Stay away from plans for card protection, advices Government Accountability Office
Consumers who are planning to opt for card protection plans may want to heed the advice of the Government Accountability Office and shun those plans. Most of the credit card lenders today offer their card holders the option of choosing card protection plans so they can benefit the customer; however, the plan is designed to protect the issuers more than consumers.
The Government Accountability Office says that card holders who are keen to safeguard their payments against defaults will opt for the debt protection plan which works more in their favor. The amount that card holders have to pay towards this protection plan ranges from 85 cents to over $1 for every $100 that is carried forward on the card. If the fee is considered to be a dollar for ever hundred dollars, then for a balance of $2500, the card holder will have to pay $300 annually in the form of fees. In the year 2009, credit card companies generated a total amount of $2.4 billion in the form of fees for the debt protection plan.
Of the total amount that was generated as revenue, only $518 million was paid out to card holders in the form of benefits against claims. This accounts to only 55% of the total revenue generated. 24% of this revenue was also used to cover administrative costs.
The United States Public Interest Group recently conducted a survey which has revealed that, of the 392 banks that took the survey, only 40 percent complied with the Truth In Savings Act.
Latest Other Card News
A virtual credit card is a unique credit card number that is linked to your main credit card account but is different from the physical card number. The virtual credit card number allows to shop online or over the phone without using your physical credit card. The numbers can usually be used once and expire if not used. The cardholders can also delete the numbers if they want or need to.
Credit scores and credit reports have become an integrate part of our lives and financial health. There are a lot of services that allow to check credit reports online and FreeCreditReport.com is one of them. FreeCreditReport.com is owned and operated by Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus in the U.S. The service provides […]
If your wallet is bulging with store loyalty cards, there’s good news for you from Samsung Pay. The most widely accepted mobile digital wallet system in the United States is now allowing users to upload their store membership and rewards cards onto their Samsung Galaxy smartphones.
Identity theft and banking fraud concern more and more Americans, according to a recent FICO survey. And that is not a surprise as credit card fraud continues to grow, especially online fraud.
There is no foolproof way to protect yourself from fraud, but there are a few things you can do. The first and foremost thing you should do is never ever give your credit or debit card information to someone you do not know.
Springtime is the season for house hunting, but many people planning to move this year say they’ll rent, not buy, their new digs.
