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The World’s Most Exclusive Credit Card: American Express Centurion (Amex Black Card)

10/31/2015

Amex Centurion, also known as “The Black Card”, was once the stuff of urban legend, rumored to an ultra-rare credit card given only to the wealthiest of people. For the past sixteen years, it has been a reality.

American Express created the Centurion Card, which is so exclusive it is invitation-only. The card is meant for big spenders, but even a $10 million net worth isn’t much to Amex Black Card holders. The average Centurion cardholder has over $16 million in assets and a $1 million per year income.

To get one, you’ll need a perfect, or nearly perfect, credit history. You’ll also need to charge (and pay off) at least $250,000 per year to your existing credit card per year. This means you’ll have to spend $21,000 per month… minimum. Oh, and the card has no interest, because the balance is due in full each month.

You can ask for an invitation by calling 1-800-263-1616, but be prepared to answer some tough questions about your income and credit history. You can also view the cardmember agreement here.

If you’re offered the card, you’ll have to pay a one-time initiation fee and an annual fee of $2,500 per card. These are the highest fees of any card on the market, and if you want to get your spouse a Centurion card, prepare to pay even more.

But the benefits… they’re sweet!

The actual benefit programs and their details are a secret, some of them are known, such as:

Centurion concierge service – word on the street is that you can get just about any hotel room, restaurant table, or flight you want. A famous Centurion story involves a concierge who tracked down Kevin Costner’s “Dances With Wolves” horse for a cardholder who wanted to buy it.
A $200 qualifying airline rebate, per year, to the airline of your choice. This credit can be applied to baggage fees, in-flight food and drink, etc.
Car rental perks – you get preferred pricing on vehicles such as Ferraris and Mercedes.
Hertz Platinum and Avis President’s Club membership – this gets you guaranteed vehicle availability and upgrades, and a four-hour grace period on returns.
Travel accident coverage for death or dismemberment up to $1.5 million. This is the highest of any card that offers this benefit. If the entire fare of your travel has been charged to the card, you’re covered. Your spouse, as well as dependent children under 23, are also covered.
Return protection – if you change your mind and want to return an item, even if the merchant won’t take it back, American Express will refund the charge, up to $300 per purchase and $1,000 per year.
Personal shopper services at select retailers.
Access to airport lounges – the card lets you get into Delta Sky Clubs and over 600 other lounges.
Starwood Gold status – this will give you complimentary room upgrades, 4 p.m. late checkout and better customer service.
No other form of payment is equivalent to the card’s status symbol of wealt

These aren’t all the benefits of the card, but like I said, American Express doesn’t release much information about this exclusive card. It’s likely to be most useful to big spenders who will be travelling often. If you can derive value from the benefits, it seems to be well worth the annual fee.

Of course, you could always use the Amex Platinum card for $450 per year (with many of the same benefits to boot!). The Platinum card is often referred to as the “baby black” card, but it’s not nearly the status symbol…

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5 Tips To Fix & Raise Your Credit Score (So You Can Get Good Credit)

10/18/2015

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Post contributed by Lauren McDermott and Mike Henderson.

How to fix your credit and raise your credit score to get good credit

Good credit can save you thousands. Follow these simple rules to boost your credit score.

The average credit score is around 687. If yours is less than perfect, don't fret. There are proven methods to help you fix your credit and raise your credit score.

Credit cards can be used as a tool to manage your finances, and simplify your spending habits. They can also be a source of great financial devastation if you rack up too much interest. The key to using credit to your financial benefit is developing habits that make it easy to avoid paying high interest rates or racking up debt that you cannot pay off.

Smart Habits

First and foremost for rules of credit, consumers should not charge more than they can pay at the end of the month. If you don’t pay it off in full at the end of the month, you end up in a revolving cycle of credit, paying interest on interest and racking up debt. Moreover, if you leave a balance on your card, interest accumulates on every month’s balance. If you pay everything in full at the end of the month, you avoid paying interest and simply have the card to use for security and simplicity. Smart habits can put you on the path to 800+, raising your credit score every single month.

