RBC Business Cash Back MasterCard Review

No Fee 1% Cash Back Card

First Published Date: February 5, 2017

If you are a small business owner and looking for a no-frills credit card, look no further than the RBC Business Cash Back MasterCard. This card may not provide a lot of benefits, but it’s still good for those who aren’t looking for anything from a plain vanilla business credit card.

Sometimes you just want to have a business credit card to keep an active credit card under your business name. And that’s exactly why I have this credit card, although I don’t really use it. For a No Annual Fee credit card, the RBC Business Cash Back MasterCard offers the following features:

– Promotional 2 percent cash back for the first three months

– 1 percent cash back across the board thereafter

– Get cash back whenever you accumulate $25 or once a year in January

– Purchase security guarantee for 90 days

– Extended warranty for one additional year

As you can see, it’s not really a feature-rich credit card, but for no fee getting 1 percent back on everything is not bad either.

Business owners may need to separate their business transactions on credit cards, hence the need for a separate credit card solely for business. I charge my all business transactions on my regular personal credit cards that offer rich rewards and still keep a couple of no-fee business credit card accounts active for my business credit file.

If you are looking for better rewards on your business transactions, there are other annual fee credit cards you can go for. But for those who are not willing to pay annual fee, the RBC Business Cash Back MasterCard does the job and still provides 1 percent return.

New Canadian Prepaid Credit Card Rules

Federal Government Tightens Prepaid Credit Card Rules

First Published Date: February 7, 2017

The Canadian government unveils new prepaid credit card regulations to protect consumers today. Here are some changes that will take place starting May 1, 2014.

– There will not be any more expiration dates on prepaid cards.

– There will not be any maintenance or dormancy fess for at least one year once you activate the card.

– The outside packaging or box will clearly show fees user friendly way.

– Information such as how long you can use it, terms and conditions, a toll-free number, etc must be clearly displayed.

While prepaid credit cards are relatively new, you can find them in grocery stores and supermarkets, and they are becoming very popular.

Don’t Throw Away Credit Cards Before Closing Accounts

Close Credit Card Accounts Before Throwing Out

First Published Date: August 24, 2016

We all have credit card accounts here and there we are not aware of. Sometimes we just throw away credit cards once we don’t use them anymore. But is that the proper way of getting rid of those credit cards you don’t need?

For regular credit card accounts, if you just throw away or destroy your credit card your account remains active with the issuing financial institution. That means on paper you still hold that credit card and your credit account will appear on your credit report, regardless of whether you physically have that credit card or not.

For store credit card accounts, it depends on that store’s policies. Some of them will close your account if you are inactive for some time and some of them will keep it active regardless of whether you are active or not.

So if you were applying for store credit cards at different places just to get the 10 percent off on the first purchase and forgot about it after, you may have many credit cards appearing on your credit report you were not aware of – and when you apply for a new loan or mortgage the lender may not like seeing too many open credit accounts.
The best way to get rid of any credit cards is to call the issuer and close the account. Then shred it or cut it into pieces and trash them separately in separate garbage bags.

So next time, pick up the phone and close your account first before getting rid of those cards you don’t need. 

How to Properly Destroy Credit Cards

Don’t Just Trash Your Cards in the Garbage

First Published Date: October 8, 2016

Our credit cards are getting smarter with embedded microchips and other security features, and so are credit card scammers and con artists. The magnetic strip and microchip on credit cards hold vital information and they can cause a serious data breach if they end up in the wrong hands.

It’s better to be safe than sorry. I have created a short video demonstrating how to destroy credit cards properly so scammers aren’t able to extract any information out of them. You can follow those steps I showed in the video to cut your credit cards properly. Here are some highlights you need to keep in mind:

– Never get rid of credit cards if everything is intact.

– Cut them into small pieces as shown in the video.

– Make sure the microchip, magnetic strip, name, numbers, and signature are completely destroyed.

– When you are done destroying, do not put them in one garbage bag or bin.

– Place the cards into several garbage bags over the course of several days.

– This way, no single person can obtain all the pieces and arrange them together.

Am I being overly paranoid? You may say so. However, if you talk to those who had their identity stolen, they will tell you that it turned their lives upside down and these little steps of precaution are nothing compared to the consequences you would face had your personal information ended up in the wrong hands.

To safeguard your valuable personal information, online and otherwise, always be cautious and use vigilance. Use your common sense as your first line of defence and then some.

20+ Credit Cards and 800+ Credit Score? Is It Possible?

The Secrets of My Credit Score

First Published Date: November 3, 2016

The people I know and the employees at my banks almost have a fit when I tell them I have around 20 credit cards and a very high credit score, like above 800. For most people, more credit cards are associated with more debt and a lower credit score. More debt (for some people) I can agree with, but lower credit score? I could not disagree more.

Author/Copyright: Ahmed Dawn www.adawnjournal.com

The general misconception about having more credit cards is that they lower your credit score. This assumption could not have been possibly further dispersed from the truth. Having a lot of credit cards is OK, as long you are paying your bills on time and keeping your Utilization Ration below 30 percent. However, 30 percent ratio is considered the highest limit you can go to keep a good credit score. Lower is better. For example, FICO and Experian data show that those who have the best credit score, such as 800 or higher, utilize only 7 to 8 percent of their credit. Your utilization ratio represents what percentage of your available credit you are using and makes up 30 percent of your credit score.

Now, how about having too many credit cards? Having too many credit cards and maintaining them properly actually gives you an advantage to achieve a higher credit score. It’s shooting up your available credit limit (meaning making your utilization ratio lower) and showing positive on your credit report because lenders view you as someone who can be trusted with credit (because you are maintaining them positively by not racking up balances and keeping them active paying on time). After all, payment history makes up 35 percent of your credit score. So when you score perfect both on payment history (35%) and utilization ratio (30%), you already have an advantage towards scoring higher on the overall credit score. The other 15 percent (length of credit), 10 percent (types of credit), and 10 percent (inquiries) will easily follow.

One of the maximum credit card holders with an almost perfect score recorded by Guinness World Record was Walter Cavanagh of California, who has 1497 credit cards and a staggering $1.7 million line of credit. Other examples: The Points Guy Brian Kelly has 30 credit cards and 805 credit score. Ben Schlappig of One Mile At A Time has 20+ credit cards and 837 credit score.

The point is, there is nothing wrong with having too many credit cards as long as you know how to manage money and credit cards. However, I must warn that it requires a lot of discipline and work and this is not for everyone. You have to be extremely detail-oriented and extremely excellent in handling credit cards and money. If you are one payment late your credit score will take a nosedive.

Everyone has different purposes of achieving a higher credit score. My purpose is the satisfaction that comes from a higher score and also to utilize the various perks that come from having lots of different credit cards. I will talk about these more in my next book, Credit Card Hacks: What Credit Card Companies Don’t Want You to Know. Stay tuned.