Charge Cards

Dear Liz: I've followed your advice on building credit and now, at 20, have credit scores around 730. I recently applied for and received an American Express gold card. But I've read that charge cards can hurt your credit score, or at least not help it. Should I use this card? Answer: Charge cards require you to pay your balance in full every month, unlike credit cards that allow you to pay only a fraction of what you owe. You typically need good credit scores to qualify for a charge card, and it can be an excellent way to manage your finances without incurring debt.

Dear Liz: We're having trouble with a gym that won't stop charging our credit card. My husband has contacted them multiple times about canceling our membership, but the charges just keep coming. The contract we signed is really confusing, but it clearly states the gym can take 10 payments from our card. They have now taken 13 payments from our card. I just don't know what to do to stop them. Answer: Some gyms make their money by providing workout facilities. Others make their money by signing people up for contracts, then continuing to charge credit cards or bank accounts even after those people cancel.

Some 200 Army personnel used government charge cards to get $38,000 in cash that they spent on "lap dancing and other forms of entertainment" at strip clubs near military bases, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said Wednesday. Citing a congressional investigation, Grassley said the soldiers used their military identification and government travel cards to obtain cash from adult entertainment bars, spending the money there.

Dear Liz: I've followed your advice on building credit and now, at 20, have credit scores around 730. I recently applied for and received an American Express gold card. But I've read that charge cards can hurt your credit score, or at least not help it. Should I use this card? Answer: Charge cards require you to pay your balance in full every month, unlike credit cards that allow you to pay only a fraction of what you owe. You typically need good credit scores to qualify for a charge card, and it can be an excellent way to manage your finances without incurring debt.

A word to the wise--tip in cash for meals in Czechoslovakia. Last summer I motored first through Hungary then Czechoslovakia for nine days, using charge cards wherever possible. Several hours before exiting Czechoslovakia I was tipped off by a local that all charged gratuities are confiscated by the Communist government. I was immediately overcome by a sick, helpless feeling. JERRY FOX Los Angeles

An American Express cardholder apparently trying to give new meaning to the slogan, "Membership has its privileges," has refused to pay $6,700 in charges he claims he made for an illegal act--hiring prostitutes. "It is axiomatic that a contract which has as its purpose an underlying illegality cannot be enforced by either of the parties," said Thomas Waxter Jr., attorney for Michael Gianakos.

USA Entertainment Center Inc. will roll out vending machines that use charge cards instead of coins, a company official said last week. Keith Sterling, executive vice president, said the company will initially place 155 machines on golf courses in Florida before marketing them in other states. The first product will be the Golfer's Oasis, consisting of the company's SMART Beer Machine and a SMART Soft Drink Machine.

One of Cal State Fullerton's most promising freshman basketball players has been suspended from the team after he and a teammate were arrested in connection with the theft of a student's car and the illegal use of stolen credit cards, campus police said Friday.

People are increasingly comfortable with the idea of using their ATM cards to make purchases, a survey by an electronic banking company has found. In a poll of 4,000 households, Star System Inc. found that consumers made so-called point-of-sale purchases an average of 7.4 times per month in 1998, compared with 6.6 times a year earlier. That's almost double the rate of four years ago, when wary consumers used the cards to buy things an average of 2.2 times per month.

Six Texas A&M football players, including a starting cornerback, and one former player have been charged in connection with the alleged illegal use of telephone charge cards. Wednesday's arrests came as a result of a monthlong investigation by Bryan police and CallAmerica, a long-distance carrier in the Bryan-College Station area. A&M Head Coach R. C. Slocum said all six players will make the team trip this weekend to Fayetteville, Ark., for a game against Arkansas.

Bank of America Corp. is sending notices to a limited number of customers that it will start charging an annual fee for some of its rewards credit cards starting next year. The $29 fee will be applied every February, according to a letter sent to customers.

IMAGINE A charge card that permitted you to spend up to $250,000 per transaction, and you never see the bill. Sound exciting? Congress just put such cards into the pockets of government employees. That's not just foolish, it's irresponsible. In last week's $51.8-billion emergency appropriation, Congress quietly raised the "micro-purchase threshold" to $250,000 for purchases relating to relief and recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

When Walter Cavanagh leaves his airy seaside retreat here for a day of Christmas shopping, he'll be accompanied by just one credit card. As usual, his other 1,496 active cards will be locked tight in a safe-deposit box. At heart, the 61-year-old retired financial planner is a one-card guy. And, unlike the average American household, which carries more than $9,000 in credit card debt at any time, Cavanagh pays off his card (whose lender he would not disclose) in full each and every month.

Some 200 Army personnel used government charge cards to get $38,000 in cash that they spent on "lap dancing and other forms of entertainment" at strip clubs near military bases, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said Wednesday. Citing a congressional investigation, Grassley said the soldiers used their military identification and government travel cards to obtain cash from adult entertainment bars, spending the money there.

American Express Co. said Monday that third-quarter profit dropped 60%, hammered in part by the effects of the Sept. 11 attacks. Americans canceled vacations and avoided stores and restaurants, eroding American Express' revenue from charge cards and travel services in an already weak economy. The New York-based company, known for its signature green charge cards, warned of a profit shortfall in September, after companies shelved business trips.

Derek Fisher played in 371 professional basketball games before Sunday night--regular season and playoffs--and fouled out in two. He could remember neither Tuesday afternoon, in part because his third disqualification was so fresh, coming as it did two nights before, in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. The Lakers seem to be getting the hang of guarding Allen Iverson, as much as anyone can. He's leading the Finals in scoring, at 35.3 points a game, but is shooting 40% from the field, including 29.

Unless devotees of the Broadway have been hiding under a rock, they undoubtedly know that the department store's debt-laden owner has filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. This doesn't mean that customers suddenly will be seeing padlocks on the doors or signs screaming "Lost Our Lease! Forced to Liquidate! Everything Must Go!"

We would like your readers to be aware of thieves when driving between Naples and Salerno on Autostrada A3. This was our Exp-erience recently: A car pulled alongside and indicated we had a flat. I pulled over to an emergency parking area where two men had the hood of their car open. They approached and I thought they were going to help us. One of the men spoke in a very excited manner. The other went over to my wife, who was in the car, and motioned her out. There was much confusion.

The news had many in the business world scratching their heads. Financial giant Citicorp was opening an operation in this northern plains state where many folks think of common stock as ordinary cattle. That was in the winter of 1981. Now Citibank South Dakota has 3,750 workers at its credit-card operations in Sioux Falls, making it one of the state's largest employers.

The rotary dial telephone. The turntable. The black-and-white television. And soon, perhaps, the traveler's check. As ATMs proliferate, as the world's merchants grow comfortable with charge-card sales, as the euro simplifies money-trading on the continent Americans visit most, Karl Malden's favorite tourist precaution is beginning to look increasingly like a device from a bygone era.