Infographic On Identifying And Fighting "Grey" Charges On Credit And Debit Cards

Today, on Visual.ly, I came across an awesome infographic which highlights "deceptive and unwanted charges" that might appear on your credit or debit card banking statements.  According to the graphic, which was designed by Bill Guard, a service I use to help prevent fraudulent transactions, Americans are being scammed to the tune of $14 billion in so-called "grey" charges every year.  $14 BILLION.  I think Americans deserve better, and while some of the perpetration happens here, an untold number of scams originate abroad.  But, you can fight back.

To help remedy this problem, Bill Guard scans your statements for irregular or suspicious looking merchants and alerts you of possible fraud.  It is free for up to three credit/debit cards, or $45/annually for up to 10 cards.  You have to register your credit/debit card number in order for the system to work, but I trust the site, as it has definitely flagged some odd transactions which forced me to double-check their authenticity.  In addition, typically, if you are the victim of fraud, your liability will be $50 or less.  Unfortunately, it does mean that banks must pass these charges on to consumers in the form of higher rates and fees.

Let's take a look at the graphic.

Consider signing up for Bill Guard.  It works very quickly and alerts you every month if there are any grey charges.  It's not a bad idea to have a watchdog looking over your finances when you are busy doing other things in life.

--The Edge.

Prevent Credit Card Fraud With Bill Guard

Friends and family know that I love my loyalty points, especially earned from using my credit cards.  It's like a game to me: charge as many purchase types I can, big or small, I will take them all.  Since using your credit card frequently, especially for on-line purchases, does make you more vulnerable to theft, fraud, or both, it is critical to check your credit card statements frequently.  I do this mainly because I pay off my credit card bills every few days, but also to make sure charges are legitimate, too.

Recently, I read in Money Magazine about a service called Bill Guard which takes a way a lot of the burden in monitoring your credit cards.  This short video below explains how the service works:


The tool is really easy to use.  As long as you have your credit card log in information handy, preferably in your head, it should only take a few minutes to set up.  In no time, Bill Guard will scan your credit card transactions and flag those that appear suspicious, or at least it hasn't seen before.  It's up to you to then indicate whether the credit card charge is legitimate, or if it is potentially fraudulent.

Signing up for Bill Guard is free for the first three cards.  If you'd like to register more, then you can either refer someone, or pay $79/year for up to 10 cards.  Most people will probably be covered with three cards, especially if they typically only use one card.

American Express Twitter Campaigns

AMEX is back with their sync and save promotions.  To get in on the action, you need to first have an American Express credit card, which you can find here and then you must also register it with a Twitter account.  Right now, they are offering a great promotion where you can get a $25 gift card for only $15.  Full details are in this video below:

Registration for these types of offers is actually pretty painless, and once you do, you will only have to do it once to receive savings on products that you'd buy anyway.

February Visa Credit Card Discounts

Don't forget to sign up for Visa's Discount Newsletter.  There are many offers that are perfect for Valentine's Day, which is just 5 days from now, that you don't want to miss.  Here is a screenshot below of some of them:

Changing your name with less hassle

The Problem

Dealing with name changes due to a major life event can be a bit of a headache.  For starters, there is the Social Security office, Department of Motor Vehicles, and IRS.   Since a lot of these changes must be done in person, the time involved is considerable.

Kiplinger's recently had an article about a few services that can help relieve some of the burden.  But, what you might not bargain for is the pain those other accounts in your life can be, such as banks and frequent flyer and loyalty programs.  Even worse than what you might imagine.  

The Experience

While one might think it is straightforward, airlines in particular, given the burden they have in maintaining passenger security, are stringent with identity changes.  The process typically involves writing a letter and enclosing proof of the name change, such as a marriage certificate copy.  But, that's not everything.  One needs to make sure that their new name matches exactly how they want their program information to appear.  Again, not as straightforward as one might think.

My wife had a huge headache with changing her last name and making it her middle one and adding my last name.  The computer thought it was a hyphenated name, but she only intended to have her new middle initial displayed. As a result, her boarding passes and account information were never in sync.  Because of that nuance, frequent flyer flight credit and other ticketing issues were an absolute nightmare to manage. To make matters worse, this airline was going through IT changes and therefore she had to re-submit the same information, spend hours on the phone, and follow up to make sure the change was processed correctly in both systems.  One can also run into trouble if their address has changed, too.  Not only is a marriage certificate necessary, but driver's license, or some other proof such as a utility bill, might be needed.

The Solution

First, order a bunch of certified marriage certificates.  You will likely need several. For garden variety government form changes, you may not need to pay for a service to help you out, but since it's only $30, it might save a bit of time.  For your loyalty programs, use a site such as Yodlee to track every account you have, print a list out, and systemically check off when you have changed your name on each.  If you have zero balances in any of them, and no elite status, you might be better just cancelling the account and starting over.  Ironically, one doesn't need to prove their identity with a driver's license or other identification until a change to the account is necessary. 

Tax Time Tips

Income tax documents are probably already available to you to start completing your taxes.  One excellent source for tax records is your credit card statement--specifically the year end one.  I just got a notification from Chase that my 2011 year ends are available.

Here is why they are good to have:

1-Purchases are categorized, such as charity, travel, dining, and entertainment.  If you engaged in any of those activities on a volunteer/non-profit basis, and itemize your taxes, they are a good back up to your receipts.  Be sure to verify that the organization is in fact a registered non-profit.

2-In a pinch, you can reference these documents while filing your taxes.  Receipts are cumbersome and clutter your filing records.  Year end statements, saved to a computer, are much more efficient.

3-In an audit situation, handing an auditor a print out of neatly categorized purchases is much better for appearances than a stack of paper, odd-shaped receipts.  Think about it.

