Are you looking for better ways to manage your money? This page continues to grow with numerous articles that can help ease your mind on various financial matters. Eventually, these topics will range from car purchasing & credit problems to retirement & budgeting.
Have specific questions or concerns? Feel free to contact one of our Credit Union Representatives at anytime.
Don't
get hooked by scammers out 'phishing'!
Internet scammers casting about for people’s financial information have a new way to lure unsuspecting victims: They go “phishing.”
Also called “carding,” phishing is a high-tech scam that uses spam to deceive consumers into disclosing their credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security numbers, passwords, and other sensitive information.
Here's how it works
The scammers send you an e-mail that appears to be from a business you deal
with. It could be your internet service provider, online payment service, or
bank, for example.
The e-mail says you need to “update” or “validate” your billing information to keep your account active. You are directed to a “look-alike” web site of the legitimate business, further tricking you into thinking you are responding to a valid request.
Unknowingly, you would end up submitting your financial information to the scammers, who would then use it to order goods and services and obtain credit – in your name.
Be aware
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
urges you to take the following precautions to avoid getting hooked by a
phishing scam:
- If you get an e-mail that warns you, with little or no notice, that an account of yours will be shut down unless you reconfirm your billing information, do not reply or click on the link in the e-mail. Instead, contact the company cited in the e-mail, using a telephone number or web site address you know to be genuine.
- Avoid e-mailing personal and financial information. Before submitting financial information through a web site, look for the “lock” icon on the browser’s status bar. It signals that your information is secure during transmission.
- Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them to determine whether there are any unauthorized charges. If your statement is late by more than a couple of days, call your credit card company or bank to confirm your billing address and account balances.
- Report suspicious activity to the Federal Trade Commission. Send the actual spam to uce@ftc.gov. If you believe you’ve been scammed, file your complaint at www.ftc.gov, and then visit the FTC’s Identity Theft web site (www.ftc.gov/idtheft) to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from identity theft.
“Check
21” Speeds Checking, Sinks Float
If you think you can
get away with a little float, think again. It used to be tempting to write a
share draft/check without actually having the funds in your account to cover
it—until now.
The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (Check 21) will cut the
time it takes a check to clear from days to hours. So if you need to change your
checking habits, do so before it’s too late.
Check 21 was signed into law on Oct. 28, 2003, and becomes effective Oct. 28,
2004. It’s designed to foster innovation and efficiency in the payments system
by reducing some of the legal barriers to check truncation. Truncation means
removing an original paper check from the check collection or return process,
just as credit unions successfully have done for years. Supporters say it could
reduce the cost of trucking and flying the paperwork cross-country by $2 billion
a year.
The law eases the electronic exchange of checks by making electronic check
processing voluntary and not mandatory. The law mandates that all institutions
accept a substitute check (the paper copy of an electronic check file), but
doesn’t mandate that all financial institutions accept electronic checks.
The bottom line is: These changes should be transparent to you most of the time. If your checking habits need improvement, brush up—before the float sinks.
Electronic
Checks: Another Way To Pay
Today, merchants convert more than one million checks a month that consumers write at the point of sale to electronic transactions, according to industry analysts.
So, what are electronic checks and how do they affect you? Here's how they work:
1. You write out and give a share draft or check to a cashier for each transaction at the point of sale.
2. The cashier scans the check through a magnetic ink character recognition (MICR--pronounced miker) reader that captures the account number, check serial number, and financial institution routing number.
3. The data move electronically to a check authorization service, which verifies that it's not drawn on a closed account or that you have not written bad checks.
4. The cashier voids the check once approval comes electronically, and then hands the check back to you. (Returning the check back to you is under discussion. The National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA)--The Electronic Payments Association in Herndon, Va., a trade association and rule-making body for the 33 Automated Clearing House (ACH) associations around the U.S., recently has proposed that merchants retain checks).
5. You and merchants participate in electronic checking voluntarily. You sign an authorization (usually a receipt) permitting electronic conversion of payment. The merchant signs up and pays for the service through either its financial institution or a processing company.
6. The transaction goes to the ACH network where it's credited to the retailer's account electronically and forwarded to your financial institution for debiting. The check will take about two or three days to clear, the same amount of time a paper check usually takes to be approved for payment. It's essentially a neutral process in that the consumer is still doing the same thing; they're presenting their check for purchase and their account is still being debited in about the same amount of time for the purchase," says Michael Herd, director of public relations at NACHA.
