only .9%. So far, the bank has created some highly competitive banking products that should appeal to ING Direct customers, if they can get over the difficulty many have in trusting a bank spawned from the notoriously unfriendly GMAC.

Categories
insurance

5 Simple Tips to Save Money on Your Home Insurance

Home insurance is often seen as a grudge purchase, you need it, but it can often be costly. In this economic downturn, it’s important to know how to save money on big purchases.

These simple tips could help you make savings when purchasing home insurance:

1. It’s always important to compare quotes from several different insurance providers. Comparing insurance online can be very helpful for this as you can see quotes from multiple insurance providers in one place, without the hassle of going to each individual company. Always compare home insurance quotes to similar plans, considering all the policy features as well as price.

2. Once you’ve been given your quotes, be aware that the cheapest quote may not always offer adequate coverage. Be sure to check the finer details of the quote, so you know exactly what is covered and what is not. It’s important to have the right level of coverage on your policy as being under-insured could cost you a lot more in the event of your claim exceeds your coverage.

3. Your premium should reduce if you offer to pay a higher excess. The excess is the amount of money you’d contribute in the event of a claim. Normally, you’ll be seen as less of a risk to the insurer if you offer to pay a larger excess. In return, your premium might be lowered. Be certain that you’re willing and able to pay this amount if you ever needed to claim.

4. Security in your home is important and many insurance companies reward this with lower monthly or annual premiums. For example, insurers may look more favorably on you if you have a fully operational burglar alarm or you’re a member of a neighborhood watch program. Again, this is because your policy will be viewed as a lower risk policy.

5. It’s always important to accurately calculate the amount of insurance needed to cover the value of your possessions. If you over-estimate, you may be paying for coverage coverage you don’t need. By doing a thorough analysis of the contents in your home before you look for a quote, you’ll be sure of the amount of coverage you actually need.

Also, remember to give an accurate rebuild cost for your property; this is not the market value of your home but how much it would cost to rebuild the house. This price can be lower than the price that your home would sell for on the open market.

With many households looking to reduce their outgoings, it’s useful to know how to save money on big purchases. These simple tips should show you what to look out for when buying home insurance.

This post was written by Katie Sheeran of insurance site Policy Expert.

Categories
credit

Bad Credit Score Still Impedes Credit Card Approval

The Federal Reserve recently reported that banks have been easing their lending standards with their credit card offers. Unfortunately, this doesn’t apply to consumers with a bad credit score who are unlikely to get approved for new cards in the near future. Because banks continue to practice tight lending standards for consumers with poor credit scores, Moody’s Investors Service expects the default rate on low interest credit cards to drop next year to a 20-year low.

Credit Card Default Data

A cardholder’s balance goes into default and is charged off when the issuer deems it uncollectible. In 2009 and 2010, the top six banks which issue cards had defaults totaling $74.5 billion. These are the household names of credit-card issuers: Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Capital One Financial, American Express and Discover Financial Services.

Banks Ease Up For Some

A survey released by Credit Land recently revealed that banks have been easing up on lending standards, including approval of credit card applications. But this does not mean they are stretching their lending practices for consumers with poor credit scores. And especially not for consumers who were unable to pay their bills and were among the default accounts.  Banks have seen delinquency rates decreasing, though, as consumers improve their bill paying habits. Consumers who are paying their bills on time are the ones reaping the benefit of eased lending practices among banks. As for consumers who have recently had cards cancelled for lack of payment, it’s unlikely they will be approved for a new credit card anytime soon. But there are credit cards for bad credit, which could help consumers in repairing their credit history.

Moody’s Expects 20-Year Low

As banks tighten their lending belts for consumers with poor credit scores, Moody’s predicts a decrease in default rates. By denying high-risk consumers new lines of credit, banks are decreasing the number of balances they will have to charge-off in the future. An improvement in delinquency rates is also a sign that default rates should improve as time goes on. These factors have led Moody’s to predict a 20-year low of credit card default rates by next year.

Categories
credit

Tips to Avoid Bankruptcy

Almost every day, it seems that there is some bad news about the rising cost of living. This is meaning increasing numbers of people are applying for bankruptcy. The prices of everyday essentials are going up at a time when most people’s incomes aren’t keeping up with the rising inflation.

