Credit Card Debts : Causes and Preventation

What is credit card debt?

Anyone own credit card ?

How many credit card do you have?

What credit card means to you?

If you have credit card, then credit card debts will sound familiar to you and you hate the most.

Credit card debts is an example of unsecured consumer debt which acessed through credit cards. Debts results when a client of credit card company purchases an item or sevices through credit card. Then, consumer's debt accumulates and increases with its interest and penalties will be charged when they do not pay the company for the money he or she has spent and bank will report the late payment to credit rating agencies in the book of "blacklist" customer. In addition the late payment penalties itself also increase the amount of debt the consumer has. So how "bad" of using credit card are?

There are few causes of credit card debt:

1.Swipe without thinking and unaware of the risks.

This is the general consensus of consumer groups on the alarming number of cerdit card users below the age of 30 who were blaklisted and later declared brankrupt due to fail on paying their credit card debts.

2.Poor money management skills

Monthly spending plan is essential. Card debts keep on increase day by day because of users without any idea where their money spending on those unnecessarily each month and end up having to charge purchases on which they spent.

3.Saving too little or no.

Normally ,youngest generation are least saving their money in bank where they like to spent almost 70% to 80% of their salary to clothing, food and beverage , car and electronic product. They are lack of the importance saving concept and not border that savings cushion in place will not cause immediate financial strain and increase debt.

4. Buy whatever you want now. Able to pay it off later in "maybe" terms.

For those credit card holders their hands are itchy and every new product that put in on shelves they will like to have one. It seems like those new products (eg.shiny HDTVand luxuries bag) are keep on calling their name to buy them. In result they cannot stand for the seduce and buy it and enjoy the debt painfully for the rest of the entire month.

5. Spending is your comfort activity.

Nowadays lot of people having their rough day, week or month either in workplace or home. Then they will try to make their feeling more happy by buying things on that moment. Sometimes it will causes them overspending of their budget and their life become more bitter and regret feelings rise when they receive the bank statement.

How to avoid credit card debt?

1. Manage your finances

Determine your monthly income and needed expenses by starting with a strategy where establish out a budget and then follow that budget exactly which will help you keep on track before you pull out the credit card for futher spending.

2. Shop for the right card.

It is very important for everyone to really gather around and get a credit card personalized for tour particular situation where try to getting one with no or very low fees and low interest. So, take your time and effort to compare different offers, but with the high saturation of the market which perfect fit for your wallet.

3.Know our credit card interest rate

If we going to use credit card in future while cant 100% gurantee that we will pay the balance in full of each month. Then we are strictly recommend to know the interest rate that charge to us due to late payment. In addition, check the rate of our monthly staements because credit card issuers can raise uor rates for a little or no apparent reason.

4.Pay on time.

Never even ever to make a late payment to anyone including car and house payments because penalties will be charged to every single overdue payment inreult it will increase the money that you owe from credit card company.

5.Use it like cash , not only card.

We must aware that everytime swipe our credit card it looks and feels the same for every single transaction because we treat it as card not money. So, we cannot physically feel our charges climbing higher and higher. Thus,we need to imagine every time we pull out the card as thickness of cashbut with each purchase we feels it become lesser and lesser.

Credit card owner should always remember " Preventation is better than cure".

The Application of Pre-paid Cash Card for Consumer

Nowadays, people can limit their spending with their pre-paid cash card that load funds onto the card and use the money. A prepaid cash card allows consumers to purchase something even when they don’t have the cash to pay for it.

Basically, a pre-paid cash card looks like a credit or debit card, and gives users the ability to purchase products and services with a card but with a crucial difference - users can only spend the balance that has been preloaded onto their card.There is no risk of running into debt as it has no credit or overdraft facility.

The application of pre-paid cash card for consumers :-

• Making hotel reservation
  
• Topping up your mobile phone
• Bill payment and online purchase
  
• Transferring money to friends and family
  
• Withdrawing cash from an ATM
• Petrol filling
  

These numerous benefits of pre-paid cash card :-

• Availability - No credit checks, which means users can get a card without worrying about their credit history. All prepaid card providers will carry out an Identity check to confirm users are who users say they are.

• No debt risk - There is no chance of spending too much as users are limited to the amount that users load funds onto their cards.

• Security feature - Pre-paid cash card holders are protected against theft and fraud by Personal Identification Numbers (PIN). Pre-paid cash cards are safer if comparing to carrying cash because cash cards can prevent cash being stolen or lost.

• The card for travel - As well as being able to top up the card, depending on the specific provider, users will be able to use it at ATMs worldwide. Many providers now offer dollar and euro cards and offer a better exchange rate on their travel cards. Other than that, prepaid cash cards offer a good alternative to travelers' cheques.

The several types of pre-paid cash card :-

Touch n Go (Malaysia)
(TnG) smart card is used by Malaysian for electronic payment system to toll expressway and highway. It is expanding its business to retail purchase by starting with fast food industry that enables consumers to buy burgers or fast-food from 21 outlets such as Burger King, 7-Eleven, Dunkin’ Donut. Besides that, card holders can use their prepaid cash cards pay parking fee before they are entering the shopping malls such as Midvalley, Sunway Pyramid and etc.