Benefits of Credit Cards

One of the big benefits of credit cards in the modern world is the security that they can offer you. Opposed to a debit card, a credit card is much easier to recover if there are fraudulent charges or identity theft. Often all it takes is a call to credit card companies, whereas a bank with your checking account can take weeks and often doesn’t rally for your protection the way a credit card company does.

Another advantage they offer customers is the rewards that many of the better cards offer, for travel or shopping, and sometimes, even cash back. These benefits can really add up so long as you stay in good standing with your credit card company.

For many, an important use of credit cards is the ability to build credit. When applying for bigger loans, or a mortgage, your credit score is hugely influential to what you end up paying overall and your ability to be approved for a loan. That’s why it is essential to build and maintain good credit.

Your credit will arguably have THE greatest impact on your financial life. Period.

Assume you borrow $200,000 for a 30-year mortgage. If you have a 4.384% interest rate, you’ll pay a total of $360,000 over the life on the loan. If you have bad credit and get a 5.973% interest rate, you’ll pay a total of $430,000. That’s a $90,000 difference, all from being a responsible borrower.

Sound good? Let’s start with the basics. You must be familiar with these two things: your credit score and your credit report.

Your credit score represents your credit risk to potential lenders. Lenders will take this number (which ranges from 300 to 850), along with some more info (such as your age and salary), to decide if they want to lend you any money. If they decide to lend you money, they’ll give you a higher or lower interest rate based on how much of a risk they think you are.

What does your credit score include?

35% = payment history. This shows lenders how reliable you are, and late payments WILL hurt you.
30% = amounts you owe. This includes your credit utilization rate, which is essentially how much debt you have vs. how much you have in available credit.
15% = how long you’ve had credit.
10% = the age of your accounts. Older accounts are better because they show lenders
10% = types of credit. Do you have all credit card debt, or do you have a mortgage and student loan too? Varied types of credit is better.

Your credit report tracks all of your credit-related activities, with recent activities getting more weight than older activities.

Your credit report includes the following:

A list of all your credit accounts.
Basic identification information.
The amount of your loans.
Your credit history. This shows who you’ve paid, how consistently you’ve paid them, and if you’ve had any late payments.
Any credit inquiries. This is separated into voluntary and involuntary. You know those “pre-approved credit cards you get in the mail? Those are involuntary, so they won’t hurt your credit. However, if you have too many inquiries, or “hard pulls”, it will hurt your credit.

If you’d like to save thousands of dollars over your lifetime, all you have to do is develop a great credit score. Here are the six credit card rules you MUST follow to get good credit.

1. Pay off your credit card regularly, and in full if possible.

If you take away nothing else from this article, please understand that you must pay off your credit card regularly. Your payment is history is the biggest chunk of your credit score. So if you miss even one payment on your credit card, your score can plummet, your APR can skyrocket, and you’ll be charged a late fee.

2. Keep your cards active.

Do not cancel your credit cards unless you absolutely have to. You also shouldn’t close your accounts if you are applying for a major loan within six months. The reason is because you want as much credit as possible when you apply.

Here’s a quick “life hack”: if you feel like you won’t be using a credit card, instead of cancelling it, set up automatic payment and link it to your bank account. Then make one small purchase on this card per month. Your credit utilization ratio will be low and your credit score will be boosted from your consistent payment history. It’s even better if you just link up a subscription service, such as Netflix, to this card with automatic payments. You can set it and forget it!

3. Negotiate a lower APR.

The average APR is around 15%, so if you are an above-average borrower and you’re paying more than 15%, call your credit card company ASAP. Tell them that you’re a responsible borrower who pays the full amount of your bill on time (of course, only tell them this if it’s true). Tell them that there are many credit cards out there that offer your better terms than what you’re currently getting. You’ll get a lower APR about half the time, but it’s better than not trying. After all, credit card companies will rarely ever lower the APR on their own – they’re getting too great of a return.

