What is Two Cycle Billing?

By:TheBenny

The term “two cycle billing” may not be common knowledge to all credit card users, but it is a concept that everyone should be aware of. Some issuers have been moving away from the average daily billing cycle and changing over to the two cycle way of calculating the interest earned on balances. Two cycle billing does not greatly affect users that tend the carry a balance, but it does however affect cardholders that pay there balance off monthly.

In order to understand two cycle billing you must first understand the average daily billing method, which will now be explained. Let’s say that you own a credit card with a 15% interest rate and your billing cycle for the month of April runs from the 1st through the 30th of the month. At the beginning of the month you have a balance of textarea on the card. Now, on the 10th of April you make a purchase of 00, which means you are going to carry that balance for 20 days until the current billing cycle ends. You must now calculate the average daily balance for the month of April. To do so you must first multiply the balance of the card by the number of days the balance was carried (00 × 20 days = 20,000), then you will divide that number by the total days in the billing cycle (20,000 ÷ 30 = 666.67). You have now figured out that your average daily balance for April would be 6.67. If this card uses the average daily billing cycle and you started the month with a textarea balance, there will be no interest charged as long as the April balance is paid off in full. This billing cycle essentially gives you a grace period on purchases as long as the balance is paid off in full each month. But, if this credit card uses the two cycle billing method, you would be charged interest for the month of April when you receive your bill in May because your average daily balance is based on the last 2 billing cycles. So, when you receive your bill for May, you will have a finance charge that is due, even though your balance was paid off in full for April and you didn’t make any purchases with the card in May. In order to figure out how much your interest would be, you will take the average daily balance × number of days in the billing cycle × periodic interest rate. Below are the calculations to figure out your interest due in May.

Average daily balance 1000 × 20 ÷ 61 = 327.87
Number of days in billing cycle 30 + 31 = 61
Periodic interest rate 15 ÷ 365 = .0411
Finance charge for May 327.87 × 61 × .000411 = 8.22

Based on the interest rate of 15% stated above, you will receive a bill in May that shows a finance charge of .22 even though the balance was paid in full in April. As you can now see, the two cycle billing method of calculating interest is not ideal for users that choose to pay there balance of in full each month. Essentially, a two cycle billing card will start charging interest from the day the purchases is made, which will eliminate the grace period that is provided by a card that uses the average daily billing method.

As you can now see, the two cycle billing method of calculating interest would mainly effect users that always pay their balance off in full because they will still be paying interest on purchases even when there is no balance being carried over on the card. So, next time you are looking for a new credit card make sure you look at the fine print to check for what type of billing method they use for that card.

Source: Free Articles

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High Risk Merchant Account Tips on IP Detection

Any high risk merchant should be aware, if not become thoroughly an expert, of all the technical aspects of credit card transactions. Let's face it, doing business online is taking risk a hundred times more dangerous than doing business the brick and mortar fashion. Smart merchants would never plunge headlong into online ventures without a good, working knowledge of the loopholes of the billing process via credit cards.

High risk merchant account providers employ various tactics to mitigate the frequency of chargebacks such as restriction on the use of anonymous e-mail addresses, credit card validation, IP address detection, and proxy server identification.

Anonymous E-mail Addresses
They would make sure email address, phone number, zip code, credit card, mailing /shipping address and other forms of identification are valid. It's rather commonplace to hear that if you were dealing with credit cards, it would be unwise to accept credit card owners that provide anonymous or free e-mail addresses such as @yahoo.com, @hotmail.com, or @gmail.com.

Credit Card Validation and Other Issues
All low risk and high risk merchants are required to integrate a credit card validation system with the customer's issuing bank.
To make it even foolproof, merchants would double check for phone number and zip code authenticity, as well as compatibility with the customer's billing address and issuing bank's country. Some would even make sure they are not doing transactions with customers that originate from high risk countries.

How IP Address Detection Works
Merchants, however, will find even better benefit in taking advantage of detecting the IP addresses of their customers. Security is a tall order when it comes to buying and selling online.

As a matter of fact, legitimate buyers would most welcome security measures such as IP geolocation from high risk merchant account providers to protect them from credit card fraud. Scammers would hide behind anonymous e-mail addresses and proxy servers.
The most that high risk merchants can do is to filter suspicious IP addresses. The process goes as following:

1.Merchants detect IP address using geolocation technology and IP validation technology. It may be categorized by country, zip code, area code or billing address.

2.The geolocation/IP validation technology identifies where the user is located spot-on and compares where the person making order is located and his actual billing address.

3.Merchants analyze, double check transactions, and filter legitimate and illegitimate transactions. They may also block transactions considered as possible frauds, or transactions originating from fraud-prone high risk countries.

Proxy Server Identification
IP address detection also goes hand in hand with proxy server identification. Merchants may find difficulty in detecting IP addresses if customers hide behind anonymous proxy servers.

What is a Proxy Server?
A proxy server facilitates network performance by making use of a caching system. The cache is a temporary storage for data that have been viewed recently (like a brain's short term memory). The purpose is to prevent data such as web pages and images from being downloaded repeatedly, thus saving time on accessing them online. Another is to help network administrators filter sites that they deem other users of the network must not access.

Detecting IP addresses and proxy servers can be tricky. A strong support from a high risk merchant account providers that employs strong IP and proxy server detection technology will help your e-commerce store counteract frauds. This is because anonymous proxy servers cannot be detected consistently. With the help of a reliable IP and proxy server detection technology, a merchant will have less time for worries and more time for finding more solutions to increase profit for his business.