I am sure there are other good reasons to keep your year end statements for tax purposes and I would like to hear from you on them.  In general, they also help with tracking where you spent money and for what purpose.

In closing, a good strategy for filing taxes painlessly, and at little expense, is to use a service such as Tax Act Online.  I have been using it for years and there is a lot of basic functionality that is available for free that will help you on your way.  Helpful functions include instant calculation of the refund or taxes due, filing tips, simplified language describing complex tax topics.

American Express is stepping up the offers

Until my wife got an AMEX card, I never paid much attention to its offerings beyond its standard rewards program.  While we don't participate in that one, but the Starwood Hotels, Starwood Preferred Guest one instead, AMEX's rewards programs are all pretty robust.  However, after reading a number of consumer-oriented blogs, occasioanally, I have come across offers that extend the value of AMEX cards even beyond their standard 1 point/$1 spent typical benefit.

Take for example a recent promotion in which by spending $25 at a small business (think mom and pop restaurant) one can earn (or get rebated depending on your view) a $25 statement credit.  Read: $25 for free.  Register for this offer here, and then spend $25 before 12/31.  But, only spend money on something you would have normally, in case it doesn't work out for you, or you missed one of the terms and conditions of the offer.

Then, this morning, I came across another offer from AMEX where one can 5 cents back by buying gas and/or other items at Exxon Mobil stations until January 20, 2011.  The blog post where I learned of this offer stipulated that it might be a targeted offer, meaning to a certain financial and/or customer demographic, but I always register for offers regardless if I am the intended recipient.  Even if it doesn't work out, it was still worth it to try.

Bottom line: pay attention to all of those offers you get in the regular mail and your email.  Every bit of savings helps.

Looking beyond "points," "miles," or "cash" when comparing credit cards

Shopping for a credit card can be really simple: you prefer frequent flyer miles over cash back, don't want to pay an annual fee, or have an enormous APR (if you carry a balance).  Easy.  But, complicating your comparison and decision-making process is the difference in additional, behind the scenes, benefits that come pretty standard as well, but vary.

Although they do not seem to be widely published beyond their website, read the inside guide to your credit card and see if it offers such benefits as roadside assistance, trip cancellation protection, identity theft protection, rental car benefits, concierge service, and others.  If it does not, consider switching to one that does.  The rental car coverage alone, typically in the form of CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) can save $10-20/day when renting a car, if you don't carry car insurance normally of course.  Suddenly, that annual fee is not so terrible after all.

It's surprising that credit card companies, at least in my brief research, don't publish these features up front.  Typically, a big bold ad in the newspaper, web, or bus stand advertisement touts earning (well, you don't earn necessarily, more like are refunded) cash back, points, or miles.  Not much is mentioned about being stuck in a jam and how the card can liberate you from some frustration associated with that situation.

Yesterday in my inbox, there was an offer for saving 50% off of Mastercard's shopping mall for a limited time of course.  If I hadn't opted in to see their promotional emails, or visited the website on a lark, I would be missing a great opportunity to save.  Why not promote these benefits more? 

To save you some research, I found a couple of links that will help narrow your field and make the decision easier, hopefully.  VISA's site conveniently lists each card's "other" benefits.  While you are it, check out their discount page if your card qualifies.  Here is Disover's, Mastercard's benefits page, and American Express' sites discussing their additional features and benefits, too.

Of course, one way to ensure that you have ultimate protection, convenience, and benefits is to obtain a card from each company and use them accordingly.  Not a bad strategy if you can maintain discipline and don't mind juggling bills a bit.

The credit market must be picking up again

There are some signs now that the credit (or at least credit card) market is starting to wake up from a long slumber.  Credit card balance transfer offers (circa earlier last decade) are stopping to pop up again in my inbox and mail box just like the good old days.  But as always, must be read carefully.


The fundamental changes I have seen with these balance transfer offers, from both my bank, and credit card companies, are two-fold: 1) the fees are higher, meaning no more "free" transfers like I have seen in the past; 2) quick turn around requirements.  From what seems like ages ago, I used to get offers all of the time to consolidate balances at 0% interest for 10 months or so.  Occasionally, they would be "no fee" transfers, meaning all one had to was send the check in and pay off another balance.  If used properly, one can essentially beat the system for a while.  Of course, if one forgot to pay the minimum balance one month, or went past the "teaser" period to pay it off, one would be subject to huge interest rate increases. 

Now, not only do the offers have a minimum transfer cost, say 4% of the balance requested, there are no maximums on the fees assessed, unlike before.  In the past, it seemed that balance transfer fees were capped at $75, now, the sky is the limit.  That of course depends on your credit card limit in terms of how much you can borrow, too.  Thus, if you look at the interest rate being offered, if you are lucky, 0, but more like 3.99%, if paid off within the terms of the loan, and not added to, the rate is about 8%.  If not paid off, 8% is the floor and the ceiling is in the double digits.


There seems to be a pressure component now, too, with offer turn around requirements of a month or less.  It seems that credit card companies want to make consumers act (hopefully responsibly) as soon as possible.  I don't like that kind of pressure, and it's what has gotten a lot of people in trouble in the past.


In a pinch, and used responsibly, these offers are a great way to consolidate balances.  If you think about it, if you are paying 15% or more on a credit card balance, and if you know you cannot pay it in full for a while, it might make sense to pay the balance transfer fee and get the lower rate.  But, try to project out when you are going to be able to pay off the balance.  And, try not to run up the balance on the higher rate credit card while paying off the lower one.


While it's better not to get into debt, if avoidable, there are tools available to consumers again that can be used to help manage their debt better.