Fuel bills, food and the cost of insurance– all essentials in our lives – are going up, meaning the money that’s left to pay for other things is becoming less and less. Finances are tight for most, even for people that do not need a debt management plan or debt consolidation. If you are facing bankruptcy then it is an even harder time to have money worries following the recession.

If you are already making payments towards a debt settlement plan or debt consolidation then it is important to keep these payments up to date. Anyone seeking to avoid entering into a debt management plan, debt consolidation or bankruptcy might be able to do so by tightening their expenditure and using the extra money to pay off debts.

Some good news is that there are some easy ways for people to save money and potentially prevent actions such as bankruptcy being taken. The first thing that can be done is look at your utility bills and insurance policies. Use a couple of price comparison websites to double check that you are getting the best deals available and if you are not then switch providers. Although, you need to check your contracts to make sure you can leave without incurring any financial penalties. Check your mobile phone bill and usage to see if you can move to a different network or get a cheaper contract on your existing one. If you’re not using all your minutes and texts then you are just wasting money. It’s also worth working out if a pay-as-you go phone would be more economical to use as some of the pay as you go plans these days offer free texts if you top up so much a month.

Food is another basic essential that none of us can do without. Having said this there are ways to cut food bills which saves money. It is estimated that the average family of four people wastes $680 worth of food every year, the equivalent of $56 a month. If you plan meals, preparing the meals from scratch and making sure you cook the right amount it’s easy to begin to reduce expenditure on food. Switching to cheaper brands at the supermarkets can also help shrink the bill. Giving up dining out and takeaways is yet another simple way to ensure you have more money left towards the end of the month.

If you need to save even more money to help with your debt management payments or debt consolidation then cutting out or cutting down alcohol and cigarettes will make a big difference to your cash flow as these are luxury items that have a high price at the till. This will also have a positive impact on your health.

Small things can really add up and help you tackle your debts before they build up and become a more serious problem which could lead to possible debt consolidation or worse filing for bankruptcy.

If all these ideas seem a bit drastic then think about the ultimate goal of becoming debt-free and the relief that you will feel when you can finally pay off your debt management plan or debt consolidation, which will mean that you avoid bankruptcy.

Categories
making money

Women Entrepreneurs Make Strides (Just Not in Technology)

Women entrepreneurs in the United States are making strides – they are out in the world running businesses, moving forward through innovation and staking their claim. This is evidenced in the American Express OPEN state of women-owned businesses report, which examines trends from 1997 to 2011 of the number, employment and revenues of said businesses. American Express published this report in order to highlight strides women are making but also to pinpoint barriers that might be preventing women from achieving their full potential. For women entrepreneurs, something seems to stand in the way of them and technology, as their presence is not as loud as one might expect.

The Numbers

According to the American Express OPEN report, as of 2011 the number of businesses owned by women likely exceeds that of 8.1 million, or around 49%. This number has doubled in the past 14 years. These women are making almost $1.3 trillion in revenue each year and are employing almost 7.7 million people. During the time period of this report, overall business growth was measured at a rate of 34%. But businesses led by women grew at a rate of 50%, meaning that businesses of entrepreneurial women are growing at a rate double than those of men. The report states that overall women-run businesses have experienced substantial growth in the last 14 years, but for some reason they do not fare as well as the businesses grow larger. And despite the fact that many of these numbers are impressive, women-run businesses employ a low percentage of America’s workforce at only 6% and only account for 4% all of all business revenue.

Women in Technology

There is no question that women-run businesses are growing. This is especially so for businesses related to education, administrative and waste services and construction. It’s interesting to also note that the most women-owned businesses are in healthcare and social assistance, education and personal care. But when it comes to technology, you just don’t see many women running the show. In fact, the number is in the low single digits.

In Cynthia Kocialski’s Start-up Entrepreneurs’ Blog (who happens to have a background in the hi-tech industry), she notes that in 1989, 15% of engineering bachelor’s degrees went to women and 39% of science bachelor’s degrees went to women. Now is about the time these women would be ranking high up in companies. According to Forbes’ Top 25 Hottest Tech Stocks, only 13% of senior managers were women and only 1.9% of them had a technical position.

There is one field related to technology where women entrepreneurs have experienced growth – in mobile development. The Huffington Post reported last year that although this field had been previously male dominated, many women are making a name for themselves through the development of iPhone apps.