Electronic checks also provide privacy protection. When you hand over a paper check to a clerk, 10 or more hands touch that check during processing before it returns to your credit union or to you. With electronic checking, the check doesn't travel beyond the point of sale; you take it with you after it's been approved electronically.
If you have any questions on electronic checks or, if you are interested in applying for any of the many services offered here at the credit union, feel free to speak with our President, Charlie Coogan or our member service representatives at:
STONEHAM BRANCH (781) 438-3959 or WILMINGTON BRANCH (978) 658-5394.
Your Credit Report Says a Lot About You
Don’t be the last to know what your credit report
says about how you handle money, especially if you’re considering borrowing
money for a house or a new car.
Your credit report includes how much credit you have and how you repay your
bills; public record information, including arrests, bankruptcy, tax liens, or
monetary judgments filed against you; and identity information such as name,
nicknames, Social Security number, birth date, current and previous addresses,
and names of past and current employers. It also lists the names of anyone
who’s obtained a copy of your credit report for any reason.
But, lenders aren’t the only ones seeking information about your credit.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a credit bureau may sell your report to
lenders, insurers, landlords, employers, and businesses that meet the need as
defined by law. You must give written consent before credit bureaus can give
information about you to your employer or to prospective employers.
TO GET A COPY OF YOUR REPORT, contact all three major national credit
bureaus:
EXPERIAN - 888-397-3742
EQUIFAX - 800-685-1111
TRANS UNION
- 800-888-4213
Each copy may cost up to $9; however, you may be
eligible for a free report if you’ve recently been denied credit, a job, or
rental housing because of negative information on your report. The denying
party must give you the name and address of the credit bureau that provided
the information and, under federal law, you’re allowed a free copy of the
report within 60 days of the denial.
Be aware that while some credit bureau's may provide one free report per
individual per year, there are Online and other such offers that promise a
free copy but often have hidden fees.
Finally, when you receive your report, look it over for inaccurate
information. If you find mistakes, follow the credit reporting agency’s
instructions on the back of your report outlining how to request corrections.
The agency must investigate your claim, usually within 30 days. Under federal
law, if an agency can’t verify a disputed item, it must delete or correct
the item.
Feel free to call our Credit Union President, Charlie Coogan, at 781-438-3959
if you have any other questions on the subject of credit reports.
Window
Shopping Can Damage Your Credit
If you're shopping for a new car and a
dealership pre-approves you for a loan, it probably ran a credit check, which
shows up on your credit report as an inquiry. Too many inquiries spread
out over more than a month can hurt your credit score. That's because
creditors view multiple inquiries, resulting from multiple applications, as a
sign that you're scrambling for credit and may be taking on too much debt. To
avoid the risk of lowering your credit score, it's best to shop but not apply
for a loan until you've identified the particular loan you want.
Six
Rules for managing credit card debt
Depending on your spending habits and money management skills, credit cards
can be a useful financial tool or a ticket to financial ruin. If you want
to be the master of your debt load, follow these key rules:
1. Take inventory. How many credit cards do you have? What's the balance and minimum monthly payment on each? What's the total balance? If it's more than you thought or can afford, it's time to pare down.
2. Check out the cost of your credit cards. What's the interest rate on each card? What's the annual fee? Does your card offer a grace period? If the card doesn't have a grace period, or if you tend to carry over your balance, or take cash advances, you're usually charged interest right away.
3. Get one low-fee or lower-interest card and use it wisely. Too many cards can equal too many shopping sprees and result in excess debt. Check to see if you can transfer existing debt from your various credit cards to your new lower-interest credit card.
4. Make the largest monthly payment you can afford. While it's ideal to pay your balance in full each month, it's not always possible. But paying the monthly minimum may do little more than cover the accrued interest.
5. Watch out for "teaser rates." Your mailbox may be brimming with unsolicited credit card offers that promise attractive low-interest rates. But if you read the fine print, you'll see that after six months or so the issuer may double the low introductory rate. When the rates go up, you may find yourself owing a lot of money at a high interest rate.
6. If you get in over your head, don't bury it in the sand. If you're having trouble making your monthly payments, contact your creditors before they contact you. If you're already using your answering machine to monitor calls from bill collectors, or refusing to open your mail, you need help.
Feel free to contact our Credit Union President, Charlie Coogan, or call the Consumer Credit Counseling Service at (800) 388-2227, a nonprofit organization offering financial counseling, debt management, or educational services to consumers.