4. Get more credit.

Here’s another reason to get on the phone with your credit card company. You should ask for more credit! All you have to do is call them and ask for a credit limit increase. Some companies might do a credit inquiry, which will dock your credit score a couple points, but the increased credit will outweigh any hit you take. If your income has increased, you should DEFINITELY ask for a credit increase. The reason you want to get more credit is to improve your credit utilization rate, which makes up 30% of your credit score.

5. Don’t make just the minimum payment.

Interest charges on a credit card can be as high as 30%, while a minimum payment is between 2-5% of your cards balance. By manipulating these numbers, creditors send the message that it’s okay to pay just the minimum balance, which is how they get richer and richer. Even a few extra dollars per month can have a tremendous impact on the lifetime cost of borrowing.

Do you have any credit card tips you’d like to share? Tell us in the comments.

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5 Things To Do When Your Wallet Is Lost or Stolen (Prevent Fraud and Identity Theft)

10/10/2015

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Getting your wallet lost or stolen is a terrible experience. It can lead to credit card fraud, identity theft, and a myriad of other problems. If you've ever been the victim of a lost of stolen wallet, you might not have known what to do. Here is a helpful guide that will help you avoid the potential credit card fraud and identity theft that comes along with a lost or stolen wallet.

Imagine getting home on Friday night, after a stressful week. You’ve been looking forward to this moment all day. All you want to do is just throw some sweatpants on and just relax on the couch. You turn on the TV, grab some drinks from the fridge and get your favorite pair of sweats. You take off your pants, go to empty your pockets, and you heart sinks….

Your wallet. It’s gone.

If this has ever happened to you, you know the sense of fear that accompanies this horrible event. Your entire life is contained in your wallet. There’s credit cards, debit cards, ID, money, insurance card and membership cards. You now could be the victim of identity theft, with repercussions for years.

Before your wallet is lost or stolen: lighten your wallet’s load and scan/photocopy everything inside.

This one tip alone can save you a ton of stress. If you’re like most people, you only use one debit or credit card most of the time. Too many people carry tons of cards “just in case”. Also, take your social security card out of your wallet, along with any passwords, addresses and so on. All of these are like pure gold to an identity thief.

Take everything that you have in your wallet and scan it into a computer. I mean everything – license, health insurance cards, even gift cards to your favorite restaurant. Update it as needed, and make sure that the document is password protected. This is incredibly important because you’ll know exactly what has gone missing and all the numbers to call.

You’ve just noticed your wallet is gone. Don’t panic and retrace your steps.

One of our readers told us a story about a date night with her husband. She went into their favorite restaurant, purse in tow, and went straight to the bar. After a few drinks, she reached into her purse to pay the tab. She realized her wallet was missing. Did she lose it? Did someone steal it?

If you find yourself in a similar situation, remain calm. Make sure you look in all the places it could be, and be reasonably certain that there’s no chance of it just popping up. If you’ve been to stores or restaurants, give them a call and report that you’ve lost your wallet. Yours truly (the author) actually lost his wallet in a clothing store one afternoon. I got home, realized it was gone and called the retailer. Thankfully, they had it and I rushed back in to retrieve it.

You can’t find your wallet. You’re sure that it’s gone for good. Here’s what to do:

STEP NUMBER ONE: CONTACT WHOEVER ISSUED YOUR CREDIT/DEBIT CARDS

Some people will tell you to cancel the cards immediately, but this isn’t a good idea, since it could adversely affect your credit score. What you should do is report your card as lost or stolen. Every card issuer has procedures in place that will suspend those numbers to keep your money safe. You’ll call their number and hear something like, “To report a lost or stolen card, press 2.” In fact, here are the numbers of the four major card companies:

Discover: 1-800-347-2683
American Express: 1-800-528-4800
Visa: 1-800-847-2911
MasterCard: 1-800-627-8372

Make sure that you get brand new cards, with new account numbers. Ask for the same credit limits and the same (or lower) interest rate, with any cashback/miles/rewards transferred to the new cards. Plus, under the Fair Credit Billing Act, you’ll face no liability for a thief’s shopping spree if you report the card as lost/stolen before the charges occur. If someone charges your account before your alert your card issuer, you’ll be on the hook for up to $50.

