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There are many ways you may inadvertently lower your credit score. One way is renting a car with a debit card. Consumer advocate Lynnette Khalfani-Cox writing for AOL’s WalletPop: says that paying for a car rental with a debit card can actually HURT your credit rating. The reason is that most rental contracts give the rental car company the right to check your credit rating if you use a debit card instead of a credit card. Each time someone checks your credit rating, its a negative – just like if your are seeking a loan.

Here are 9 other innocent actions you may take that may also damage your credit score:

Saying Yes to a Department Store Credit Card
Closing a Credit Card With a Zero Balance
Having a Credit Card Company Not Report Your Credit Limits
Disputing a credit card bill
Paying off an old debt or an account in collection
Buying a new motorcycle
Using a business credit card
Having multiple names listed in your credit reports

Memphis-based restaurant owner Perkins & Marie Callender’s Inc. says it will be “business as usual” during its restructuring process after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday.

The restaurant chain secured $21 million in financing from Wells Fargo Capital Finance to coincide with its bankruptcy proceedings.

Perkins will use that money to maintain its business and “vendors and suppliers should see no change in normal business operations,” according to apany news release.

Perkins CEO Jay Trungale said restaurant operations will not be impacted by the restructuring and customers will not be affected by the move.

However, Monday’s bankruptcy filing said thepany plans to close 65 underperforming stores; Trungale said thepany would close 58.

The move will cut 2,500 jobs, or about 20 percent of its workforce of 12,350.

“This initial round of store closings was arrived at following store-level analyses of historical financial performance, local market conditions and cost structure,” Trungale said.

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Of the industries impacted by the internet, the travel and hospitality industries are amongst those impacted greatest. While companies within these industries have faced numerous digital challenges, there can be little doubt that the web has benefitted forward thinking players immensely.

When it comes to hotels, however, a survey conducted by TravelClick found that a full quarter were still ignoring social media for purposes of “[increasing] occupancy and revenue per available room.“

In the hotelier’s social media marketing mix, Facebook is, not surprisingly, the most popular social media hub. Of hotels using social media, 65% are active on Facebook. That number drops to 20% for Twitter, 10% for Groupon and just 8% for Foursquare.

According to TravelClick, 57% of the respondents to its survey are increasing their spend on display ads and 20% are increasing their spend on paid search. But not investing in social could be a mistake.

Jonathan Cherins, TravelClick’s CMO:

It’s important that hotels don’t rely solely on advertising to increase bookings. Hot

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Your credit score helps lenders decide whether or not to extend credit to you. Maintaining a healthy score will help open more financial opportunities for you.

Its not difficult to understand how to maintain a good credit score if you know some of the main factors its comprised of: your rate of on-time payments, credit card utilization rate, number of derogatory marks, average age of open credit lines, total accounts, and number of hard credit inquiries.

Most of these factors are fairly self-explanatory. Youll likely know how many accounts you have and can control whether or not youre making on-time payments. However, one of these things is not like the others, and can be a bit more difficult to grasp: your credit card utilization rate.

So lets look at what credit card utilization rate is and why its important to know your magic number.

What is it?

Your credit card utilization rate measures how much of your available credit youre using at any given time. You can calculate your credit card utilization rate by taking your total credit card balances and dividing it by your total credit card limits. Read full post…

Pathway Lending has been selected by Goldman Sachs as part of its nationwide “10,000 Small Businesses Growth Collaborative.”

Nashville-based Pathway, which offers lending for small businesses across the state, is one of 21 organizations to be selected.

The group consists ofmunity development financial institutions that provide access to capital to small businesses in diverse geographic markets in urban, rural and nativemunities across the United States.

“CDFIs are an important vehicle through which the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Initiative continues to spur and support lending to small businesses in underservedmunities across the U.S.,” said Alicia Glen, managing director and head of the urban investment group at Goldman Sachs.

“Through a learning network of in-person peer exchanges and online education workshops, the CDFI Growth Collaborative will help CDFIs develop both the capacity and knowledge to grow their small-business lending portfolio and stimulate the growth of more small businesses in theirmunities.”

The growth collaborative is a three-year, $500 million program in partnership with the Opportunity Finance Network that will help CDFIs better understand and address the needs of small businesses in underservedmunities.

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Posted 31 May 2011 16:06pm by Patricio Robles with 0 comments

In May 2000, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a number of guidelines designed to help companies stay in compliance with numerous consumer protection laws as they increased their presence on the then-nascent commercial internet.

The FTC’s Dot Com Disclosures (PDF) document largely explained how existing laws around advertising and disclosure applied in the context of the internet, and provided some specific examples.

A lot has changed in the past ten years. Thanks to the rapid evolution of technology, and the rise of social media and mobile in particular, new concerns about privacy and advertising are emerging all the time.

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