Men vs. Women Entrepreneurs

What exactly is going on when it comes to women and technology? There are countless hypotheses one could generate about why women entrepreneurs are falling short in the field of technology. Maybe it has to do with differing interests, societal influence or the fact that around the time men are thinking about going big with their ideas, women are more focused on starting a family. Also, men and women certainly differ in characteristics. Men are possibly more prone to taking big risks or talk themselves up more than woman do.

Another possibility is that women are experiencing discrimination and are being held back through no fault of their own. Because we as a society are more accustomed to seeing men involved in technology, we might be more wary of women attempting to enter the field. Women entrepreneurs will just have to keep chugging along, and most likely in the coming years we will see more women-run businesses in technology.

Categories
credit

Best Time for DIY Debt Settlement is Early

When you begin to realize your debts are mounting and you are about to lose control of your finances, it is in your best interest to begin the process of debt settlement on your own right away. Debt settlement sounds like a complicated process average consumers cannot handle on their own. Actually, it is this myth that often perpetuates the vicious cycle of debt.

There are many reasons why your financial status will fall into disrepair. Job loss, expensive medical treatments, investments gone wrong, overspending, and even fraud can throw your financial affairs into a spin, leaving you with creditor calls demanding money and dwindling funds in your savings accounts. Making a move as soon as you realize where your financial affairs are headed will serve you well.

How to Start the DIY Settlement Process

Settling debts on your own may sound ominous and overwhelming but that is simply not the case. All consumers have the power to settle their debts but many fear the process.

To start out you should make a list of your financial outlook. Use your existing budget or create one if you haven’t used a budget before. (Incidentally, not having a budget is the trigger that leads many into the downfall of debt.) Find out exactly how much you owe to each creditor and then figure out how much of your income or savings goes out to monthly financial obligations. Money left over should be noted.

Next, make a list of your creditors and their contact information. Decide who the priority is in the debt settlement process. Perhaps you need to contact your highest-interest credit card provider before you contact your medical provider’s office. There is no definitive answer as to who should come first so you’ll have to figure out which debts need settlement first.

The Negotiations

Once you have established your creditor list, contact the highest priority creditor. It may be wise to ask for a manager as soon as the phone is answered to ensure you are speaking with someone who has the authority to give you the answers you need. Be upfront with the company representative and briefly relate your current or impending financial hardship.

For instance, if you have just been laid off from work, let the company know the situation and how long you expect the hardship to last. Ask if there is an acceptable amount of money less than the balance you owe that you could pay to settle the debt in full since you anticipate being unable to fulfill your monthly obligation for long. If the manager can not accept a one-time payment, they may be able to suggest alternatives such as lowered monthly payments for a period of time. If you do not have the amount of cash necessary to settle the debt, ask if they will rework your payment obligations on a monthly basis.

Whatever arrangements can be made with your first creditor, be sure to request the details in writing from the company. In some cases, consumers have neglected to get a copy of the arrangements in writing and therefore were later unable to prove their deal, making them responsible once again for the total balance due regardless of previous payments being made on the account. Most creditors will not go back on their word but the written confirmation is the only proof you have on your side as a consumer.

Once you have settled the debt with the first creditor, you’ll need to re-evaluate your finances to see what debt to tackle next. In the situation where one creditor refuses to settle your debt for a lesser amount, move on to the next and do your best to keep your monthly payments going, even if you are only paying the minimum due.

Why Waiting Is Devastating

If you wait too long to contact your creditors to keep an open line of communication, your debt problems will only grow and compound financially. The added fees, penalties, and interest charges only mean you’ll have a bigger balance to fork over. As soon as you know that times will be tough for you financially, reach out to your creditors for help.

Realize you are not the only debtor with financial hardships. In most cases, creditors will be open-minded and flexible if you give them the opportunity. They are not blind to the state of the current economy and may have resources and options you do not even realize that can significantly help you pay off owed balances. Until you open up and admit where you are heading, you will get nowhere in your pursuit of your debt relief goals.

Don’t wait for collection calls to start or for someone else to step in. You are responsible for your debts and the earlier you are able to reach your debt elimination goals, the faster you can get back on the right financial track.

Categories
saving money

Festival of Frugality #280

Saving money is one of the most important parts of a financial plan. If you don’t save money, you can never get ahead in life. It’s as simple as that. I mean, think about it – no one ever got rich by borrowing money. That’s why I love the Festival of Frugality – it’s a gathering of articles devoted to helping people save money. This week we had over 40 entries. What you see here are the best of the best, the articles which will help you save money and improve your financial situation. Thanks for sharing, and thanks for reading!

