Mike Cetera
Bankrate.com
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Past articles by Mike:
Lowest ATM Fees: The 7 Best Cities
ATM fees have rocketed to record levels, but banks are dinging folks less in these cities. → Read More
What Credit Score Gets You The Chase Sapphire Reserve Rewards Card?
Are credit card rewards worth the hassle? For some, the answer is no. If you carry a balance on your rewards credit card, interest eats away at rewards. → Read More
4 Things You Must Do Before Brexit Becomes Official
Before Brexit becomes official, here are 4 things you must do. → Read More
How Brexit Could Affect Your Travel
The British pound fell to a three-decade low against the dollar after U.K. voters approved the Brexit referendum. See how Brexit could affect your travel plans to Europe. → Read More
10 Most Popular Things Bought With A Stolen Credit Card
Here are the 10 things crooks most frequently purchase with a stolen credit card. → Read More
Humbug! The peak day for credit card fraud is
While you’re contemplating your carefully hung stockings, fraudsters will be out in force. → Read More
I set up a credit freeze with ease. You should, too
Earlier this week, I logged on to the websites of each of the 3 major credit bureaus and requested a security freeze. Here’s what happened next. → Read More
ID theft victims’ trauma is heartbreaking
The financial trauma inflicted on some victims is enough to drive them to apply for government benefits, borrow money from family and friends or even sell their own possessions. → Read More
Cities With The Highest ATM Fees
ATM surcharges hit new highs in the 2017 Bankrate checking survey. See which cities top the list for ATM fees. → Read More
Are you a college grad? Here’s why they offer you higher-rate credit cards
College graduates are more likely to be offered a credit card with an annual fee and a higher initial interest rate than someone who didn’t finish high school. → Read More
Personal Loan Rates Fall For Banks
Here is a story of similar things moving in opposite directions. Personal loan rates, as measured by Bankrate’s national survey, have been edging lower for more than a month. These are the rates you might find at your neighborhood bank, as Bankrate derives its average by surveying banks and thrifts in the top 10 U.S. markets. At the same time, a couple of the largest marketplace lenders have… → Read More
The high cost of a low credit score
A low credit score can increase loan interest costs by hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars annually. → Read More
Can I Get A Credit Card With Poor Credit?
Tom Merton/Caiaimage/Getty Images You have missed payments on past loans. You have a large, unpaid medical debt. You once went bankrupt. Whatever the reason, your credit score has taken a nose dive. But that doesn't necessarily mean you can't get a credit card. You just might not be able to get the card you want. "First, credit seekers with a bad credit score will find it easier to get a secured… → Read More
Survey: Millennials Continue To Shun Credit Cards
Darnell Billups, 29, a U.S. Marine Corps captain stationed in Twentynine Palms, California, says when he and his wife, Natasha, married in 2011, they had a combined $40,000 in debt, including credit cards and student loans. They paid off their debts in 2013, just 2 weeks before Billups was deployed to Afghanistan for the second time. "Our thing is, we will never have a credit card ever again,"… → Read More
Should You Use A Personal Loan To Boost Credit?
personal loans You can improve your credit score with a personal loan -- but you shouldn't By Mike Cetera • Bankrate.com Photo courtesy of Maui Kahiapo Maui Kahiapo once posted an intriguing question on the social network Reddit that went something like this: If you took out a $1,000 personal loan and paid it off in 12 months, couldn't you boost your credit score? And wouldn't it be worth it --… → Read More
Lending Club increases personal loan rates
The embattled personal loan outfit raised interest rates Tuesday for nearly all borrowers in an effort to “boost the attractiveness of the asset to investors. → Read More
5 times Trump U. gave bad credit advice
Here are 5 pieces of bad credit advice Trump University employees handed out -- all in an alleged effort to coax people to pay thousands of dollars for investing courses. → Read More
3 Unusual Ways To Use A Personal Loan
You can fix a house; marry your spouse; buy a horse, a boat or a car; put in a pool; pay for school; you can even travel afar. The point is, you can use a personal loan for just about anything. And people do. Prosper Marketplace, one of the largest online marketplace lenders, says more than half of the loans it originates are for debt consolidation. The San Francisco-based company, much like… → Read More
Learn How To Lower Credit Card Interest Rate
credit cards Want a lower credit card interest rate? Just ask By Mike Cetera • Bankrate.com Tom Merton/Caiaimage/Getty Images A 5-minute phone call to your credit card issuer could save you hundreds of dollars -- or more -- in interest charges. If you've been a good customer, your credit card company will probably reduce your interest rate. But you have to ask. How to lower your credit card… → Read More
1 reason to care about personal loans
Convenience is nice, but it's not the No. 1 reason why borrowers should consider a personal loan. → Read More