Octopus (Hong Kong)
It is an electronic system that makes traveling, dining and shopping in Hong Kong simple and hassle-free. Each Octopus contains a built-in microchip containing all users payment information. Just with a simple 'touch and go' of the Octopus cash card at a processing machine, the system automatically deducts the correct amount. There is no longer a need to carry coins.


EZ-Link (Singapore)
A system is similar to the Octopus Card in Hong Kong and Touch n Go in Malaysia.

The EZ-Link card is a contactless smart card based on the Sony Felica smartcard technology and used for the payment of public transportation fees in Singapore such as Mass-Rapid Transit (MRT), Light Rail Transit (LRT) and public bus services, with limited use in the small payments retail sector. EZ-Link cards being used for payments in Singapore branches of McDonald's. Some schools in Singapore have also started to adopt the EZ-Link card as a way to mark the attendance of students and to pay for food served within the school campus.


There is no interest change, late fees or over limit free for the pre-paid cash card. Nowadays, many consumers bankrupt because of bad debt of credit cards. Pre-paid cash cards are different with credit cards. It will control the limit while credit cards is uncontrollable. So, most of consumers choose to apply pre-paid cash cards rather than credit cards because it is safe and easy to use.

References:
Retrieved from http://www.moneysupermarket.com/c/prepaid-cards/guide/1/ on 1 July 2009
Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EZ-Link on 1 July 2009
Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus_Card on 1 July 2009

Electronic Currency

What is electronic currency?
Electronic currency also known as e-money, electronic cash, digital money, digital cash or digital currency. Electronic currency refers to money or scrip which is exchanged only electronically. Typically, this involves use of computer networks, the internet and digital stored value systems.

ClickandBuy
ClickandBuy is one of the leading payment systems on the internet. For 8 years, their innovative Internet payment and billing system has been one of the established market leaders in Europe and now they are expanding worldwide. ClickandBuy makes it easy to buy and sell online. More than 14,000 merchants benefit from this complete service in 26 countries, which includes 126 different currencies and 46 different payment methods. ClickandBuy is used by Apple iTunes, Skype, msn, T-Online, Electronic Arts, Meetic, Playboy, SanDisk, Yamaha, UNICEF and many more. You just registered and you can simply and securely buy from them.

ClickandBuy’s system offers customers the possibility to make safe and convenient purchases of Internet content and services. ClickandBuy can provide secure, fast and easy payments with all the major international payment and billing methods. Buyers benefit from:

-One-time free online registration

-Secure payment

-Immediate access to paid content with more than 14,000 merchants

-Convenient payment through direct debit, credit card, invoice or prepaid account

-Overview of purchases made in real time

-Transparency and cost control in your personal account management

-An up-to-date overview of open transactions, current subscriptions and invoices

-Good customer service

Security is the top priority of ClickandBuy. All processes meet the requirements for data protection. ClickandBuy places great value on the security of transactions. The security of the ClickandBuy system is multiply redundant and is housed in a high-security computer center. Personal data are handled with high confidentiality. Third parties cannot gain access to it. Customers have access to their data using the user name and password they chose. Everything is guaranteed through 24-hour monitoring by network specialists. ClickandBuy using SSL technology to encrypt all data transferred in both directions between you and us over the Internet.

ClickandBuy allows transparency of your information. ClickandBuy summarizes the following information when you pay for something using ClickandBuy: The merchant from whom you buy; a description of the content/service; price; date, time and length of time you are authorized to have access. They use this information to make a record available for your invoice (which lists all purchases you have made). You can see your up-to-date, password-protected ClickandBuy billing history at any time in ”My Account”.

There are some companies also provide Internet payment and billing system such as PayLoadz, Paystone technologies, Peppercoin, and Digicash. You can refer their related websites at below to know more about them.

Related websites:
https://www.payloadz.com/
http://www.techvibes.com/company-directory/paystone-technologies-corp
http://www.rsa.com/press_release.aspx?id=3323
http://www.peppercoin.com/
http://www.digicash.com/

A Review on a post on e-tailing from My E-Commerce blog

Sarawak handicraft to go for e-commerce – Posted on 31st July 2009.

Sarawak government is strongly urging the local handicraft industry players to venture into the online business. By doing so, through E-commerce, vendors will be able to market their handicraft products on a global scale and at the same time increase Sarawak’s handicraft industry more competitively. This proves to be easier said than done.
As a start, industry players are encouraged to utilize the one-stop e-handicraft mall set up by Sarawak Craft Council. The website, www.right.sarawak.gov.my/Rightmart, will be the gateway for the handicraft industry players to showcase their products and designs online. However, traditional vendors without adequate knowledge in operating a computer will find it difficult to even post the image of their merchandise for sale online.
In addition, there is also a main setback that many fail to take into consideration if all handicrafts were to go for e-commerce. Handicrafts are typically one of the main attractions of many place of interest in Malaysia. For example, Kelantan, Terrenganu, Pulau Pangkor, Kedah, and etc. Expatiates visiting Malaysia are often attracted to such places due to the richness and uniqueness of these handicrafts, often hand-made by the locals for extra income. Thus, if handicrafts were to be made available online, a negative impact will be imprinted on the tourism industry.
In conclusion, all aspects on e-tailing handicrafts has to be taken into consideration before its full scale implementation simply because tourism industry in Malaysia generates RM49.56 billion (US$13.76 billion) in 2008 and the Government will definitely be discontented if the figures were to drop due to incompetence and negligence in implementing e-tailing.