Merchants: Learn How to Reduce Fraud

January 20th, 2010 by travelwell


Everyone in the telephone order, mail order, or e-commerce business needs to take some measures to avoid transactions from fraudulent people and chargebacks.  This is the type of industry where most Merchants tend to not follow the proper protocols on preventing fraud.

Many business owners ask for tips on how to make online transactions more secure. One thing to enforce is the CVV number. It is a three or four digit security code on your credit card. If your customer is prompted to enter that and it matches the security code on file the transaction goes forward, if it doesn’t match it is flagged and the transaction is halted. The only drawback to this free feature is that thieves can easily have access to the security code number if they have your credit card, if they have only stolen the number this service works well.

A second security measure to put in place is the AVS, address verification service. This is offered by major credit card companies and is a great way to maximize security. This service will check that the billing address the purchaser puts down on the transaction is exactly the same as what the bank has on file. Again sometimes fraudsters can figure out your mailing address and can go through this security measure with no issues. This service does eliminate many stolen credit card transactions and is an easy precaution to take in order to reduce your fraudulent transactions.

What You Must Know About Reducing Your Credit Card Debt

January 26th, 2009 by Ferdinand Mekinsy


by Ferdinand Mekinsy

Reduce credit card debt and eliminate it before it assumes a horrifying shape ” This is truly the crux of the story. So, how do you reduce credit card debt? Well, you reduce credit card debt by preventing it from increasing and by paying off what it is currently. Easy, don’t you think so??

Well not really. If it was that simple to reduce credit card debt, then we wouldnt have had so many people with credit card debt related problems. We would have been able to reduce credit card debt problems and finally eliminate them (or reduce them significantly). All kinds of advice on how to reduce credit card debt, are available, however nothing much seems to change. Seemingly the problem persists and in fact, exercabate. But, it is not that uneasy to reduce credit card debt. As we just said, there is a lot of advice available on how to reduce credit card debt and the only thing you need to do is put that advice, on how to reduce credit card debt, to practice in real life. Well, no one but you will benefit if you reduce credit card debt.

Balance transfer is often treated as the number one measure to reduce credit card debt. This is really something that can assist reduce credit card debt by slowing down the pace at which your credit card debt is getting built. It also provides you relief in terms of the APR being 0% for initial 6-9 months (and hence helps reduce credit card debt faster).

60-Second Guide to Getting out of Debt

January 20th, 2009 by JR Rooney


by JR Rooney

Imagine for a second being out of debt — no more sleepless nights over mounting credit card balances, no more ball-and-chain of debt feeding your anxieties, and no chance of threats from dreaded collection agencies. You can do it! Here’s the scoop — in one minute flat.

0:60 Resolve to spend less than you make. Make it a habit as fundamental as stopping for red lights. Realize once and for all that if you can’t pay for it today — you can’t afford it.

0:55 Distinguish between Bad Debt and OK Debt. OK Debt has an interest rate well under 10% — preferably with some tax advantages also. In the best case, what you bought with borrowed funds will appreciate in value. Home mortgages and student loans are examples of OK Debt. Automobile loans are on the border: They often satisfy the low-rate piece, but automobiles almost never appreciate in value. Bad Debt is everything else — from your Gold credit card to the 600% loan from Vinny’s Quick Cash.

0:50 Pick a winner. Out of all your cards, pick the one or two major credit cards that feature the lowest annual interest rate. Resolve to use those cards for emergencies only. As for all the other plastic pals in your wallet, remove temptation by taking them out of your wallet. Throw them behind a major appliance, freeze them in a bowl of water, or put them to a shoe box. Do whatever it takes not to use them.