Personal Finance guide

You have two main borrowing options for rebuilding credit with bank secured loans. You can either take out a large amount of money using your home as collateral, or you can use a CD as collateral.

When you take out a large amount of money using your home as collateral you can use it for home improvement, or paying off old debts to get rid of them, which will also help clean up your report and improve your score. Of course, the biggest down side to this option is that if you fail to make your payments each month you risk losing your home. Also, a large factor in calculating your score is the amount of debt you have versus the amount of credit available to you. It will take you a while to pay this off and really improve things. Of course, having built this long history of on time monthly payments will make a great improvement in your score!

Continue reading ‘Rebuilding Credit With Bank Secured Loans’ »

On one occassion, I checked my account balance at the ATM and it showed a positive amount of over $200. We went on our trip, ate at a restaurant and purchased a few other items the same day. I was shocked when we got back to see 5 overdraft fees at $33.00 each posted on our account. When I contacted BOA and told them I had a bank receipt showing my account in the positive before we made the transactions, they told me I had some transactions ‘pending’ that had not yet been posted to my account and therefore did not show up when I went to the ATM. Yet they still insisted that my account balance at the ATM was ‘realtime.’ This was what they had advertised, and of course, what I believed. How can they advertise that their online and atm balances are up to date if there are still transactions on hold? We also would not have been hit with so many fees if they had posted them by the time of day and not the amount! The bank continues to allow use of the ATM card to make purchases even if there is a negative balance. It would be easy enough for them to decline payment if a card with a negative balance is presented, but thier excuse for this is that it is a ‘courtesy’ to their customers. Hogwash! It’s so they can wrack up more service fees – their bread and butter. We’ve been customers of BOA for over 10 years and have NEVER had this problem before.

Recently, we got hit with 5 overdraft fees because they posted the transactions, not at the time they were presented, but based on the transaction amount – higher to lower. The ‘best’ part though is that we deposited enough money to cover all the transactions the same day. I of course contacted them through their mail system online (which is the only way to contact them via the Internet) and they refused to refund the fees because we had deposited the check AFTER the transactions had presented. Can you believe it?

Continue reading ‘Bank of Americas Bread and Butter’ »

Recent events in the world economy have forced many people to take stock of their finances and realise just how reliant they are on credit. While mortgages, loans and credit cards may be grabbing all the headlines, it is important to remember that overdrafts can cause just as many problems.

And with people being advised to make sure the money they do have is working for them as well as it can, it could be that a customer should consider finding the best current account rate to be just as crucial as comparing the likes of credit cards.

Continue reading ‘Current accounts can be switched too’ »

Analysis of Indian Financial Sector reveals that it is at present going through a phase of stable growth rate which is experiencing a upward swing. The rise can be maintained over a long period by keeping the inflation down. The financial sector in India has experienced a growth rate of 8.5% per annum. The rise in the growth rate suggests the growth of the economy. The financial policies and the monetary policies are able to sustain a stable growth rate. The reforms pertaining to the monetary policies and the macro economic policies over the last few years have influenced the Indian economy to the core. The major step towards opening up of the financial market further was the nullification of the regulations restricting the growth in the financial sector. To maintain such a growth for a long term the inflation has to come down further. The analysis of Indian financial sector shows the growth of the sector was the result of the individual development of the divisions under the sector.

Analysis of the Indian Capital market

• The ratio of the transaction was increased with the share ratio and deposit system
• The removal of the pliable but ill-used forward trading mechanism
• The introduction of InfoTech systems in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in order to cater to the various investors in different locations
• Privatization of stock exchanges

Analysis of the Indian Venture Capital market

• The venture capital sector in India is one of the most active in the financial sector in spite of the hindrances by the external set up
• Presently in India there are around 34 national and 2 international SEBI registered venture capital funds

Analysis of the Indian Banking sector

• The banking system in India is the most extensive. The total asset value of the entire banking sector in India is nearly US$ 270 billion.
• The total deposit is nearly US$ 220 billion. Banking sector in India has been transformed completely.
• Presently the latest inclusions such as Internet banking and Core banking have made banking operations more users friendly and easy.

