What credit really gives you?

Good question, let’s see….does credit gives you power? Maybe it gives you security? How about problems? Of the three questions I have seen the latter to be true.

I am sure people like to argue that credit will give you power. These are probably the same people that are using credit to buy stuff they don’t need to impress people they don’t like.  The power received by credit lacks a foundation. Proverbs 22:7 says “The borrower is always slave to the lender”.  I fail to see how being a slave creates power.

Here is a good one…credit gives you security.  More like FALSE security. Do you really want to fall into debt so that you can have peace of mind? Is that peace of mind? Maybe you would rather work hard for a month or two and save $1000 to fund your emergency fund. I see this happen fast with the clients we work with.  Generally buy 6 weeks the emergency fund is complete and they can begin to attack step 2 paying off debt or step 3 saving 3 to 6 months of income, aka REAL security

Have you ever really read this before in a 12pt font?

See your Cardmember Agreement. Your Cardmember Agreement contains all the terms of your Account.

Lost or stolen cards. Report immediately!

What To Do If You Think You Find A Mistake On Your Statement
If you think there is an error on your statement, write to us at: 

·  Account information: Your name and account number.

·  Dollar amount: The dollar amount of the suspected error.

·  Description of Problem: If you think there is an error on your bill, describe what you believe is wrong and why you believe it is a mistake.

     You must contact us within 60 days after the error appeared on your statement.
     You must notify us of any potential errors in writing. You may call us, but if you do we are not required to investigate any potential errors and you may have to pay the amount in question.
     While we investigate whether or not there has been an error, the following are true:

·  We cannot try to collect the amount in question, or report you as delinquent on that amount.

·  The charge in question may remain on your statement, and we may continue to charge you interest on that amount. But, if we determine that we made a mistake, you will not have to pay the amount in question or any interest or other fees related to that amount.

·  While you do not have to pay the amount in question, you are responsible for the remainder of your balance.

·  We can apply any unpaid amount against your credit limit.

Your Rights If You Are Dissatisfied With Your Credit Card Purchases
        If you are dissatisfied with the goods or services that you have purchased with your credit card, and you have tried in good faith to correct the problem with the merchant, you may have the right not to pay the remaining amount due on the purchase.
        To use this right, all of the following must be true:

1.     The purchase must have been made in your home state or within 100 miles of your current mailing address, and the purchase price must have been more than $50. (Note: Neither of these are necessary if your purchase was based on an advertisement we mailed to you, or if we own the company that sold you the goods or services.)

2.     You must have used your credit card for the purchase. Purchases made with cash advances from an ATM or with a check that accesses your credit card account do not qualify.

3.     You must not yet have fully paid for the purchase.

        If all of the criteria above are met and you are still dissatisfied with the purchase, contact us in writing at:
        While we investigate, the same rules apply to the disputed amount as discussed above.  After we finish our investigation, we will tell you our decision.  At that point, if we think you owe an amount and you do not pay we may report you as delinquent.

Payments. Send only your payment and the top portion of this statement in the envelope provided. Do not send cash. By sending your check as described above, you authorize us to use information on your check to make an electronic fund transfer from your account at the financial institution indicated on your check or to process the payment as a check transaction. If payment is processed as an electronic fund transfer, the transfer will be for the amount of the check. When we use information from your check to make an electronic fund transfer, funds may be withdrawn from your account as soon as the same day we receive your payment, and you will not receive your check back from your financial institution.

The processing of your payment may be delayed if you send cash, correspondence or other items with your payment, if you send the payment to any other address or if you use an envelope other than the one provided. Payments received in proper form at our processing facility by 5PM local time on any day will be credited to your Account as of that day.  Payments received at our processing facility after 5PM local time will be credited to your Account as of the next day.  If you have misplaced your envelope, send your payment to delivery. If your payment is returned unpaid, we reserve the right to resubmit it as an electronic debit.

You can pay your minimum payment or a greater amount over the telephone, and you can set up automatic payments. Call us at You will need this statement and your bank account information. You must ensure that sufficient funds are available in your bank account, and all transactions must comply with U.S. law. You will be asked to provide the first 5 digits of your account statement zip code. By entering those numbers as your electronic signature, you will be agreeing to this authorization to allow us and your bank to deduct each payment you authorize from your bank account, and to initiate debit or credit entries to your bank account, as applicable, to correct an error in the processing of such payment. You must tell us the amount of each payment or you can select an amount such as the Minimum Payment Due or the New Balance on each statement. You can cancel a payment; however we must receive notice at least three business days in advance of the scheduled payment. You may notify us by phone at or by mail at the address listed in the previous paragraph. If your payments vary in amount, we will tell you on each monthly statement when your payment will be made and how much it will be. Your automatic payment amount may be less than indicated on the monthly statement based on credits or payments applied during the billing cycle.

