By Heather Giang, Credit Protection Alliance
When you are ready to take a new credit card there are lots of factors you need to consider. Among these factors are credit card term. You need to choose the plan terms that best suit your financial needs. You need to consider plan terms like free period or grace period, annual percentage rate (APR), annual membership or participation fee, transaction fee among others.
It’s very important that you understand each of the credit card plan terms before you accept the card to avoid putting yourself in financial bondage. For example if your issuing company did not give free period and you are unable to pay on time your account will be charged and it will ending up adding more debt to your account.
There are several cases of card theft in recent days so it’s advisable that you keep a close watch on our card account to avoid unauthorized use. Also don’t give away your card information where you aren’t feeling secure. Another way to avoid lost or unauthorized use of your card is to only carry the card you think you will be using. And in case of lost of your card you need to call issuer and inform them of the lost ASAP. Keeping a separate record (photo copy, both sides) of each of your account number, expiration date and issuer contact information is very important. On more information on preventing identity theft, check out our book: Protect and Preserve Your Identity, in our E Books section.
It’s very important that you reconciliate your account when you get statement of account from your card issuer. In order to reconcile your account successfully you need verify transactions by going over each receipt and personal note, where you don’t have receipt. Most likely you will discover errors, which could have been added to your statement without you noticing it.
Keeping the above tips in mind will help you while shopping for new card and using it as well.
