Crosby Finance

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.

Overdraft fees, we have all paid them at one point in time in our financial lives. The cost of over-drafting your account keeps climbing. At Sun Trust as of July 1st they raised the fee from $32.00 to $35.00 every time you go in the negative. Most banks will clear the highest item first so that they can charge you a fee on each of the lower items.

The bank is constantly pushing us to set up over-draft protection with one of their credit cards. So when you overdraft they charge your credit card, charge you a $15.00 fee to do this for you, then if you do not pay your bill on time or in full they are going to hit you with interest and late fees. It is a never-ending cycle.

They will link a savings account to your checking account for protection but again, they will charge you $15.00 for transferring the money in your account to prevent an overdraft fee.

According to a recent study by the Center for Responsible Lending the nations 15 largest banks collected $17.5 billion dollars last year from us for over-draft fees.

I love it when they tell you that they are going to give you a “one time courtesy” return of the over-draft fee. No one is perfect and life happens, banks should give us a set amount of “courtesies” per year. I am sure they would attract more customers this way.

There is a bill “gaining moment” that would require banks to tell people at the ATM and possibly at the checkout counter when their accounts run dry, It would also prohibit banks from charging overdraft fees unless customers have agree to pay them and it would prohibit the bank from clearing the highest check first.

Banks have also held and delayed deposits so that an overdraft incurs and they receive the fees.

We should take more responsibility with our money. The only way to not pay these fees is either not letting your account fall in the negative or for example, keep $1000.00 in your account and vow never to fall below that amount and you will not have to worry about being charged a $35.00 fee.

Banks continue to charge these ridiculous over draft while only offering pennies on CD’s, savings accounts, and mutual funds. No wonder there is a new bank popping up on each corner, they are getting rich!

Nobody’s perfect.

And in the world of business, mistakes are made on the way to success that can either hinder or delay the “planned success” of a business and never has this been truer than for an ecommerce business. Merchants are too quick sign contracts or agreements from ecommerce “helpers” such as free merchant accounts.

Free merchant accounts are not the culprit here. And this wasn’t meant to point a finger on who’s to blame.

Before entering into any business – whether retail, MOTO, or Internet – agreements & contracts are always present. Some merchants who see free on the paper don’t account the fine print on the contract. That’s one of the downfall of merchants. After a month or two, they go running back to their providers with contracts in hand, only to admit defeat that they have no escape from the dreaded contract.

So what are the common mistakes merchants make when getting a free merchant account? Educate yourself on some you can easily avoid:

They don’t look out for hidden charges/fees
As long as summer days are long, and nights are short, so will anybody who’s ever been in business has to make money – and free merchant accounts providers are no exception. It’s sooo cliche, but there is seriously no such thing as free lunch. Merchants can avoid committing this mistake by asking for all charges and fees they might incur when they start processing. This includes but isn’t limited to the discount rate, transaction fees, and monthly processing fees.

They don’t poke around the FINE print.
Our rates are FREE! Often, just a mention of the word free and anyone in the FREE world will scurry to see what they can get without giving. Unfortunately in business, this isn’t the case. Some can give you free coupons but you have to buy the whole newspaper, or get a free lunch but pay for dinner – the point being merchants easily see the word free but they don’t poke around the FINE print. If there’s another word starting with F that merchants should be wary of – it should be Fine with the word PRINT to follow.

They don’t ask when they can access funds
Your merchant account provider should free you of restrictions when it comes to having access to your funds/revenue 24/7/365. Start scouting fast for a new one if they impose restrictions.

They don’t make a background check of the company
Everywhere there’s a thief. It’s up to you to make the necessary precautions. Whether it’s a credit card processing provider, a payment gateway, or a shopping cart, always make background checks. The features of Web 2.0 has made the world a smaller place, as well as placed consumer information within reach. Easily you can get free reviews of merchant accounts, payment gateways, the latest news on celebrities, and what-nots within seconds!

They don’t look for freebies
Although there is no such thing as free lunch, there is such a thing as appetizer! Consider the freebies offered by free merchant account providers as appetizers – free setup, application fees, monthly fees, etc, depending on your provider, can be tasty and make you want to get ahead with the whole meal – or service. Of course, as a merchant you should always be on the look out for providers who normally change their freebie offerings from time to time and take the best deal out there.

When you get an offer sheet, it helps to be a bit skeptical. Don’t look at it with doe eyes – innocent and believing every word spouted by the agent. Knowledge is also powerful – with it, you can attack the agent with a barrage of questions. If you feel they haven’t successfully answered your questions, then start shouting… NEXT PLEASE!

