Privacy Policy of AskMrCreditCard.com

Privacy Policy

Effective Date: March 15 , 2012

This privacy policy describes how Smart Finance LLC collects and uses the personal information you provide on our Web site: www.askmrcreditcard.com . It also describes the choices available to you regarding our use of your personal information and how you can access and update this information.

Smart Finance LLC has been awarded TRUSTe's Privacy Seal signifying that this privacy policy and practices have been reviewed by TRUSTe for compliance with TRUSTe's program requirements including transparency, accountability and choice regarding the collection and use of your personal information. The TRUSTe program covers information collected through this Web site, www.askmrcreditcard.com. TRUSTe's mission, as an independent third party, is to accelerate online trust among consumers and organizations globally through its leading privacy trustmark and innovative trust solutions. If you have questions or complaints regarding our privacy policy or practices, please contact us at contactus@askmrcreditcard.com if you are not satisfied with our response you can contact TRUSTe here.

Collection and Use of Personal Information

We collect personal information from you such as email address and date of birth.
We use this information:
For registration purposes
To send you requested product or service information
To send you a newsletter
To respond to your questions and concerns
To allow you to correspond with other members

We may also disclose your personal information as required by law such as to comply with a subpoena, or similar legal process when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request, if Smart Finance LLC is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, you will be notified via email and/or a prominent notice on our Web site of any change in ownership or uses of your personal information, as well as any choices you may have regarding your personal information, to any other third party with your prior consent to do so.

Information Sharing

We will share your personal information with third parties only in the ways that are described in this privacy policy. We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We may provide your personal information to companies that provide services to help us with our business activities such as forum hosting provider and email marketing. These companies are authorized to use your personal information only as necessary to provide these services to us.

Choice/Opt-Out

You may choose to stop receiving our newsletter or marketing emails by following the unsubscribe instructions included in these emails or you can contact us at contactus@askmrcreditcard.com .

Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies

Cookies
A cookie is a small text file that is stored on a user’s computer for record-keeping purposes. We use cookies on this site. We do not link the information we store in cookies to any personally identifiable information you submit while on our site. We use session cookies to make it easier for you to navigate our site. A session ID cookie expires when you close your browser.

Third Party Cookies
The use of cookies by third parties is not covered by our privacy policy. We do not have access or control over these cookies.

Clear Gifs (Web Beacons/Web Bugs)
Our third party tracking utility partner employs a software technology called clear gifs (a.k.a. Web Beacons/Web Bugs), that help us better manage content on our site by informing us what content is effective. Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of Web users. In contrast to cookies, which are stored on a user’s computer hard drive, clear gifs are embedded invisibly on Web pages and are about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. We do not tie the information gathered by clear gifs to our customers’ personally identifiable information.

Log Files
As is true of most web sites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and clickstream data.

We use this information, which does not identify individual users, to analyze trends, to administer the site, to track users’ movements around the site and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. We do not link this automatically-collected data to personally identifiable information.

Flash LSOs
We use local shared objects, also known as Flash cookies, to store your preferences such as volume control or high game score, or display content based upon what you view on our site to personalize your visit.

Flash cookies are different from browser cookies because of the amount of, type of, and how data is stored. Cookie management tools provided by your browser will not remove Flash cookies. To learn how to manage privacy and storage settings for Flash cookies click here:
http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager.html#117118

Links to Other Web Sites

Our Site includes links to other Web sites whose privacy practices may differ from those of Smart Finance LLC. If you submit personal information to any of those sites, your information is governed by their privacy policies. We encourage you to carefully read the privacy policy of any Web site you visit.

Additional Policy Information

Social Media (Features) and Widgets

Our Web site includes Social Media Features, such as the Facebook Like button [and Widgets, such as the Share this button or interactive mini-programs that run on our site]. These Features may collect your IP address, which page you are visiting on our site, and may set a cookie to enable the Feature to function properly. Social Media Features and Widgets are either hosted by a third party or hosted directly on our Site. Your interactions with these Features are governed by the privacy policy of the company providing it.

Facebook Connect or other OpenID provider
You can log in to our site using sign-in services such as Facebook Connect or an Open ID provider. These services will authenticate your identity and provide you the option to share certain personal information with us such as your name and email address to pre-populate our sign up form. Services like Facebook Connect give you the option to post information about your activities on this Web site to your profile page to share with others within your network.

Public Forums
Our Web site offers publicly accessible blogs, community forums or messaging service. You should be aware that any information you provide in these areas may be read, collected, and used by others who access them. Furthermore, your date of birth and age may be displayed in several places on the forum. You may change your display setting by going to Edit Profile. To request removal of your personal information from our blog, community forum or messaging, contact us at contactus@askmrcreditcard.com. In some cases, we may not be able to remove your personal information, in which case we will let you know if we are unable to do so and why.

