This is first month anniversary of this blog. So far I have received around 972 page views and 253 unique visitors at Finance Product Reviews. Not bad so far provided I only has 7 visits through search engine. And so far I don’t even appear in the front page for a search term “Finance Product Reviews”. Let’s now bring out the articles I did like reading and a few reviews that might be of help if you are considering those. Mint.com iPhone app review at Buck Inspire covers some features on mint’s smart phone app. I am a Yodlee user,…
Product Review
Savings accounts, particularly fancifully called “high-yield” savings accounts, are best for keeping your emergency fund or keeping money which you’ll need in a year or two. Any money that you don’t want to subject to the short-term risk and volatility in the stock market should be held in a savings account, earning as much interest as possible. “High-yield” is not really a “high” yield these days; even in 2006/2007 4% and 5% interest rate from an online saving account like Orange or EmmigrantDirect were common. Today, the best rates are all below 1.5% while only a select few are offering…
In a world increasing its use of on-line applications over legacy installations, some people still prefer to install programs on their home or work computers instead. With regards to online applications, there is no need for installations anymore, or even upgrades – only one instance of the application is live, with only one application of upgrades, if it is ever needed. But with legacy installations, you will have to go through some time installing the program, checking if the program works fine on your operating system, and then upgrading the program to its latest version. TurboTax Home and Business is…
True Earnings Card from Costco and American Express is an American Express cash back card which allows unlimited cash back on purchases made at Costco. This card allows you to earn up to 3% of what you’ve spent on certain purchases, and also comes with Costco membership as an added advantage. If you are going to apply for the Costco American Express True Earning card, try to see your credit score first to have a general idea of what your credit limit is going to be, or will you be approved. Credit Sesame shall give you a free assessment of…
The main purpose of the Citi® Platinum Select® Visa® card is for transferring your existing credit card debt over to Citibank. A balance transfer to Citibank immediately saves you from paying future interest on your debt. And this is in addition to having one and a half years interest free – the Citi® Platinum Select® Visa® card offers 0% APR, giving you 18 months more to pay off your credit card debt, which at some point in time you will have to face, unless paid within 18 months. You do have to pay an extra 3% balance transfer fee, which is pretty…
Aurora Bank FSB has an impressive record to begin with. It received a five out of a five star rating system from DepositAccounts.com, which speaks highly of the bank’s performance, at least until the third quarter of 2011. But that’s about bank’s health, when I tried to open an account, I met with their rates. Which is as below. Savings Account Rates Average Daily Balance Interest Rate APY* $1.00 – $999.99 0.00% 0.00% $1,000.00 + 0.25% 0.25% As for deposits, one can do better than the 0.25 APR Aurora Bank is offering for its savings account. While it is at least…
Powered by NFC technology, Google Wallet allows your phone to act as your credit card. By tapping your phone (only Android at this time) against a compatible chip reader available with select shops, your payment information are transferred to the merchant without swiping any physical card. Google Wallet in fact aiming for a plastic credit card extinction. While the idea of combining your phone and your credit cards may be scary, Google Wallet, in theory, is more secure than a plastic card. If you haven’t used Wallet in the past 30 minutes or so (or if you manually lock it),…
If you are a heavy shopper at Best Buy, you may want to use Best buy rewards zone, if you want to maximize your rewards and score some deals every once in a while, you may apply for Best Buy Reward Zone® Credit Card Like most credit cards offers, the Best Buy Credit Card offers an incentive for signing up, but it varies. If you sign-up in person at a Best Buy store, you may receive a discount on your first purchase using the card. If you sign-up online, there is no discount. The card also includes a rewards program…
I didn’t know this card is one of the oldest reward card in the market. Needless to say more than half of Discover card holder portfolio contains Discover® More® Card members. I also didn’t know that Discover cards have an orange edge, which is there to assist you getting out the card from your wallet. Discover says that Orange symbolizes the care and commitment they have for the card members. They want to make sure you get the orange out from a stack of whites and blacks. Good thinking! Now that you discovered two great facts about Discover, let’s try to find all…
Credit cards are made to be convenient, but you have to know which credit card is going to be the most convenient, or going to get you the most advantage with its use. The Chase Sapphire credit card has its advantages, though it comes at a price. The Chase Sapphire has no introductory APR, or annual percentage rate. The APR does come at a low 15.4%, which you should know is a low APR when you see other credit card APRs, and the APR is also variable – so remember that at some time in the future, this low APR…
