Credit Card Numbers and What They Mean

Almost all credit card companies use a standardized system for tracking and billing their customers’ transactions. Since there are so many financial institutions using this system, to avoid confusion between credit card companies, the numbers on your credit card identify which institution “owns” each transaction.
If you take a close look at your credit cards, you’ll probably wonder what all those numbers stand for. Every digit actually stands for something specific.
The first digit in your credit-card number signifies the system:
3 - travel/entertainment cards (such as American Express and Diners Club)
4 - Visa (such as Visa-Branded cash and debit cards)
5 - MasterCard (brand of debit, credit and cash cards)
6 - Discover Card

For American Express, digits three and four are type and currency, digits five through 11 are the account number, digits 12 through 14 are the card number within the account and digit 15 is a check digit.
For Visa, digits two through six are the bank number, digits seven through 12 or seven through 15 are the account number and digit 13 or 16 is a check digit.
For MasterCard, digits two and three, two through four, two through five or two through six are the bank number (depending on whether digit two is a 1, 2, 3 or other). The digits after the bank number up through digit 15 are the account number, and digit 16 is a check digit.

A check digit is an interesting security item. The process of checking your credit card number is done by multiplying the sum of the odd digits by 3, which is then added to the sum of the even digits which, when added to the check digit, will equal a multiple of 10. That is why technology really wonders me.
Although this information might seem apparently useless, knowing more details about your card can be an important source of power in preventing credit card fraud.

Credit Card Comparison

A credit card comparison is aimed at searching for a credit card that best suits your needs. A credit card that can minimize your monthly credit card bills and especially select a card that can best cater to your spending habits and lifestyle.
When you compare credit cards, you must consider:
Hidden costs - costs associated with the acquisition or use of the card that are not generally specified by the company representatives, you must read all the fine print carefully and discuss them with the company representatives.
Charges - verify fees and delayed payments fees while comparing various credit cards.
Limited Card - maximum credit that you can take through your card should match your personal spending limit. he credit limit is usually set by the credit card issuer, based on the applicant’s credit history and income.
Interest rates - Compare the interest rates that various companies charge on purchases made through the credit card and ensure that its interest rates are competitive.

you need also to:
-Visit the individual bank websites and compare the features and benefits offered by them with those offered by others.
-Use the services of a financial comparison site that offers you a comprehensive comparison between several credit cards. These websites display the distinguishing features or benefits, such as cash backs, rewards or balance transfers.

When comparing credit cards, consider the following points: Interest rates that are calculated upon the amount that has been spent as a credit by the card holder can be very significant. If a credit card company is giving a low interest rate which is normally known as the APR or Annual Percentage Rate to the card holder then that can turn out to be a useful Credit Card Benefit, especially for those who constantly deal with over drafts.
There are various kinds of rewards that are received by the customers that are considered as Credit Card Comparison. Some companies present frequent flier points,cash backs, gift certificates or various other things. These rewards are normally associated with purchasing an item or some particular service on the card. These things may or may not include cash advances,balance transfers or some other special uses.

When one pays an amount to a merchant through a credit card, the merchant depending on the deal with the bank pay a nominal percentage to the credit card service provider. The amount received by the credit card banks often share the amount with the card holder and provide them with another Credit Card Benefit. The card holder gets back his own paid money to some extent and the bank gets some profit as well as some publicity.

Student Credit Card Offers

Are you a student who’s about to enter college? If yes, you may be planning to get your own student credit card. Yes, many college students prefer to open a credit card account not just to have a credit card to use but to establish their personal credit history as well.

Many parents are skeptical about providing credit cards to their young kids. However, student credit cards are wonderful tools in establishing an early credit history. With the right guidance from their parents, students can use their credit cards to their advantage while avoiding bad debt.

History of Credit Card

As far back as the late 1800s, consumers and merchants exchanged goods through the concept of credit, using credit coins and charge plates as currency. It wasn’t until about half a century ago that plastic payments as we know them today became a way of life. .
CREDIT CARD SHAPE AND TYPES
There are four major types of credit cards:
1. Credit tokens or coins
2. Metal charge plates
3. Paper cards
4. Plastic cards
Credit cards were not always been made of plastic. There have been credit tokens made from metal coins, metal plates, and celluloid, metal, fiber, paper, and now mostly plastic cards.
FIRST BANK OFFERED CREDIT CARD
The inventor of the first bank issued credit card was John Biggins of the Flatbush National Bank of Brooklyn in New York. The year, 1946. Mr Biggins developed the “Charge-It” program in which local merchants who accepted the card would deposit sales slips into the bank and the bank billed the customer.In 1950, the Diners Club issued their credit card in the United States. The Diners Club credit card was invented by Diners’ Club founder Frank McNamara and it was intended to pay restaurant bills.
Many other banks followed the example set by Franklin National Bank and Flatbush National Bank by issuing credit cards for use at local merchants. But credit card customers wanted to use their cards outside of their local area. The organizations that are now called Visa and MasterCard sprang up to create interchange, a nationwide system designed to settle credit card transactions between banks, merchants and customers. Today, with help from Visa and MasterCard, financial institutions are marketing credit cards to people all over the world.
HOW IT EVOLVE
As credit card processing became more complicated, outside service companies began to sell processing services to Visa and MasterCard association members.Visa and MasterCard developed rules and standardized procedures for handling the bank card paper flow in order to reduce fraud and misuse of cards.
THE FUTURE
The development from online services such as PayPal to credit card to chips that someday can be implanted into cell phones or other electronic devices. And the concept of a universal credit card had taken root and quickly spread across the world.

Using Credit Card to Buy a Car

It sounds like a good deal but in practice using credit cards to buy cars is fraught with pitfalls.

While the low rate credit card market has taken off, there are still a lot of high interest rates out there too. If the seller doesn’t take credit card or you want to avoid the surcharge, you might consider withdrawing the available funds from your credit card via an ATM or from a bank branch.Make sure you check the cash advance interest rate on your card if you’re considering this option.

You don’t want to find yourself in a position where you’re over your limit and struggling to pay your regular bills because you’ve put a whopping great car purchase on your credit card.You might also be considering using your credit or charge card to buy a car in order to get rewards points, and then paying it off immediately with cash or transferring the loan to another type of finance.

Many credit card issuers entice potential consumers with various introductory 0% interest rate deals for a certain period of time. This introductory rate period usually spans somewhere between 6 months and 1 year.