Financial Literacy
Credit Card Information
University of Wyoming – Delta Alpha Chapter
7/1/2016
Credit Cards
• What to look for in a credit card?
• An attractive credit card will offer low interest rates, rewards (such
as cash back, points to purchase merchandise and airline, cruise, etc.
miles), no annual fees, and a fraud protection program.
• What is a fraud protection program?
•
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A fraud protection program offers a 0% liability on unauthorized
purchases.
Credit Cards
• What to avoid in a credit card?
• It is important to avoid annual fees or membership costs for rewards,
rewards that cost too much money, and variable interest rates.
• What is a reward program that costs too much?
•
An airline rewards program that cost $100 annually and requires you to
charge $20,000 worth of purchases to earn a roundtrip flight is a
program that is not valuable to a credit card user that does not spend
$20,000.
• What is a variable interest rate?
•
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A credit card with a low introductory rate that switches to a high
interest rate after a certain time period or after a late payment.
Credit Card Debt
• How to get out of credit card debt?
• In order to get out of credit card debt, it is important to control your
spending habits and avoiding more debt. This can be done by making
a budget and seeing where you can cut expenses that can be put
towards the debt. The more expenses you cut and put towards
paying off your debt the faster you will eliminate the debt.
• See the budgeting guide for more help.
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Credit Card Debt
• What will paying more than my minimum
payment do to my debt?
• Paying only the minimum payment on $5,000 of debt will take over
26 years to pay off, whereas paying twice the minimum payment on
$5,000 of debt will take over 11 years to pay off.
• Use this link to customize your credit card payment.
Credit Card Payment Worksheet
• Which cards should I pay off first?
• Pay off the credit card with the highest interest rate first.
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Credit Cards
• Where can I find other helpful information on
credit card debt?
• Debt Calculator
•
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/calc/creditcardpay.asp
• Tips to Get Out of Credit Card Debt by ABC News
•
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1921876&page=1
• 12 Ways to Get Out of Credit Card Debt by salary.com
•
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http://www.salary.com/personal/layoutscripts/psnl_articles.asp?tab=ps
n&cat=cat011&ser=ser035&part=par245
Credit Card-Tips
• The average student credit card debt is around
$2,800.
• Don’t become another statistic
• Try to only charge what you can afford to pay off
at the end of the month.
• Interest rates, credit limits and other credit card
features are not the same on all cards.
• Choose the right card for you
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For additional financial literacy information please visit the
links below.
Student Loan Information
Savings Information
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Your opinion is important to us. Please use the link
below and fill out a short survey for a chance to win a
$50 Savings Bond.
Survey
References
Rosen, D. (2001, April 16). How do I get rid of credit card debt? In Ask the Dollar Diva.
Retrieved January 14, 2008. http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/dollardiva/20010416
Ivey, A. (2006). Drowning in Debt? 6 Tips for College Students and Recent Grads. In Young
Money Blog. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
http://www.youngmoney.com/credit_debt/get_out_of_debt/060830
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