Analysis of the Indian Insurance sector

• With the opening of the market, foreign and private Indian players are keen to convert untapped market potential into opportunities by providing tailor-made products:
• The insurance market is filled up with new players which has led to the introduction of several innovative insurance based products, value add-ons, and services. Many foreign companies have also entered the arena such as Tokio Marine, Aviva, Allianz, Lombard General, AMP, New York Life, Standard Life, AIG, and Sun Life
• The competition among the companies has led to aggressive marketing, and distribution techniques
• The active part of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) as a regulatory body has provided to the development of the sector

Continue reading ‘REFORMS WITH REFERENCE TO BANKING SECTOR’ »

Millions of people use checks as a convenient form of payment everyday. According to D & B Company, in 1997 (the last year for which statistics are available) it is estimated that American consumers and businesses wrote approximately 66 billion checks. This figure amounts to roughly 250 checks per capita annually, or one check per business day per U.S. resident. D&B Company continues that despite the rapidly expanding use of electronic payment such as debit, the market share of checks remains quite high at 73 percent, measured as a percentage of non-cash retail transaction volume.

Checks provide a person access to their money without the hassle of carrying large sums of cash. Big ticket items such as appliances and furniture can be easily tracked and documented by checks in case problems arise, whereas cash cannot. It is good practice to write checks based upon a positive checking account balance to avoid a check being returned. Businesses as well as individuals suffer from being issued a check that has been dishonored by a bank due to non-sufficient funds, a bad check.

Bad check writing can be costly to issuers as they incur fees from their bank and from the person who received the check, plus the cost of the goods or services they accepted in exchange for the check. Signs that declare “We no longer accept checks” are the result of businesses receiving several bad checks over time, and opting not to accept checks as a form of payment at all.

Financial institutions offer overdraft protection to consumers as a way to avoid bouncing checks. If an account falls short of the amount a check is written for, your bank will simply draft the shortfall from a savings account, credit card or line of credit. Maintaining a higher checking account balance coupled with a disciplined checks and balancing system can help a person avoid bad checks. ChexSystems warns consumers to avoid relying on the “float” period (the time between the deposit of a check and its clearance at a bank). People are also advised to only write a check based upon what they truly have in a checking account.

Continue reading ‘Bad Checks Can Negatively Impact Your Credit’ »

It has recently been announced that the Bank of Spain will be introducing new rules in the next few weeks to double the amount written off by Spanish banks and Cajas (saving banks) when the banks hold repossessed properties for longer than a year.

Currently, the banks and cajas, by law, must have provisions of 10% on the appraisal values for repossessed property that have been owned for a year or longer. This figure will now increase to 20%.

Continue reading ‘Bank provision set to double for Spanish Banks’ »

A corporate credit card can be an invaluable business tool that helps you to run your operation more smoothly.

And the great news is, getting a business credit card can be as simple as making sure your financial records in order, and applying with a bank or credit card provider online!

Gone are the days where you needed to dress up in your finest suit and lug a briefcase full of financial documents to a meeting with your bank manager: now, you can simply log on to the website of the bank you wish to apply with, and fill out an online application that usually takes just a few minutes.

Continue reading ‘How To Get A Business Credit Card’ »

In the down market of the real estate industry, people are always on the lookout for great deals and investments. In the contemporary economic downturn however, it is not surprising that many homeowners experience losing their precious properties to short sale and foreclosure. If you are going through the pain and stress of selling your house through short sale and still the bank rejects your offer to carry on a transaction, then there are salient things you ought to consider.

It is primary to learn and understand how to make a good counter offer which you can definitely resort to. When you make a counter offer, you encourage your potential home buyer to make a much higher home purchase offer so that your lender or bank will concede to your offer.

Banks or lenders are essentially in the losing end when short sale is becoming apparent because it means that they adhere to the sale of the property with an amount which is lower than the mortgage the home owner still owes. If you are offering the bank to sell the property in a very low rate, then it is more likely that the lender or bank will reject your offer in order to avoid further losses.

Continue reading ‘Salient Pointers on What to do when a Bank Rejects your Offer’ »

Businesses and the self know the game with the banks: a loan is required, have been recently introduced such high security demands that would meet the credit needs can be almost of it. At fault are mainly associated with the introduction of the Basel II policy conditions attached to the banks.

Of which is in the lending to deposit demanded by the more equity, the worse the Estimated creditworthiness of their customers. This has meant that have been grown especially in the lending business with the reins and is now considered in more detail before a loan is granted for self-employed.

As an entrepreneur, helps here one thing above all: to improve key financial ratios. Among others, indebtedness, accounts payable for goods and services, the equity ratio and liquidity of the key performance metrics that are used to assess the creditworthiness of the customer. So if you plan to apply to your bank or other credit for self-employed, then you check in advance, as it is with these figures.

Continue reading ‘Find a Business Loan For Your New Company’ »