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As one of the Big Four Banks in Australia, NAB has issued thousands of credit cards across the country that can be used almost anywhere in the world.

But it is still important to understand the costs and charges that may come from using credit overseas so that cardholders can try to save as much as possible.

To help you prepare for travelling abroad, here is a look at some of the best tips to have on hand for your NAB credit card.

Check Out Complimentary Insurance Options

All NAB gold and platinum cardholders get a range of complimentary insurance options when they use their cards to pay for at least $500 worth of upcoming travel expenses.

As well as standard international travel insurance that will cover trip cancellation, medical costs, lost or stolen luggage and some missed connections, there is also transit accident insurance should anything go wrong on a public vehicle overseas.

Taking advantage of this insurance could save you hundreds of dollars, if not more, so it is definitely worthwhile looking into the gold and platinum options available through NAB.

Keep Pens And PINs Handy

The choice between signing and entering a PIN to verify credit card purchases often comes down to personal preference but it definitely pays off to have both options overseas.

Some machines may not recognise Australian microchips in the same way and lead to cards being processed using the magnetic strip and a PIN, or even require both a PIN and signature for purchases made on your credit card so make sure you know both.

Register For NAB Internet Banking

For people who are not already set up with internet banking, it will have benefits for both savings and credit management overseas.

With an NAB credit card account included in your internet banking options you will be able to keep track of purchases and make repayments anywhere in the world so that you do not have to deal with additional fees once you come home.

Take Note Of Emergency Numbers

While most people are aware of fraud and theft while overseas, there are still times when you may need card assistance. All NAB cardholders have access to global assistance and it is a good idea to take note of any of the following, relevant numbers:

1. Visa Global Customer Assistance: +1 443 641 2004
2. MasterCard Global Assistance: +1 636 722 7111
3. American Express Global Assistance: +61 2 9273 2730

These services can help you deal with lost or stolen cards, fraud and more so they could save you a lot of stress while overseas.

Whether you have a low rate, rewards or more specific frequent flyer option from NAB, with these tips in mind you can keep your trip as convenient and as fun as possible.

Credit Cards. At times, it seems like we can’t live with them and we can’t live without them. It is a classic case of a love-hate relationship. We need the credit cards to help build our all-important credit history and subsidize our expenses when we just don’t have the cash. But people deeply resent the high interest rates and the traps lurking in the fine print.

On that note, let’s start with the negatives. By setting aside our emotions, we can identify and possibly avoid those disadvantages that cause us to hate our credit cards.

1. “YOU WANT ME TO PAY HOW MUCH IN INTEREST?!?!”

I have friends who’ve received credit card offers in the mail that have a starting interest rate of 35%. Even Shylock, the ruthless moneylender from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, would think that was excessive. Never forget that credit card companies are a business not a charity. They exist to make money and their business model is based entirely upon the interest rates they charge. It has been reported that some internal communications from credit card companies sarcastically call customers who pay off their principal in short order as “deadbeats.” The longer the customer takes to pay off their credit card debt, the more interest they pay, the more money the company makes.

2. “DID YOU NOT READ THE FINE PRINT?”

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Ever notice that the bank’s credit card offers are in BIG BOLD letters. “GO ON VACATION,” “WRITE YOURSELF A CHECK,” “BUY A NEW WARDROBE,” and the like. You are so focused on the headlines that you don’t read the rest of the story. You may have to use an electron microscope to read it but at the bottom of the page are terms, conditions, restrictions and fees written in legal jargon that is all but incomprehensible to most people. Consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren colorfully refers to it as “word barf” and if you sign such an agreement, you may be giving the company license to raise your rate, charge you fees, sue you and perhaps take your first-born child.