If you use any of those cards for automatic payments, inform the appropriate companies immediately. This is very popular with student loan repayments – you just link up your student loan to a debit card and put it on autopilot. But if your card is suspended, the payment will not go through and your debt will remain unpaid. This could affect your credit score.

Remember to act fast. You’ll be glad you did, because victims of debit card fraud only pay up to $50 as long as they report the card lost or stolen within the first two business days of realizing the card’s disappearance. It’s most likely that your bank won’t hold you liable for anything as long as you let them know immediately. If wait longer than two days, your liability limit shoots to $500, and if you wait longer than sixty days, you’ll lose any and all money stolen from your accounts. I don’t know why you’d ever wait sixty days, though….

Here are some bank numbers:

Wells Fargo: 1-800-869-3557
Citibank: 1-800-950-5114
Bank of America: 1-800-432-1000
TD Bank: 1-888-751-9000
Chase: 1-800-935-9935

STEP NUMBER TWO: FILE A POLICE REPORT

If your wallet has been stolen, it’s a good idea to let the police know. It’s also a crucial step towards protecting your identity. Make sure you get a copy of the police report! If the theft results in identity theft, you can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, fill out an identity theft affidavit form and attach the police report. This goes a long way in protecting yourself, as it will become evidence in your favor in the case of fraud or identity theft. What you DON’T want to do is get asked, “Well, why didn’t you report the loss?” Not a good look!

STEP NUMBER THREE: SET UP FRAUD ALERTS

This is an important step, because without it, thieves could still open new lines of credit in your name. You need to set up a fraud alert with one of the three major credit reporting agencies: Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion. Once you set up an alert with one, the law requires that agency to report your loss to the others and an alert will be set on all three of your credit reports for free (for an initial 90 days).

A fraud alert lets lenders and creditors know that they must verify a person’s identity before extending any new credit. How do they verify your identity? They’ll usually call you, via the number you put on file with the fraud alert. This makes it impossible for a thief to get more credit and run up huge bills in your good name. Here are the numbers you need:

Experian: 1-888-397-3742
Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289

BONUS STEP: Pull your credit report and look for anything fishy. Some identity thieves won’t do anything with your information while it’s “hot”. That’s why you need to make sure to monitor your credit regularly.

STEP FOUR: GO TO THE DMV TO REPORT YOUR MISSING/STOLEN LICENSE

Everyone keeps their driver’s license in their wallet. It’s also one of the most important tools for an identity thief. Get someone to drive you to the DMV and report your loss. They’ll process an application and reissue you a new license, which will cost a few dollars in fees. The DMV will probably ask you to file a police report as well.

STEP FIVE: IF YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY CARD IS GONE…

If an identity thief gets your social security number, he’s hit the jackpot. You should know your social security number by heart and have NO REASON to carry it with you. However, if you just so happened to have it in there, you need to report it IMMEDIATELY. This is absolutely critical, because you won’t ever get a new number, like with credit cards.

Make sure you call the IRS Identity Protection Unit at 1-800-908-4490. Then, file the loss with the Federal Trade
Commission by calling 1-877-ID-THEFT.

Because a thief could easily open accounts in your name with your SSN, I strongly advise you to consider a credit freeze. This makes sure nobody can apply for credit under your name and social security number. These are not free (around $10 or so per credit reporting agency) but it is a vital safeguard.

BONUS: DID YOUR WALLET CONTAIN KEYS? IF SO, CHANGE YOUR LOCKS.

You’d be amazed at how many people neglect this step. It’s not that hard for someone to rob your house this way. All they have to do is make a copy of the key and jot down the address from your license. Someone could even return your wallet to the police, but he or she would still have your key.

Lost and stolen wallets can cause massive damage to a person’s life if the information falls into the wrong hands. With this information, you’ll be prepared, and you can turn what could be a devastating disaster into a minor headache.

If you appreciate this guide or find it helpful, please share it. You could save a friend from identity theft, credit card fraud, and/or financial ruin.

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