It’s your business after all.

Compulsory liquidation advice can be given in many different ways but there are only three different types of liquidation; members’ voluntary liquidation, creditors’ voluntary liquidation and compulsory liquidation. This is not something every company goes through and it should not even be taken into consideration if the party has not received any legal help or has not been given compulsory liquidation advice. Something as serious as this is cannot be done without legal or financial advice to the accused party.

Members’ Voluntary Liquidation:

This happens when the company’s shareholders choose to put it into liquidation and all the debts the company may have can be covered by their assets.

Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation:

This is the opposite of the members’ voluntary liquidation because what happens is, the shareholders decide that liquidation will be best but they do not have enough assets to pay of debts, then the company will become insolvent.

Compulsory Liquidation:

This happens when the court says the company has to be wound upon the petition of a specific individual. If there is not only one director then all the directors have to come together to present the petition as it is not possible for one director to present a winding up petition.

There are three alternatives to liquidation:

Administration:

This is when the court grants admission orders. The purpose of this is to relieve the company just a little bit and give them some space from the creditors. This helps the company as they are guaranteed to be stressed out at the time and may make foolish decisions.

Informal Arrangement:

The company can choose to make payment plans in writing, to the creditors and try to come to some sort of mutual agreement before the issue gets to the courts. This is often the solution, but not all creditors will agree to it.

Company Voluntary Arrangement:

This is like the informal arrangement, except this one is formal and includes the directors applying to the court involved with some assistance of an authorized insolvency practitioner.

Financial literacy is among the most important things we must learn. So why is it that it is hardly ever taught in schools? Some courses touch lightly on the subject, but there is no subject that will show students how to create wealth and manage their money. Science, history, mathematics, and English are extremely important to a child’s education. But some might argue that, as noble as those subjects are, financial literacy should be valued even more.

My father, for example, is an electrical engineer. He majored in Science in college and took electrical engineering courses at one of the leading universities in our country. After graduating and passing the board exams, he looked for a job in his chosen profession. He found employment in machines sales for the wood industry.

While, due to his college education, he was familiar with many of the components in the machines, but there were several important parts of the machines he had never even heard about. Thus it is with financial education. School-to-work programs and career education are important, but they must include instruction that is applicable to what students will face in the real world.

There isn’t a single subject in school that teaches how to create wealth. A particularly inspired instructor might touch on the subject, but we need to give students exact directions in how to attain financial freedom. For example a popular real estate technique of flipping a house. Some flippers get carried away and remodel the entire house, other simply paint and landscape to increase value. The key is to know the numbers.

The advice our forefathers gave us is only a starting point. “Go to school. Study hard. Get good grades, and find a good job” does not apply to those who want to create and keep wealth. In this case, knowledge IS power. Seek knowledge in and out of the classroom. This applies doubly for financial education. The more updated you are, the better your chances of making more money.

Well, here is a list of beatitudes we must have to achieve our retirement goals in the military. If we follow these beatitudes we may not be working until 70 years old with a second career.

1. Blessed are those that save for retirement (Roth IRA and TSP) early for they will have financial freedom. Yes, that is correct you will have more freedoms to do a lot more than if you didn’t save any money. For examples if you were to save $4000 in a Roth IRA every year for just 5 years that money (with 7% return for 35 years) could be worth $213,530. So remember to start saving early so that interest works for you.

2. Blessed are those that pay down their credit cards with the highest interest first for they may save a lot a money in the future. Credit card debt is one of the worst things one can get into. It is almost financial suicide unless one can pay it entirely off every month. Most of us don’t have the discipline to due so. So my advice if you have a lot of credit card debt is pay the minimum balance on the credit cards that have the lowest interest rate and put that extra money into the high interest rate credit until they are paid off first.

3. Blessed are those that create a budget for each paycheck for they may have money left over to save in their high yield savings account. Yes, a budget is always a good habit to get into. I recommend writing down a budget and then try to stick with it. After a few month than adjust it some. Most financial advisor say pay yourself first for retirement then your high yield saving account for emergency funds, then finally the rest of your expenses. I cannot stress the importance of having money in a high yield savings versus a savings account down the street. A high yield savings account is 10X the national average rate.

4. Blessed are those that sacrifice those expensive toys (i.e. boats, 4 wheelers etc.) for they will have some money for retirement. Some of us can afford these toys so I am not against buying these things when one has the actual money to buy it. However, may people what to have these toys but they want to finance them through the bank. Later, they find out they either cannot pay the payments or they lose interest in these toys.

