Richard Barrington

3 weeks ago | cardratings.com | Richard Barrington |Jennifer Doss

Americans have a conflicted relationship with credit-builder/secured credit cards. A CardRatings.com survey found that people with these cards are less satisfied than customers of other types of credit cards. And yet, people with credit-builder/secured credit cards are less likely to feel they could do better with another credit card. In effect, these customers feel trapped in a bad relationship. To some extent, that’s the kind of trap that comes with having bad credit.

3 weeks ago | cardratings.com | Richard Barrington |Jennifer Doss

Overall, Americans give their credit cards pretty solid grades on what their cards provide. What they think less highly of is the value they receive. The two views are not inconsistent. If you have a comfortable car that performs well and gets good gas mileage, you may consider yourself happy with it. However, you’d feel differently about the same car if the sticker price was $40,000 than if it was $120,000. In each case, it would be the same nice car.

4 weeks ago | cardratings.com | Richard Barrington |Jennifer Doss

Money can’t buy happiness – but can good credit? According to a credit card satisfaction survey by CardRatings.com, people with good credit tend to be happier with their credit cards. There are good reasons for this. Having a good credit score can make you eligible for more favorable credit card terms. Those better terms can make your credit card usage more affordable. It can also enable you to choose credit cards that are better suited to your needs.

1 month ago | money.usnews.com | Richard Barrington |Whitney Blair Wyckoff |Gina Freeman

Key Takeaways Poor credit, limited income and no equity don't usually prevent you from refinancing with an FHA streamline refinance. You can refinance without an appraisal. Lower your interest rate, change your loan term or switch from an adjustable- to a fixed-rate mortgage. Refinancing your mortgage can be a valuable financial move. It can make it easier to afford your monthly payments and/or lower the long-term cost of your mortgage. Too often, though, people face obstacles to refinancing.

1 month ago | cardratings.com | Richard Barrington |Jennifer Doss

Americans are generally happy with their credit cards. The one group that is something of an outlier is adults aged 18 to 24. A CardRatings.com credit card satisfaction survey found that this age group had a clearly lower level of satisfaction with credit cards than any other group. The answer may be partly a matter of what credit cards have to offer young adults, and partly a function of young adult financial behavior. The survey asked over 1,600 adults about their experiences with credit cards.