Author: Philip Tirone

Unless you use a local bank, your bank probably creates all sorts of unfair bank charges and other policies like excessive overdraft fees. And this is just one reason that your bank’s policies stink.
Here are five bank policies that should be changed, and changed immediately.
#1: They Intentionally Keep You in the Dark about Credit
You would think that bankers would be trained to tell their clients everything about credit scores, how to build credit, and how to bounce back from bankruptcy. After all, wouldn’t banks want to help their customers secure the best interest rates?
Hah!
Banks intentionally keep customers in the dark. In my opinion, they do this so your interest rates will remain high and they can keep pocketing money (as if the unfair bank charges aren’t enough). When I went into bank with a SpyCam to ask how to improve my credit score, the banker gave me incorrect, misleading, and incomplete information.
To be fair, I do not think it was the banker’s fault. The bank failed to train him.
So not only do the banks levy unfair bank charges and refuse to provide loans to qualified taxpayers, they also charge high interest rates and keep silent about how you can improve your credit score and lower your interest rates.
Unfair? I think so.
#2: Banks Regularly Report Inaccurate Information
Your credit score is determined by information banks and other creditors report to the credit bureaus. But according to a United States Public Interest Research Group study, 80 percent of you have errors on your credit reports, 25 percent of which are so bad that you would be turned down for a loan or a job.
Let me repeat that. You might be denied a job because the banks report inaccurate or false information to the credit bureaus. With a 9.1 percent unemployment rate, the banks should be a little more concerned for your welfare.
But your bank does not take the time to make sure the information it reports is accurate—the burden is on you. Unfortunately, most people do not know about the mistakes until they have been denied a job or a loan.
And here is the kicker: If you have an artificially low credit score due to bank error, the bank will charge higher interest rates if you apply for a loan.
Why would the bank bother checking to make sure information is accurate when they benefit from these unfair bank charges? Basically, they get to legally rob you of your hard-earned money!
#3: Stingy Guidelines, Loose Morals
In days past, the banks lent money to everyone, even if they were unqualified; nowadays the banks won’t give anyone a loan, even if they are qualified.
A client of mine is looking for a $300,000 loan on a $2 million piece of property. Her loan-to-value ratio is 15 percent, a figure that offers almost no risk.
So why are the banks refusing to give her a loan?
They say that because she is self-employed, she is a risk.
But she is clearly a picture-perfect borrower. She would never default on a $300,000 loan when she has $1.7 million invested in the property. She has enough money currently in reserves to pay the loan for five years. She has a crystal-clean credit report.
The banks were more than happy to take hundreds of millions in bailout money (a.k.a., taxpayer dollars), but now they are stingy when it comes to providing these very same taxpayers with loans.
And I think this sucks.
#4: Unfair Bank Charges in the Form of Overdraft Fees
One of my colleagues, a sole proprietor, told me this story about unfair bank charges that happened a couple of years ago.
The day after my colleague deposited a large check from a client, the full amount of the deposit was reflected in her business account. Per her normal routine, she completed her budget that night, cut checks to cover business expenses, and transferred extra money into her personal account.
A few days later, she logged onto her account and was shocked. The account was overdrawn substantially, and she had incurred nine—nine!—overdraft fees over the course of three days. The overdraft fees alone were $315.
So what happened?
The client’s check bounced.
Okay, to be fair, she should have overdraft protection. She should have paid a little closer attention.
But the bank has her email address. They have her phone number. They could have simply alerted her after the first bounced check so that she could transfer money from her personal account. Banks have all sorts of systems in place to contact their clients with promotions. If they put their heads together, I feel certain they could create a system to alert customers the minute their accounts become negative.
This would be basic customer service, in my opinion, but banks fail to do this. After all, all those unfair bank charges put money in their coffers.
#5: They give loan modifications to people who break the rules and refuse to modify loans for those who follow the rules.
Now does this make sense at all? To qualify for a loan modification, you have to be behind on your payments. If you are responsible, cut corners, and take a second job so you can make your loan payments, the bank probably will not give you a loan modification.
This irks me more than all those unfair bank charges. In fact, this is a moral outcry. If you play by the rules, you receive harsher treatment than those who cannot fulfill their obligations. And I think this stinks to high heaven.