5. Blessed are those who do not accrue late fees/ATM fees for they will have more money. Sometimes we do stupid things with our money. We forget to pay for items on time so we are charged a fee. Sometimes we use the ATM machine more than we should and accrue fees. My advice is to go to the bank and get enough cash that will last for the next payday instead of using the ATM. Secondly, we need to set up a time once a month/or once every two weeks to pay our bills on time.

6. Blessed are those that will never take out a PAYDAY loan for they will be charged a very high interest rate fee. This is one of the best ways one can waste money. I cannot believe it takes the power of congress and the president to limit these companies to lend to servicemen. It is better just to stay away from these companies.

Remember these Six beatitudes and you will be able to receive your reward in those retirement years.

Have you ever received a letter, call or email from someone telling you that you have unclaimed money owed to you? Did this person want to charge you to get you back your own money? If you are like most people, paying someone to recover your own money probably didn’t sit too well with you. There is another way to get your unclaimed money and not feel like you got taken to the cleaners. This article will tell you how.

WHAT IS A PROPERTY LOCATER OR HEIR FINDER?
The process of “funds recovery” or “money finding” is not illegal. The people who provide this service are usually called a property locater service or heir finder.

Property locator’s are governed by laws and have limits on how much they can charge a person for their unclaimed money recovery services. Basically they have found money owed to you, then called you so they can take a portion of your money for providing you the service of finding and claiming your money.

However, it is very easy for you to find and claim the money yourself. Why pay someone else part of YOUR money?

HOW TO FIND AND CLAIM YOUR MONEY ON YOUR OWN
The unclaimed money you are owed may have come an old checking or savings accounts, stocks, bonds or dividends, insurance policy, safety deposit box contents, etc. Institutions or the companies holding your money were required to turn the money over to the state after a period of inactivity and lack of contact from you.

There is a state or federal agency now holding your money waiting for you to find and claim it. Although these agencies are required to do some advertising and “attempt to contact” the account owners, most likely you have never heard from them.

Finding your money yourself is simple. All you have to do is search in an unclaimed money database. You want to make sure you search in a database that includes money from all state and federal databases. Searching in only one state database will most likely give you less than complete results and you may miss money owed to you.

The all-in-one complete databases usually have a small charge to access the database. The nice thing is they provide a free search so that you know if your name is reported as being owed money prior to paying to access the site.

Once you find the unclaimed money all you have to do is fill out the appropriate claim form, which most sites will give you to download, and send it in with the required proof of identification and/or proof of ownership or entitlement to the unclaimed money.

The agency or department holding the money will verify your claim and then an unclaimed money check should arrive within 2 to 16 weeks.

If further documentation is required, they will contact you.

Now that you know how to find and claim your unclaimed money you do not need to give someone else part of your money to do it for you!

There are many individuals who work in the mortgage loan industry. From brokers, to loan officers and loan originators, all offer loan products to the public. If you look in your local telephone book, you will see a long list of individuals and companies affiliated with mortgage loans. What is it that differentiates each of them from their competitors? One important aspect is the type of mortgage loan leads that they use.

Mortgage lead generation companies sell different types of leads, including those that are exclusive and those that are not. Non-exclusive leads are resold to many different mortgage brokers, leaving the potential new client open to a barrage of calls or e-mails from many brokers who are looking to make a sale. While these types of leads are sometimes less expensive to purchase, their closing rate is much lower than you will find with exclusive leads.

Exclusive leads provide several benefits to the mortgage brokers who use them. First, those leads belong to you and you alone. No one else will have access to them. What this means is that you have bought the benefit of time. Time is necessary to get to know the potential new client and discover what he or she wants out of a home refinance or debt consolidation, or both. This way you can offer up the most suitable options in loan products that will best meet their specific needs. When you can do this, your rate of closing should increase dramatically, because you are providing customized solutions to your client’s financial problems, which will be appealing to them.

Second, anyone, yourself included, especially when they are about to step into a long-term financial relationship, wants to be treated to individualized service. No one wants a cookie-cutter loan, simply because that is all that you could offer. Your debt consolidation leads want to come out ahead financially in the long run, and they rely on your expert advice to help them do so. Exclusive debt leads give you the time you need to discover what your potential new client’s long-term financial goals are, plus the time it takes to develop their trust in your skills and products. In this way, it then becomes worth your time to discover any and all loan products that will work best for them, and they will appreciate the care you took, making you distinct from other brokers.

