Finance Guides

I sit at my desk completely frustrated with Advanta. I opened up a business credit card with them 3 years ago and made a purchase of $6500 to help build my business credit for Rapid Recovery Solution, my Collection Agency. I have paid more then the minimum every month, on time. November 2008 I noticed that my interest rate seemed a little high. No where on my statement did it say the actual interest rate so I called the company. After 10 min or so I get a live rep on the line and they tell me it is 36.1%. Are they kidding, this must be a mistake. I have over a 750 score and never missed a payment. They said they sent me a notice in Aug that they are doing this due to a change in there lending methods. It turns out this is the second time this year they did this. I went from 8.99% in Jan 08 to 18.99 in Feb 08 to 36.1% in Aug 08.

Every fall, as millions of students get ready to head off to college identity thieves lie in wait for them. Already significant targets, college students comprised more than a third of all identity theft victims last year. Identity thieves frequently target college students because they seldom take protective steps, because of the large number of individuals with access to their personal information, and because an increasingly aggressive credit card industry bombards them with free offers and easy-to-obtain credit cards.