{"id":16642,"date":"2010-08-24T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-08-25T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/?p=16642"},"modified":"2010-08-24T20:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-08-25T00:00:00","slug":"advice-from-mastercard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/advice-from-mastercard\/","title":{"rendered":"Advice From MasterCard"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week, I have been examining the credit card advice being handed out by the major card processors themselves.\u00a0\u00a0 I didn’t expect much, and I wasn’t disappointed yesterday, when we all had a good laugh<\/a> at some of the inaccuracies propaganda, an hypocrisy at Amex’s consumer advice page.<\/p>\n

Today Is MasterCard’s Turn<\/strong><\/p>\n

First, I have to give MasterCard some credit for creating a couple of slick looking sites called the Learning Center <\/a>and Priceless Pointers<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They make Amex’s site look like a high school HTML project.\u00a0\u00a0 That said, their approach to personal finance is a little bit disorganized, with much of the information from the more basic “learning center” overlapping with the much more slickly produced priceless pointers.\u00a0\u00a0 Furthermore, they mix all sorts of coupons and discount offers with advice on getting out of debt.\u00a0 It is kind of contradictory to offer advice on getting out of debt while linking to merchants where you can spend more money.<\/p>\n

So it looks nice, but with my propaganda and hypocrisy radar turned up, let’s see what I can find.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One of the Pricesless Pointers is a Frequently Asked Questions page (FAQ) with the question along the lines of, I have thousands of dollars in medical bills that I can’t pay, what should I do?\u00a0\u00a0 The answers they give are spend less money and try to negotiate your bills down.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The two major problems that I see are, 1) By the time you medical provider has put this charge on your credit cards it is too late negotiate them.\u00a0\u00a0 They have already been paid, and they won’t give the money back!\u00a0 2) No where does it mention the possibility of declaring bankruptcy.\u00a0\u00a0 The question specifically mention “that there is no way that I will ever be able to pay” the bills.\u00a0\u00a0 If paying your bills is impossible, bankruptcy might be your best option.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I know if my life were at risk, I would probably rack up the credit card and declare bankruptcy rather than die and\/or starve.\u00a0\u00a0 Of course, we don’t seriously expect MasterCard to suggest you even entertain such an idea, as their member banks take a loss when cardholders declare bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

What They Don’t Say<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sometimes, propaganda is more about what they don’t say than what they do.\u00a0\u00a0 While I was critical of Amex for providing such a shallow overview of the CARD Act, I was unable to find any information at all on MasterCard’s site about the most important piece of credit card legislation in decades!\u00a0\u00a0 Like Amex’s site, I didn’t really expect to see any lessons about how much money you waste when paying interest on your credit cards.\u00a0\u00a0 There was nothing about how credit cards can either be used as a method of payment or a method of finance, or how difficult it can be to switch from one to another.\u00a0\u00a0 They say nothing on the issue of Foreign Exchange fees either.<\/p>\n

What They Do Say<\/strong><\/p>\n

I will give them credit for mentioning the AnnualCreditReport.com web site in their guide to repairing damaged credit,<\/a> as well as for breaking down the components of the FICO score.<\/a><\/p>\n

Conclusions<\/strong><\/p>\n

They spent some time and money making parts of this site look good, but they still leave out the most basic credit card advice there is, never carry a balance.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They are also sorely lacking any information on the CARD Act.\u00a0 All and all, I give this site a C+.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow, I will conclude the series with a look at Visa’s consumer advice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week, I have been examining the credit card advice being handed out by the major card processors themselves.\u00a0\u00a0 I didn’t expect much, and I wasn’t disappointed yesterday, when we all had a good laugh at some of the inaccuracies propaganda, an hypocrisy at Amex’s consumer advice page. 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