Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Credit Card Debt Is Still At Its Peak

The latest news shows that Americans have now become more educated about credit issues than they used to be before the recession period. However, this familiarity with the sphere of personal finance doesn't necessarily mean they are able to take the right decisions concerning lending and credit. A survey held by the Utica School of Commerce two weeks ago revealed that the overwhelming majority of Americans are aware of the interest rates they pay on their credit cards, as well as of their credit score. Despite of that, they still continue to suffer from the serious debt associated with high-interest cards, and many of them don't have the slightest idea of how to improve their credit rating.
The Utica's survey indicates that Americans don't tend to draw the right conclusions from the hard-learned credit lessons that they learned during the period of recession. Adult people who are unaware of their credit rating now come in about 30% as opposed to the 45% who didn't have any idea about it in 2007. There are also less people (21%) who don't know the interest rates imposed on the credit accounts they use most frequently, in compared with the 28% who claimed not to know it in 2007.
Among those who know the interest rates associated with their banking cards, 30% pay an interest rate of about 20% or even more. Others claim to pay 14-15% or more. It's an interesting fact that only 25% of credit card consumers ever tried to apply for better rates despite of the fact that many of them are perfectly negotiable. Although canceling a credit card account has a negative impact on credit score, 20% of people consider this to be rather beneficial for their credit history. 26% believed it had no significant impact. For those who deal with any kind of debt except mortgage loans, credit card debt tends to be the most typical one, being also the most expensive debt to pay.
To acquire more knowledge and experience in personal finance, you should firstly figure out your current banking card rates. Then you can search for lower rates. Statistics shows that about 70% of those who solicit lower rates get a positive reply. Begin with a target rate and be very assertive. If necessary, ask your supervisor for help. Learning the factors that influence your credit rating is also very important. One should understand that cancelling older banking accounts will substantially reduce credit ratio. This, in its turn, may decrease your credit rating. Finally, you may cut your current debt expenses by paying all your debts back with a low-interest bank loan rather than with your credit card.

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