Third, when you have invested so much time in a client, those clients tend to be repeat customers. With fluctuating interest rates and economy, former clients will want to return to someone they can trust when they need to refinance, and purchase a new home. You exclusive leads can pay off handsomely with returning customers.

With each click of the clock, time runs out for the “home team.” The passer heaves the oblong shape high into the air. The receiver weaves in and out between the obstacles on the grassy field and runs towards the thrown object. Then, he launches himself into the air, fully extending his arms. Just when the oblong shape seems destined to crash into the ground, the receiver cushions it with his hands, preventing a devastating loss. He then stands up, relieved that he caught…the crystal egg. In “Risky Business,” the film that made Tom Cruise a star, a high school senior’s home is robbed while his parents are away. The teen must then buy back everything from Guido, a ruthless hustler, before the former’s parents return from their out-of-town trip. “Risky Business” demonstrates the importance of using home surveillance systems to protect investments.

Investments Can Be Cheap
When we think of the word “investment,” what usually comes to mind is the spending of huge sums of money, on properties, paintings, or stocks. But an investment is actually the spending of money to increase the value of something, or to earn more money. For example, when you treat yourself to a special dinner at a sit-down restaurant; or take night classes to improve your career, you are actually making an investment in yourself! Probably the biggest investment that you will ever make is in a home. So, it is wise to use home surveillance systems to protect everything inside it. That includes your furniture, appliances, clothes, fancy silverware, computers, jewelry, and yes — crystal eggs.

Thwarting Theft
Home surveillance systems provide the most direct way to record a home burglary as it happens. However, they also serve as a useful deterrent to crime. There are many steps that can be taken to prevent burglaries.

* Never put objects of value, particularly those that can be carried off easily, near windows.

* A “beware of dog” sign can scare away thieves, even if you only have a goldfish.

* If a person comes to your front door and requests to use the phone, you should make the call.

* Buy a timer to turn lights inside the house on and off at different times. This will give the appearance that you are home even when you are not.

* Have a means to secure your garage door. And if you drive somewhere, never leave the garage door open.

* Every time you leave your home, lock the front door and bring along the key - even if you are only going to do yard work in your front or back yard.

Selecting a System
After all is said and done, however, the best tool for preventing theft at home is still a surveillance system. When choosing one, make sure to do your homework first. Some systems are more “mobile.” These include wireless cams with features such as audio and night vision. A CCTV lets you keep tabs on your home using a monitor. It is ideal for catching thieves - whether you are at home or not. Home surveillance systems can even include under-vehicle surveillance cameras placed in your car or truck. Whatever components you choose for your home surveillance systems, make sure that you pick one that meets your particular needs.

Investments can range from high-return mutual funds to Wacky Watermelon smoothies. In particular, purchases of home surveillance systems are valuable investments to protect your investment.

An impeccable credit record these days is your passport to consumer heaven.
All that you see can be yours, the brand new car on zero percent finance, the leather suite with nothing to pay for two years, the laptop on HP with monthly repayments of only £16.75; the consumerist possibilities are endless.

Now, for many upwardly mobile people whose incomes increase to meet the rate at which they get into debt this is fine, they will continue to spend and live the dream upon which society is becoming more and more based - that of immediate gratification through consumerism.

However there is an increasing percentage of the populace who are becoming outcasts from this marketplace, for whatever reason they have got themselves into financial problems; bad debts, CCJ’s, defaulted payments etc. This problem is even more evident in young people not yet on the housing ladder and therefore not yet earning equity from their property. Sooner or later their credit score becomes besmirched with records of their troubles and when they apply for a mortgage they are turned down.

Failure to be approved a mortgage is an extremely painful process, it generally comes after having spent months looking for a house or flat. It can put families under huge stress and lead to further economic hardship.

ClicknGoMortgages are a Kent based mortgage broker and advisory centre who specialise in helping borrowers in this very situation. Bad Credit Mortgages can still be arranged through an expert adviser. An amazing 1 in four of us could be turned down my a mainstream mortgage lender. ClicknGo have the access and the experience to allow almost anyone the chance to get on the housing ladder.

So, for borrowers with a poor credit history Click and Go can arrange a Bad Credit Mortgage even if you are a discharged bankrupt.

The downside is that you may have to pay a slightly higher interest rate than you would otherwise be charged for a regular mortgage. But the good news is that a full range of fixed, capped, discounts, trackers and flexible bad credit mortgages should be available to you.

Naturally if you fail to meet repayments your home will be at risk.