Access to Personally Identifiable Information

If your personal information changes, you may correct, delete inaccuracies or update your information by emailing us at contactus@askmrcreditcard.com or by contacting by postal mail at the contact information listed below. If you no longer desire our service, you may have your account deleted by emailing us at the address above. We will retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services. If you wish to cancel your account or request that we no longer use your information to provide you services contact us at above email address. We will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

Security

The security of your personal information is important to us. We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure, however. Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Notification of Privacy Policy Changes

We may update this privacy policy to reflect changes to our information practices. If we make any material changes we will notify you by email (sent to the e-mail address specified in your account) or by means of a notice on this Site prior to the change becoming effective. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices.

Contact Information

You can contact us by writing or email us at the address below:
Smart Finance LLC
579 South Devon Avenue
Wayne, PA, United States 19087
Email: contactus@askmrcreditcard.com

As mentioned in previous posts, one of the more frequent question we get asked is what happens to credit card debt when one leaves a country? Will they be able to return and get a job again. Most of these questions come from expats who work at very international cities. Today, we will try to address this issue with regards to Singapore.

For the last few years, the Singapore economy has been booming, fueled by increased immigration, low tax rates and a very economic friendly environment. It has also come with problems like housing inflation and more recently, expats who rack up credit card debt, get laid off and cannot pay it off. Unlike many other countries, Singapore has more stringent laws with regards to debt and bankruptcy which complicates matter for those looking leave the country with debt.

Scenario #1: You Leave Singapore Without Paying Your Debt and You Never Look Back

For expats of Singapore, it would seem unlikely to leave the country and never return again. But in the event you decide you’re going to leave your debt unpaid and never look back, you may find yourself in bankruptcy (in Singapore). Bankrupt in Singapore, is a bit different than bankrupt in the U.S. For instance, in Singapore, you can be “made” bankrupt by a creditor, while in the U.S., although it seems like you are being forced into bankruptcy, you still have to make the decision to file for bankruptcy.

If the amount owed to all of your creditors (including credit cards and car loans) is at least $10,000, you can be made bankrupt in Singapore. The problem however isn’t just being declared bankrupt. The Official Assignee then seizes your belongings which in Singapore can include, property, tools of your trade, property held in trust for someone else, and even clothing and furniture. In fact, the any property can basically be seized including future property that the bankrupt person may come into possession in the future. In fact, if you even try to take vacation, you will need the OA’s permission or you can be fined up to $10,000 and/or jailed for up to 2 years.

You may also lose your job and it will certainly make things difficult when trying to find a job. So, in this respect, if you leave Singapore without paying your debt and are declared bankrupt, plan on a rocky road if you ever try to live there again. It isn’t altogether clear what may actually happen to you upon entering and leaving the country if you have bad debt you have left behind either.

Maybe you aren’t planning on ever returning to Singapore and you don’t care about being declared bankrupt. If you have family there who co-signed or are guarantors, they may be held responsible for your debt. If you are ever offered a job, you won’t be able to take it. Consider whether it’s likely that you will never, for the rest of your life, be in Singapore again.

Scenario #2: You Leave Singapore and Take Your Debt With You

If you are moving from Singapore, it’s very likely that many of the debts you have are transferable. Most banks have relationships and branches in other countries and you will not only be allowed to transfer the debt, but also transfer your credit history. Of course, you still have the option to make payments on your debt after moving, even if the bank does not have a relationship with the country you are moving to.

Your credit score in Singapore is not transferrable. Many credit card issuers, such as American Express, will issue you a U.S. American Express. It is much easier to establish credit history in the U.S. if you are able to transfer accounts or and payment histories or easily begin establishing a credit history if you have a card when you get here.
However, whether you have a good or bad credit score in most countries, does not mean you will have the same good or bad credit score in the U.S. It is sometimes more difficult to obtain mortgages and other lines of credit if you do not have a credit score at all, and can be worse than having bad credit.

If you consider both scenarios, it appears as though the best decision would be to transfer the credit card accounts and make an effort to continue to pay on the debt. This way, you may be able to establish a credit history in the new country with an already established history as well as be able to return to the original country without worry of jail or being made bankrupt. In most situations, the amount owed on the debt will not be worth skipping out on, no matter how convenient it may seem.

Resources

http://app2.ipto.gov.sg/
http://www.asiaone.com/Business/My%2BMoney/Starting%2BOut/Credit%2BAnd%2BLoans/Story/A1Story20080629-73476.html