3. “THIS ISN’T WHAT I PAID FOR”

You know those pre-approved credit offers you receive in the mail nearly everyday? Well, per reason # 2, the fine print often shows they are pre-approved in name only. The banks and credit card companies employ armies of lawyers and lobbyists to create loopholes that enable them to not give you the card you think you’re signing up for. The offer may say, “0% for six months, then 9.9% fixed, with no annual fee, and $5,000 credit limit.” Then you get the card and it’s “6.9% for 3 months, 29.99% variable, $50 annual fee and $400 credit limit.” Reading what you are signing and consulting reference materials to understand what you are agreeing to is the key to being “debt smart.”

4. “WHAT HAPPENED TO MY GREAT RATE?”

Credit cards and banks reserve the right to raise your rates for many reasons. One of my readers at DebtSmart.com told me that her bank raised her rate to 23% because she was late paying her bill. They are just waiting for any misstep and then, BAM, your best rate becomes your worst. After all, you agreed to it when you signed the contract with all that fine print.

5. “I CAN JUST DECLARE BANKRUPTCY AND SORT IT ALL OUT”

Here’s another good one. The banks have successfully lobbied Washington to change bankruptcy laws to make it more difficult to dissolve debts in bankruptcy. They want the consumer to be more responsible for repaying their debt! The banks want to have their cake and eat it, too. Who gave the consumer making $10,000 per year a $50,000 credit line? This is why the lobbyists pounce on even the most modest credit reform proposals.

5. “LIES AND DECEIT!”

You think you’ve done due diligence by reading the fine print and doing the math at your kitchen table. But months later, you get whacked with a penalty that you knew nothing about. You call the customer service line and the person at the call center pulls up your account and spits back jargon to imply that you’re an idiot with no common sense. Their company sends you credit offers that say, “you can use all your available credit” and when you do they charge you a penalty. Late fees, over limit fees, annual fees, service fees—they are always coming up with new ways to separate you from your money. And the fees always to seem to increase, never decrease.  A $35 flat late fee. It does not cost the bank $35 when you are late. You may not have been late at all. The bank may have just credited your account late and charged you anyway. Banks make 47% of their revenue from fees! Don’t ever let a fee go. Call the bank and make them waive that fee, and if they don’t, punish them by taking your business elsewhere.

6. “YOU CAN’T STOP ME FROM GETTING A JOB OR HOME”

Yes, they can. If you have a problem with your credit card bank, they automatically report it on your credit history. Everyone looks at your credit history. Landlords review it to determine if they will rent to you, insurance companies look at it to decide what policy you will get and, in some cases, prospective employers use it to determine whether you will get the job you want.

What happens when the creditors make a clerical mistake that adversely impacts your credit report? A mistake that makes you appear terrible to potential employers and landlords? Not their problem. It’s your responsibility to find and correct their error.

7. “LET ME SPEAK TO YOUR SUPERVISOR”

People are busy going to work, shuttling their kids to and from school and doing household chores. We don’t always have time check in on our account or call the company if we have a question or concern. When we do, it takes forever to speak to a human. You have to navigate through a menu and key in your account information. Numbers, letters, symbols—all so that you can talk to one of their drones who start by asking you for all that information again. I typically get around this by hitting “0″ then the “#” keys. I get a reply, “We cannot recognize your account number so please be tortured again by reentering it now.” I keep hitting the “0″ and “#” keys until the automated recording system gives up and says, “Please hold while we transfer you to one of our new hires who probably cannot help you anyway.” It almost seems like they would rather not talk to me. But I thought my call and business was important to them.

CONCLUSION

Credit card companies and banks are sharks. They care about one thing and one thing only—and that is attracting paying customers. The only way to fight back is to use the naturally existing competition amongst the banks to your advantage. They need our business so we need to reward the banks that are good to us and punish the ones that take advantage of us. Banks are a business like any other. Their job is to service you and me. If we don’t like the way they treat us, then it’s time to do business with another bank. This is not Coca-Cola. Don’t ever be “brand loyal” unless that bank has been “customer loyal”—meaning that they’ve always given you their best rates and service.