Credit Reporting. We may report information about your account to credit bureaus. Late payments, missed payments, or other defaults on your Account may be reflected in your credit report. We normally report the status and payment history of your Account to credit reporting agencies each month. If you believe that our report is inaccurate or incomplete, please write us at the following address: unt number.

Paying Interest:  We begin to impose Interest Charges on all transactions from the Transaction Date for the transaction shown on your billing statement, unless a transaction is posted to your Account after the close of the billing period in which it occurs, in which case we begin to impose interest charges on that transaction from the first day of the billing period in which it is posted to your Account.  We continue to impose Interest Charges until the date you pay your entire New Balance shown on your billing statement by making payments or receiving credits.  If you paid the New Balance on your previous billing statement by the Payment Due Date shown on that billing statement, we will not impose Interest Charges on new purchases, that is, purchases first appearing on the current billing statement, or any portion of a new purchase, paid by the Payment Due Date on your current billing statement.  We call this the "grace period."   It is not less than 25 days.  There is no grace period on balance transfers or cash advances.  As more fully described in the section titled "How We Apply Payments," we generally apply payments to your Account based on the APR applicable to the balance of each transaction category.  This means that if you do not pay the New Balance on the current billing statement by the Payment Due Date shown on that billing statement, then, depending on the amount of your payment and the APRs on other balances, you may not get a grace period on new purchases.

Minimum Interest Charge.  We will charge you a minimum Interest Charge of $.50 for any billing period in which Interest Charges of less than $.50 would otherwise be imposed.

Annual Fee.  If your Account has an annual fee, it will be billed at the beginning of each anniversary year your Account is open.  The amount of the fee appears on the statement when the fee is billed.  The annual fee is not refundable unless you notify us that you wish to close your Account within 30 days of the mailing or delivery date of the statement on which the fee is billed.  You will receive this refund even if you use your Card during that period.

How We Calculate Interest Charges - Daily Balance Method (including current transactions):  We figure Interest Charges for each billing period.  To do this:

·  We calculate your Interest Charges separately for each balance subject to different terms (for example, standard purchases, standard cash advances and each purchase, balance transfer and cash advance balance subject to promotional terms).  We refer to these balances as transaction categories.

·  We figure the "daily balance" for each transaction category.  To get the "daily balance" we take the beginning balance for each day, add any new transactions and fees and any Interest Charges accrued on the previous day's daily balance.  We then subtract any credits and payments and make other adjustments (including those adjustments required in the section titled "Paying Interest"). In calculating the daily balance for the first day of the billing period, we consider the "previous day's daily balance" to have been your balance on the last day of your previous billing period.  This gives us the daily balance for each transaction category.

·  We figure the Interest Charges on your Account by multiplying the daily balance for each transaction category by its daily periodic rate, for each day in the billing period.

·  The total Interest Charges for the billing period are the sum of the daily Interest Charges for each transaction category for each day during that billing period.

When we calculate daily balances, we add a new transaction as of the Transaction Date shown on your billing statement, unless the transaction is posted to your Account after the close of the billing period in which it occurs, in which case the transaction will be added to the daily balance as of the first day of the billing period in which it is posted to your Account.  All fees charged to your Account are added to the standard purchase transaction category with the exception of Cash Advance Fees which are added to the applicable cash advance transaction category and Balance Transfer Fees which are added to the applicable balance transfer transaction category.

Foreign Currency Fee: 2% of the U.S. dollar amount of each purchase made in a foreign currency.

Penalty APRs: Each time you fail to make a payment when due, we may, in accordance with applicable law, (i) terminate the availability of any introductory/promotional APRs on new transactions, and (ii) increase your APRs for new transactions to variable Penalty APRs which will be determined by adding up to an additional 5 percentage points to the otherwise applicable APR. Your Penalty APR is determined based on your creditworthiness and other factors such as your current APRs, and your account history. If your APRs for new transactions are increased for a late payment, the Penalty APRs may apply indefinitely.

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