Masters of Frugality (Tips to Save Money)

Festival of FrugalityKyle James presents Top 10 Recession Busters posted at Kyle, saying, “Here are my Top 10 ways to save money in a tough economy.”

Melissa Batai presents How to Save on Diapers or Get Them For Free posted at Mom’s Plans, saying, “While it is very difficult to get free diapers, there are many ways to lessen how much you pay for diapers.”

No Debt MBA presents CEOs as MBA students – They were on budgets too! posted at No Debt MBA.

Flexo presents Use Technology to Save Gas Money posted at Consumerism Commentary.

BIFS presents Restaurant Menu Tricks to Get More of Your Money posted at Budgeting In the Fun Stuff, saying, “Eating out is one of the first things to go when you try to go frugal, but it’s also something many enjoy and if that’s what makes you happy you should find a way to enjoy it without breaking the bank. Here are some tips.”

Dr. Dean presents Saving Money: While on Vacation! posted at Dr. Dean’s TheMillionaireNurse.com Blog, saying, “Keeping costs down while on vacation is a great way to make things more enjoyable and make the money you do spend last and last.”

FMF presents How to Decide Whether to Drive or Fly posted at Free Money Finance.

The DIY Troupe (The Self-Made Crew)

Control your Cash presents Why pay someone when I can do it myself? posted at Control Your Cash: Making Money Make Sense, saying, “Sometimes, the smartest way to be frugal is to start writing checks. Here’s why.”

MoneyThinking presents Summer Savings… Through Gardening? posted at Money Thinking.

Tarik presents Anything worthwhile needs 8 hours of continuous work posted at Success starts today, saying, “There are many types of work that may take from a few minutes to a few hours, but valuable work needs time. Time needs to be booked without interruption for long periods. To be able to make progress on all my activities including work, businesses, blog and family, I use several techniques to block and reserve my time and work on my most valuable goals. Here are three tips on how you can create blocks of time that will make every day of your life worthwhile.”

Coupon Magnates (Coupon Clippers)

Jacob A. Irwin presents Are Coupons Right For You? posted at My Money Blog – Personal Finance and Investing, saying, “Coupons are often touted as an effective way to be frugal and save money. However, there are several factors to consider in determining they’re worth your time. I’ve tried to outline several of these in this post.”

The Wise Squirrel presents ROI on Coupons posted at Squirrelers, saying, “Sometimes when using coupons to save money, it’s important to measure how valuable they are by considering the time and effort invested as well.”

Suba presents Reselling groupon or any daily deals vouchers posted at Wealth informatics.

Sustainable PF presents A Green Cycle: Alternative Feminine Hygiene Products posted at Sustainable Personal Finance, saying, “Green feminine hygiene products are not only earth friendly they are part of a frugal lifestyle as well. Read on to learn about this interesting way to save money.”

The Castle Guards (Insurance)

Jeff Rose, CFP presents Why Bundling Your Insurance Policies is a Good Idea posted at Consumer Boomer, saying, “Have you wondered whether bundling your insurance policies can benefit you? Here are a few good reasons to make the switch.”

Odysseas presents 15 Items that Impact the Cost of Homeowners Insurance posted at Wallet Blog, saying, “Hey, I hope you’re having a great weekend! I think you and your readers will really enjoy my submission this week because I explain a number of ways you can try to decrease your homeowners insurance. There are a variety of things you can change, alter or improve in order to reduce your annual premium and save money in the long run.”

Super-Size This! (Investing)

Ken presents 5 Ways to Reduce the Risk Involved with Retirement Savings posted at Spruce Up Your Finances.

My Journey presents How to Retire Wealthy posted at My Journey to Millions, saying, “Since our lives are ever-changing and dynamic, why do we invest as if they were static and unchanging? Rather than investing our money in one big pot, I say we should develop some constant cash flow from other sources (while contributing that 10% into our “just-in-case” fund)!”

The Gilded Couple (Banking)

Tim Chen presents When Should You Get a Prepaid Debit Card? posted at NerdWallet Blog – Credit Card Watch, saying, “In truth, there’s almost no reason to get a prepaid debit card. Even if you have a bad or limited credit history, you have much better options.”

Thanks for participating, everyone! You can enter next week’s Festival of Frugality using the carnival submission form or you can submit your entries here.