Source: Free Articles

About the Author

Gerri Bryce is a versatile technical writer specializing in general web content copywriting and development for finance and high-risk investment firms. She has contributed a massive number of articles for today's most popular technology, gadget, gaming, business, finance, and science news websites. She participates in a number of top webmaster / finance forums and focuses on new trends in high risk merchant account providers, one of which is http://www.highriskexperts.com Currently, Ms. Bryce lives in Marin County, California. She keeps herself abreast with Web 2.0 and cutting edge Internet trends by attending business workshops, online meet-ups, and conferences for web and business professionals. She also travels extensively throughout the United States and Asia. e-mail: gerri.bryce@gmail.com

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Is Declaring Bankruptcy an Ideal Option for Debt Relief?

Easy availability of loans in the recent times has given rise to a trend of indiscriminate borrowing. Consequently, those who borrow beyond their means end in a debt trap. Even though various debt relief options are available, in certain cases declaring bankruptcy may be the only way out.

Pros And Cons Of Declaring Bankruptcy For Debt Relief

Bankruptcy is the legal declaration of the debtor that he is not in a position to pay back the creditor. Once a debtor declares that he is bankrupt, the law prohibits the creditors from collecting the debts. It will help the debtor to keep the creditors at bay until he can make some alternate arrangement. In many cases, a major part of his debt is written off and he will have to pay back a small percentage of what he owes. Also by declaring bankruptcy, he can make a fresh beginning. Because of this, the people may feel that declaring bankruptcy is the best form of debt relief. However, it is not so.

• Credit rating of the borrower suffers badly because of this. His future loan applications will be rejected. No loan company gives loan to a bankrupt person.

• When a debtor declares bankruptcy, the collateral owed to the creditor has to be given. The debtor cannot keep it with himself. In certain cases, the property of the debtor is used to pay off the creditors also.

• Declaring bankruptcy does not absolve the debtor from the tax burdens, child support and other types of loans. He still will have to make provisions for those financial liabilities that he has to pay.

• In bankruptcy, mortgage or other collateralised loan will no be eliminated. Payments towards them will just be deferred until the issue of bankruptcy is cleared.

• In some countries, people who have declared bankruptcy will find difficult to get a job. Because declaring bankruptcy will raise a question on his character.

That is why declaring bankruptcy as a way of debt relief is not an intelligent move. In fact, it is a very disgraceful action that leaves a permanent black mark on ones credit report and character. Therefore, debtors resort to it as a last attempt to escape the debt trap. If the debtor has some sources to pay off his debt then the best course of action to get him out of the debt trap would be to opt for a suitable debt relief plan. He can make a plan debt relief for himself which would require a lot of self discipline to implement. Else, he can avail the services of a debt relief company that will help in devising a suitable debt relief plan for him based on his financial situation and repayment capability.

About the Author:

Milos Pesic is a professional Debt Management consultant who runs a highly popular and comprehensive Debt Consolidation web site. For more articles and resources on debt management, debt consolidation programs, free debt counseling and much more visit his site at:

=>http://debtpaid.info/

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

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Some Basic Selling Ploys Can Help To Stop Foreclosures

Isn’t it time to give the home owners facing and trying to stop foreclosures a helping hand? So much advice is available (often for free) out there for first time buyers of foreclosures, but what if the home owner has never prepared to sell a house before. As the old hands at it will know, it can be a disruptive experience, time consuming and frustrating. Imagine how much more difficult it will be for the owner selling to avoid foreclosure in a cold market.

What is more difficult for the first time seller of a home she is in danger of losing when the lender calls in the collateral?
• There is no money for essential repairs,
• Little has been done for some time to spruce up the house,
• Pride will play a part, but most will know instinctively that explaining the true circumstances leading to selling will lower the offer price,
• She desperately needs the help of a realtor but knows this means less in the hand to cure the default and get a fresh start.

Here’s some great advice I have accumulated in the past that helps the mindset. Once you have made the decision to sell, it’s no longer your home; it becomes your "property", an asset you should realise at the best possible value. That goes a long way to remove emotion and have you thinking positive.

You have to have the right attitude about how to sell smartly when all traditional housing (as opposed to actual foreclosures) for sale around you has been for sale for months. From bitter experience you know prices are moving down. After all, you tried unsuccessfully to refinance.

Forget about what the property has cost you, how much you paid for alterations or additions, think only of comparable values in your immediate neighborhood. Comparable means in size, construction, amenities, and state of repair! When prices are trending down, houses that will sell first price ahead of the down curve. You don’t have the luxury of time; your debts are mounting. Price now for the next 3 months rather than list, discount, then list again meanwhile not getting a soul to show to.

Before you make the big decision as to whether paying commission to a realtor is most likely good value anyway, think about all the inexpensive ways you can give your property some curb attraction, something to give a good impression as the potential buyer comes to the front door. Have a thorough clean up and out of clutter and junk, from the entrance to the laundry, outside and in the closets inside. Find the pennies to pay for lawn mowing, and fixing dripping faucets. Cleaning is so important and sparkling windows and washed down paintwork costs so little yet adds so much to appearances. Not to mention the aroma and the attitude.

Philip Smith is the writer of http://www.Foreclosuredeals.com. Your Source of Stop foreclosures online.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com

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