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Listen to this interview with Tim Wood about “Finding Your Big Way”
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Or, you can download it here.

This is an interview with Harvey Mackay, author of Swim with the Sharks. Harvey talks about how important it is to have exposure to big thinkers… mentors who help you improve your situation.
Listen to this interview right now here:

Or, click here to download it.
Below is a list of Harvey Mackay’s Top-Selling Books:

• The Mackay MBA of Selling in the Real World
• Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive: Outsell, Outmanage, Outmotivate, and Outnegotiate Your Competition
• Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty: The Only Networking Book You’ll Ever Need
• Use Your Head to Get Your Foot in the Door: Job Search Secrets No One Else Will Tell You
• Beware the Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt: Do What You Love, Love What You Do, and Deliver More Than You Promise
• Pushing the Envelope All the Way to the Top
• Fired Up!: How the Best of the Best Survived and Thrived After Getting the Boot

Listen to this interview with Gary Ryan Blair on Goal Setting!
You can listen to this interview immediately here:

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Are you hung over?
And I’m not talking about the booze-induced hangover (though you might have that, too!)
I’m talking about the post-holiday credit-card hangover …
The one that happens when you realize you spent way more than you meant to spend.
The one that causes a headache when you wake up, see your credit card bills clearly, and realize what you’ve done.
But there’s hope …
You can recover.
In just a few days, I’m starting a new-and-improved 14-Day Credit Challenge, where you can grab your credit card bills by the horns
once and for all.
Here’s the even better news …
The webinar orientation doesn’t cost a penny and I’ll show you how you can have a 720 credit score in just six months. The enhanced program will take your credit score from wherever it is today …
To at least 720.
In just six months!
It’s like aspirin for your credit card bills…
Click here to reserve your spot.
I’m so sure of my new Challenge that I offer a pretty gutsy guarantee: I promise that you’ll have a 720+ credit score in six months, or I’ll pay you $794.
So put my guarantee to the test! Best-case scenario, you’ll have a 720 score. Worst-case scenario, you’ll have $794.
– Philip Tirone

Every other week, I hold a question-and-answer session for the students in my credit-education program. Usually, I help people with their specific credit situations, give advice, and answer questions about the program.
The other week, though, I was fortunate to have Anthony join the call.
When Anthony started my program three months ago, his credit report was peppered with collection accounts and a judgment, so his score was about 580. To give you an idea of how that fares, anything below 620 is considered bad credit. So Anthony was considered the highest-risk borrower.
But today, just three months later, his score has jumped 60 points.
I tell my students that they should usually expect to wait about six months before they start seeing a significant jump in their credit score. But Anthony has followed all of my advice to the letter. And his score is on its way up, and fast.
Here’s how he did it:
First, he got a secured installment loan from a credit union. He was denied a few times, but Anthony was persistent. Finally, he found a credit union (Cal Coast) to give him a $600 secured installment loan. He put this $600 into an account at Cal Coast, deposited another $6 to cover the fees on the loan, and he uses the account to pay off the loan–$101 a month for six months.
This is a great tactic because it means the credit unions have no risk—after all, he’s keeping the money in the bank. And it helps you, the borrower, increase your credit score by paying the installment loan on time.
Anthony has made just three payments, and his score is already on its way up.
He also opened three new secured credit cards. He keeps a balance on these cards, but only so that they remain active, and he pays his bills on time.
“It’s amazing how simple it is once you know the rules,” I said to Anthony. “If you don’t know the rules, though, it’s just unfair.”
And that’s when Anthony said something that was my favorite part of the call. He said, “If you take the emotion out of it and you take it for what it is—a numbers game—then you see that there are tactics to it. I appreciate that. We can attack our credit scores more strategically rather than getting tied up in the negative emotions of it.”
Anthony said this perfectly. We get so scared about finances. We get this awful, pit-of-the-stomach, all-consuming feeling.
But if we are strategic and rational, rather than panicked and reactive, we get results.
Sixty points in the first three months! I can’t wait to see what happens to Anthony’s score in the next few months.
If you are feeling scared about your credit score, leave a comment below. Get your fears out of your mind. When you put the fear aside, you can start working on the solution.