Categories
investing

Important Ratios for Mutual Funds

Mutual funds can confound us with their variety and objectives. There are a plenty of mutual funds which can fit all hues of risk and reward combination. While the varieties offer more options to choose from, the same varieties can confuse investors if they do not know how to understand them. Understanding the proportion of equity, objectives, and your own goal and investment horizon are very important to make the most of the fund.

Since most of the retail investors do not have time and expertise to understand the stocks and businesses behind them, they find a responsible advisor in fund manager. Mutual funds diversify the investment into various equities and bonds and thus reduce the risk entailed in the case of individual stocks. Though diversification reduces returns it reduces risk, which is an important parameter from a retail investor’s perspective.

In this article, we will focus on the important ratios concerning mutual funds (note, many of these will also apply to Exchange Traded Funds).

Ratios for mutual funds

Just like stocks, mutual funds have their own ratios that the investors need to look at to judge the investment worthiness of a fund. These ratios will help retail investors understand some of the key factors that impact their returns from mutual funds.

Expense Ratio

Expense ratio is the cost incurred in running the fund by the investment fund house. The expense ratio is calculated by dividing the operating expense by Total Net Asset Value of mutual fund. It is given in %. The figure is also expressed in bps, which is a multiplication by 100 of percentage figure.  The expense ratio is a very important parameter as the expenses are taken from the returns and hence it lowers the returns that the fund earns. A point to be noted here is that a fund takes out this amount regardless of the profit margins i.e. even when the fund runs in losses.

Expense ratio is usually less for index funds since the fund manager doesn’t need to do more research, but just needs to track a market index.

So once you have shortlisted a sector and a few funds in that sector choose a fund which has least expense ratio for investment.

Load structure

The entry load is the initial charges taken out by the fund from your investment. Hence when you buy the mutual fund, you don’t get fund units worth full value of your money. The exit load is when you sell fund units you have to pay the exit load.

As the definition specifies, it’s better to choose lower load funds.

Portfolio PE ratio

The PE ratio of mutual fund is price by earnings ratio. It simply tells you how much you are paying to earn Rs 1. If the PE ratio is 25, you are paying Rs 25 to earn Rs 1, a 4% return. This is certainly making things too simplistic as the earnings will keep growing for the companies which are part of the mutual fund. There is no hard and fast rule but a PE ratio of 20 and less is preferable. The other side is that a high PE ratio indicates that people are ready to pay higher price for the fund because the market believes that the fund value can grow faster.

Portfolio PB Ratio

The PB ratio of a mutual fund is aggregated price to book ratio of all the stocks and entities comprising the fund. The PB ratio tells you the price you are paying for a unit book value. The book value is another topic which can take many pages. Suffice it to say that book value is nothing but the value of all the assets minus the liabilities. There is no specific value which can be used to measure attractiveness of a mutual fund.

Dividend Yield

Dividend yield is the dividend distributed by the mutual fund as % of the current market price of the fund. For example,  a dividend yield of 3% and more will be great offer in Indian market as Indian companies usually do not give good dividends. The reason is not difficult to guess. India is a growing economy and most of the firms are growing faster. The companies need money to fuel the growth and hence most of the companies invest the earnings in growing the company than distributing it as dividends.

Market Cap

The market cap shows whether the fund has invested in large cap, medium cap, or small cap. The very large market cap shows that the fund has invested in blue chip companies with very large market capitalization.

Market cap helps investors realize the risks and rewards that they should expect from the fund. A large market cap fund that invests in blue chip companies will give average returns with very less risk.

Beta

Beta of the fund shows the measurement of risk of mutual fund with respect to the market. In simple language, it tells you how much a mutual fund’s NAV will move for a certain move of the market index.

If a mutual fund has a beta of 1.2, it means it will move 1.2 times the market’s move. So if the market moves up by 10%, the mutual fund’s value will move up by 12%. If the market goes down by 20%, the mutual fund’s value will go down by 20*1.2 = 24%.

A beta of -1.2 means that the mutual fund and market move in opposite direction with mutual fund moving more. For example, if market moves up by 10%, the mutual fund’s value will move down by 12%.

Sharpe ratio

Nobel laureate, Bill Sharpe, devised a formula known as Sharpe Ratio. This ratio measures the returns with respect to risk taken by the fund. The formula is return of fund in excess of the risk free return divided by the standard deviation of its returns.