Image: RogueSun Media, via Flickr.com

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) criticized credit reporting agencies on Sunday for newly developed scores that have little to do with credit, including the so called “Medication Adherence Score” and the “Income Insight Score.”

FICO’s “Medication Adherence Score” is a method of determining a patient’s compliance with taking medication prescribed by a doctor which taps pharmacy data including information about length of employment, verification of home address, their age and whether they live alone or not. These metrics are compiled into score which insurance companies use to determine how much in premiums to charge, according to Schumer.

Experian’s “Income Insight Score” is a system to predict a consumer’s income, extending its results to credit card issuers and home mortgage lenders.

Schumer has requested that FCC Chairman Jon Leibowitz investigate these new ratings and the credit bureaus’ legality in withholding the information from consumers as a possible violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

“They’re back to their old tricks and they need to be reined in,” Schumer told a group of reporters in his office.

The FCRA requires credit bureaus to provide consumers with the same credit scores that credit card companies and banks utilize to determine loan and credit extension eligibility. Both Experian and FICO assert that these scores aren’t covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Schumer said that if the FCC concurs with him he will put together new legislation to extend to consumers the personal information he believes they’re entitled to.

“These new consumer scores are just the tip of the iceberg — they intend to keep scores on us about everything,” Schumer said.

In this article I will reveal a secret weapon that you can use against credit card debt elimination.

Before I start do discuss this strategy, let us just look briefly at the common marketing methods that are used by the card companies to recruit you as their customer.

It’s hard to find any merchants better at marketing their products than the credit cards companies. These companies spend huge amounts on advertising their credit offers. You will find offers and ads in your mailbox, on TV, in magazines and all over the internet

If you have suffered due to credit card debt you view those commercials with a cynical eye. On TV, the sixty second ads imply having a credit card will lead to a better life. The actors are laughing, shopping, traveling and telling viewers the benefit of buying something special is “priceless”.

The commercials are meant to portray a credit card as a product you need to live a good life. We may have believed that when we applied for our first credit account. But if you have been caught with credit card bankruptcy you will never fall for these commercials again.

You have a secret weapon that you should use as a part of your credit card debt elimination arsenal. That weapon is a “debt budget”. It is not shiny and doesn’t excite you when you think about it. There is no fancy design and no happy crowd of users having a party. Yet it is what you need to fight predatory lenders and win.

Pundits can analyze and discuss credit card debt solutions and the government can make new laws prohibiting some of the worst lending practices. The talking and the laws may prevent some new credit users from getting into trouble but won’t help those of us who are carrying heavy debts now. It doesn’t help after the fact to point fingers or feel guilty or assign blame. What will help you is using the budget weapon with precision.

Face the fact – you are in trouble. You have not been living within your means. You have charged and shopped and charged more until the debt is a frightening monster in your life. You may panic or become depressed or consider using debt programs to solve the problem, yet eventually the debt monster must be faced.

Like diets, budgets are often regarded as depriving you of things you want in your life. In truth, budgets and diets require taking control of your life. You are giving to yourself, not taking away. To make a simple budget list all of your monthly obligations on the left side of a page.

On the right side of the page list your sources of income. Now, total the two columns. If the spending on the left is more than the income in the right hand column, you know you are in trouble.

If the income is more than your monthly payments and yet you run out of money or have to scramble to meet bills each month perhaps you are making more cash purchases and impulse buys than you realize.

Divide your monthly payments into categories of fixed expenses (mortgage/rent, car payment, utility costs) and variable expenses (food, gasoline, and clothing. The last category is discretionary spending. This is the money you spend by choice such as the expensive coffees, entertainment, hobby costs and impulse buys.

If you don’t know how much you have spent on a particular category in the past few months, dig out those receipts and establish a dollar figure to use in your budget. It’s not easy and a budget is not fun when you are starting it. Don’t give up and don’t make excuses for not following your budget.

Be realistic when adding figures to your budget. Planning to reduce spending on a certain area won’t work if it only appears on paper. Make rules for yourself to follow such as waiting 24 hours before making an impulse purchase. Stop using your credit cards until the balances are paid.

