1. Home Equity Loan or Home Equity Line of Credit. Your 21% charge card can be reduced to nearly 6% over night. How? By taking out a line of credit or equity loan against your home. Equity loans and lines of credit are available at low rates and banks are very willing to extend this service to you as your home is your collateral. Pay off all of your credit card debt with loan and you will achieve debt reduction solutions immediately.

2. Replace high interest credit cards with low interest cards. Yes, in this day of low interest rates, many credit cards carry high interest rates. Ask your credit card issuer to reduce their rate closer to market rates. If they refuse to budge, consider applying for a low interest rate card from another provider. Transfer your balance to provider offering best rate.

Traditional checks probably won’t disappear anytime soon, but processing checks electronically is sure to continue! Have you ever been asked to fill out your account and routing number when paying for something online or over phone – or have you provided a paper check to pay for something and it is given back to you after it is run through a machine? Did you scratch your head like I did first time that happened?

Here is how electronic check conversion works. Instead of writing out a check old-fashioned way, new way of using checks use digital signatures for signing and endorsing and have digital certificates to authenticate bank account. These e-checks are sent either by direct transmission using telephone lines or by public networks such as Internet. The “endorsed” e-check with an electronic signature is then sent over internet to payee’s bank for deposit.

Why are companies using electronic checks, you ask? Well, more stores are using e-checks because they work in same way as traditional checks, and require very little “public” education on process. Secondly, they are more cost effective, especially for corporate markets. And finally, they can be cleared easier than traditional checks.

What Does it Mean to Me that Companies are Switching Over to E-Checks?

A downside is that there is little or no “float” on your check. Basically, if you were to write a check today, you need funds in your account at time you write your check to cover payment. If funds are not available, check may bounce and a fee may be assessed by business.

It has been easy to get into habit of writing out a check right before pay day, knowing that check would not clear immediately. With emergence of electronic check conversion, that reasoning no longer is true and it can easily mean trouble.

Who Uses Electronic Checks and How do I Know?