Sharpe ratio = (Return of the fund – risk free return) / standard deviation of the return of the fund

A higher Sharpe ratio is preferable as it denotes higher returns for the risk taken. A negative Sharpe ratio indicates that the fund is performing worse than a riskless asset.

Standard deviation

Standard deviation of a fund is measure of its volatility. A high volatility shows the risk is high. However, as we have just shown above Sharpe ratio is a better measure than just looking at standard deviation in isolation.

The last words

These ratios are very important for investors to know. Most of the mutual funds scheme document will provide the ratios anyway so investors do not have to calculate them. Look at the ratios and decide for yourself. In the end, these ratios will drive the performance of the fund.

Categories
credit

3 Ways to Prevent Credit Card Identity Theft

While the likelihood of somebody stealing your entire identity has gone down in recent years, complaints of fraud have been on the rise. In other words, thieves are less likely to attempt to completely assume your identity, but they are more likely to steel just enough information in order to use it for their own purposes. Roughly nine million Americans are victimized by identity theft in one way or another each year. Here are some things that you can do in order to prevent this from happening to you.

Avoiding Online Fraud

One of the biggest reasons for the increase in credit card theft is the emergence of the internet. It doesn’t matter if you are using cash back credit cards or a debit card, you are putting yourself at risk if you enter in your information without taking a few steps to verify your security.

The threat of making a purchase online shouldn’t be overstated. It is generally safe to buy things online, but there are a few things you can do to keep yourself safe.

First of all, you should know who you are making the purchase from. Large, well known websites can generally be trusted. Before making a purchase, however, you should always check the site address in order to make sure that you are where you think you are. Site logos can be stolen and pasted on a false site, so verify the site address.

You can also check for security seals before making any purchase online in order to verify that the payment is going through safely. The bottom right corner of your browser should display a padlock that has been locked whenever you are asked for personal information.

Avoiding Phone Fraud

Never give out your personal information to somebody who calls you. It is safe to give this information over the phone, but only if you know exactly who you are talking to. If somebody calls you and asks you for your personal information, tell them that you will call them back at their corporate number to discuss the issue. If it is a legitimate call, they will understand why you are doing this.

Once a criminal has your credit card number, they can call you and pretend to be your credit card company. They may ask for personal information like your mother’s maiden name or even your social security number. They can use this information not only to use your credit card, but to take out additional loans and hurt your credit score, putting you in debt.

Protecting Your Cards

You should always keep your credit card and your other valuable information on hand when you are in public. This information should be where you can see or feel it at all times. When entering a PIN number at the store, cover your hand so that nobody can see what number you are entering.

Never leave your credit card in the car. It can be stolen, or the information on the card can be written down. Cut up old credit cards before you throw them away.

Take the same care to protect your children’s information. It is not unheard of for criminals to steel children’s social security numbers and use them to take out credit.

Categories
credit

Alaska Airlines Wins “Best Loyalty Credit Card”

Alaska Airlines won the award for “Best Loyalty Credit Card” thanks to voters at the Frequent Traveler Awards for its Visa Signature® card. Some of the perks that this credit card offers are 25,000 miles upon approval, attractive award levels when booking online and the ability to purchase a discount companion ticket of $99 once per year. This was the second year in a row that Alaska Airlines has been voted one of the best credit cards.

The Card

Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® cardholders receive 25,000 miles upon approval and a discount code each year for the purchase of one roundtrip companion ticket for only $99. Amazingly, this perk is not limited by blackout dates or other travel restrictions. For every $1 cardholders spend on Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air tickets and Vacations packages, they earn three miles. For all other purchases, cardholders earn one mile for every $1 they spend. The airlines also offers award levels when booking online. With their user-friendly online booking, it’s easy for customers to see all their award-seat options for one-way and roundtrip flights.

Frequent Traveler Awards

The Frequent Traveler Awards were created by the Frequent Traveler Educational Foundation in 2010. The awards ceremony was held last week, when 1.3 million frequent fliers rated airline and hotel programs. These awards honor excellence in travel programs worldwide and include an airlines and hotel winner for each category in three different regions, including the Americas, Europe/Africa, and the Middle East/Asia/Oceania. This is the second year Alaska Airlines has been the favorite among voters in the category of “Best Loyalty Credit Card.”

About Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group, serve 90 cities between Alaska, the United States, Canada and Mexico.