Once you have mastered living on a budget that works, you should take further steps towards the credit card debt relief. This might be transferring your card debt to a new card offering 0% interest or doubling the payments you currently make to reduce the debt quickly. Make a budget your secret weapon against debt and follow it carefully and you will reach the credit card debt elimination border faster than you think.

Sometimes people have heard the word charged off from their creditors saying the account is charged off. Charged off credit cards occur because customers are unable to make payments on time. When you are late in paying the bills and you are unable to keep up with the payments on credit cards your account is charged off and you will have charged off credit cards. Accurise is a company that does the best services in the credit repair industry. Accurise offers unparalleled service at a reasonable price. Accurise has experienced credit analysts who deal with situations, such as charged off credit cards, on a regular basis.

Many people think that charged off credit cards result it is the cancellation of a charge. In reality, however, it is not so. In other words is you cannot charge your credit card anymore because it has become charged off credit cards. The best of Accurise is all their representatives and workers know their legal limits and work with it. Bill collectors, banks and creditors say that charged off credit cards come at the point where the creditor declares your account as a bad debt. Charged off credit cards occur when you dont pay the settlement in a timely fashion. From that point, they will not consider or count it for their accounting purposes. They consider the charged off credit cards as a loss. But still you need to pay the payment. The creditors will certainly make many actions to collect the money from you.

Charged off credit cards are a negative issue but it is not a financial ruination, no matter the lengths that creditors will make you think that it is. Even if your account is charged off, it is still definitely not the end of the world. The bill collector sound menacing and put more stress on you to make the bill settled. Having good credit is an important factor to be noted down. Negotiate with the creditor to resolve and remove the charge off. You have to negotiate very politely and you should talk very professionally. The main point is you do not have to blame the creditors at anytime when you are negotiating. Do not tell them personal stories. Rather, show that you can be financially responsible from this point forward. Be aware of what you need and be short to point. You can pay the settlement and remove items from charged off credit cards if you have negotiated well. It would be better to at least pay the minimum of your balance in all instances.

My 1998 Jeep Cherokee and I had a pretty rough holiday season. Luckily, we came out of it a little wiser about cost-saving car maintenance tasks. As a friend of mine in the car business says, You make monthly payments on any car you get—with an old car, its just in repairs and extra maintenance.” True enough. As hard as it is to set aside funds for ongoing repairs and maintenance, it can save you from expensive, unexpected repairs like I just had. Keep these in mind:

1.    Fluid check frenzy. Even those of us who aren’t car savvy can learn to check fluid levels regularly; including oil, coolant, power steering and transmission. 2.    Oil changes, baby. Most experts recommend having your oil and filter changed every 3,000 miles or 6 months. Look online for the specific recommendations for your ride. 3.    Totally tires. Stay on top of tire alignment, pressure and wear by checking the pressure once a month and replacing tires if the wear bars are flush with the surface of the tread. 4.    Ooh la la air filters. These need to be changed out every couple of months to about a year, depending on where you drive. 5.    About auto transmission. Staying on top of your automatic transmission can save you from transmission failure (yikes)! Experts recommend changing the fluid and filters every 25k to 30k miles. 6.    Coolant craze. Most vehicle manufacturers recommend changing coolant every 2 to 3 years or 30k miles. Side note: Watch for sinking levels, which can mean a leak. 7.    Brake for brakes. Have your mechanic check your brakes at least once a year. As for brake fluid, check it regularly and have it changed every 2 to 3 years. 8.    Go fuel filter. Changing it every 30k miles is the standard; a new filter can cost just $20 and save you from thousands of dollars in damage.

These are a few tips to start with; you can get more in-depth and expert info. from Car Talk and edmunds.com.  Remember that choosing a good, honest mechanic is an important part of staying on top of preventative maintenance—online reviews and referrals from friends are a good place to start.