Credit Reports and Credit Scores – There Is a BIG Difference
Are you are often confused when trying to determine the difference between Credit Reports and Credit Scores? You will be interested to know that you are not the only person who is confused about the terms. The confusion often occurs because the two affect your ability to obtain a home loan or any other finance arrangement.But, there is a BIG difference between the two. When you have read this article, you should have a clear understanding of the difference, and be able to, readily determine the difference between the two.What is a Credit Report?Credit Reporting Agencies (such as Veda Advantage and Dun & Bradstreet) prepare a Credit Report in your name and it forms part of your Credit File. The report contains information detailing your credit history. This information can come from a number of transactions occurred by you, during the past five years. Here is a list, which will help you determine the types of transactions listed in your report:>> Applications made for a credit card>> Monthly phone or utility bills received by you>> When you have accounts in arrears or payments in default, which have been sixty days late or more (i.e. the arrears and payment defaults are listed in your credit report as “Defaults “).What is a Credit Score?It is the actual numerical value assigned to the information in your Credit Report.How is My Credit Score Calculated? Credit Reporting Agencies calculate it via a “Credit Scoring model”, which applies a complex mathematical formula to the information contained in your report.A certain weight is assigned to a number of factors considered in the formula of “Credit Scoring model.” Based on the evaluation of all of the factors, a Credit Score is assigned to you. Here is a list of typical factors considered in the model’s formula:>> Your payment record>> Frequency of your payments>> Amount of debts you have incurred>> The total number of credit cards you are holding, and>> Credit charge-offsThe majority of scores usually range from 300 on the poor end to 850 on the top end. Interestingly, the Veda credit scoring system begins at 200 and finishes at 1,200. A score of 200 means that you have a 50% chance of incurring an adverse credit event within the next 12 months.Who Uses My Credit Score?Lenders/credit providers will use it to determine your credit worthiness when you are planning a major purchase or when you are applying for your first credit card. It will show the lenders/credit providers how much of a risk you are in paying back the debt.”High” Credit ScoreThe “higher” your score the lesser of a risk you are to the lenders/credit providers, and you will be able to:>> Get a lower interest rate for credit cards, home loans and any other finance arrangements, and>> Receive a more favourable loan term”Low” Credit ScoreIf you have a “low” score, you will be considered by lenders/credit providers to be a high risk and this may result in the lenders/credit providers:>> Refusing you loan request>> Charging you to pay a higher interest rate>> Making you ineligible for any low-interest rates on offer, or>> Offering you a less favourable loan termWhy Should I Obtain My Credit Report?It is advisable to regularly check your Credit Reports to address any incorrect information immediately. You can obtain your Credit Report from agencies like Veda Advantage or Dunn & Bradstreet. You should be entitled to one free Credit Report each year. Knowing the details of your report will help you to better understand your financial situation.Improving Your Credit Report and Credit ScoreHere is a list of steps to help you improve your Credit Report and Credit Score:>> Endeavour to make all your payments on time, and>> Avoid taking out multiple credit cardsHow to obtain a Loan with Unfavourable Credit Scores?Your Credit Score will have an impact on you, especially prior to making an application for a home loan or any other finance arrangement. So, it is better to seek expert and specialist advice from a professionally qualified finance broker. It is because he/she will have a thorough knowledge of the impact that unfavourable scores can have on your ability to obtain a loan. With his/her advice, you will be to understand your situation in better light and you will be prepared to visit the lender/credit provider with a suitable explanation of your unfavourable score.
Guide To Help You Get The Best Online Insurance
Online insurance is rapidly taking over the world, replacing the old traditional measures which in the past seemed to be the right way for obtaining insurance. Online insurance is growing, as IT is becoming increasingly important and outsourcing is being seen as a sensible option to deal with the challenges of the market in the future. It is simply about what you are willing to pay out of your own pocket as against what you want the insurance company to provide.Term Life Online insuranceTerm life insurance, also referred to as `temporary` lifetime ins, safeguards a person against loss of life and covers a specified time, known as the `term`. Benefits of Term on line life insure. Almost all policies allow you to convert your Term insurance contract to a Permanent one. You have the option to terminate or give up the life coverage online insurance agreement anytime you`d like to, so that you can utilize the cash surrender value on whatever you want (or need) to. To help determine which type of lifetime online insurance is best suited to your needs and circumstances, it may be worthwhile to be familiar with some of the fundamentals of a permanent life insurance agreement:. Get the best rates with a term life insurance quote online.When you purchase a short-term life insurance plan, you are getting insurance coverage for a definite time period. If in case you expire within the specified time period in your short-term life insurance plan, the insurance company will have to give your beneficiaries the par value of your policy. Moreover, unlike other kinds of lifetime online insurance, short term coverage accrues no cash value.Auto Online insuranceAuto insurance is something that you must have. Getting a car insurance quote and buying an auto insurance policy is fast, convenient, and affordable. With in moments you can get your insurance quote and view comparison quotes from other auto insurance companies. Whatever the situation, it`s nice to understand some of the basics of insurance coverage online prior to deciding on acquiring a certain plan for your automobile.Liability coverage generally insures the named insured on the insurance policy, the named insured`s spouse and children, any blood family member of theirs by marriage, and everybody driving the automobile with the insured`s permission.
Crash coverage insures motorists for the damage done to their own automobiles by an accident that they were responsible for.
Collision coverage insures drivers for the damage occurred to their own autos by an accident which they caused.
Drivers willing to disburse a higher premium could get online insure plans that will cover the substitute costs of the auto.
When your automobile is leased, you`ll most likely need to carry gap insurance, which reimburses the difference between what your insurer pays and what you owe your creditor, in case your vehicle is a total wreck.Online auto insurance is one of the greatest ways to find the auto insurance that you need. This is the ideal way to learn just how much you are going to pay for auto insurance and to determine just which of the auto insurance carriers will offer you specifically the lowest of rates. There are different laws inside every state, so while searching for auto insurance, look for these websites that verify insurance at each country.Health Online insuranceHealth insurance is a type of insurance whereby the insurer (private or government organization) pays the medical costs of the insured i. There are number of insurance companies offering affordable and cheap health insurances. Buying online health insurance is easy and convenient rather than visiting insurance agents or companies personally. By searching different health insurance websites, buyers can learn all about the health insurance; get free online health insurance quotes, compare health plan prices, and benefits side-by-side.Travel Online insuranceIf you are planning your holidays abroad, then it will be good to consider buying holiday insurance. During holidays, there are the possible chances of someone getting injured or ill, stolen baggage, lost baggage or any other issues. In order to learn additional info, it is best to look for the holiday travel insurance rate keyword with a well-liked search engine, for instance Google and also Yahoo. Buying online holiday insurance is much better as it is efficient, convenient and time saving procedure.Online insurance is rapidly taking over the world, replacing the old traditional measures which in the past seemed to be the right way for obtaining insurance. Online insurance is a competitive market too, so you can be confident you’re getting a fair shake. online insurance is simply about what you are willing to pay out of your own pocket as against what you want the insurance company to provide.
The Brain Health News That You Can Use
What’s the brain health news for today? Well, the winner of the 2008 USA Memory Championship was recently announced. His name is Chester Santos and he can memorize a deck of cards in three minutes, learn 100 random words and 100 new names and faces in just 15 minutes. How does he do it? That’s his secret. He’s willing to teach you, for a price, of course. He recently quit his software job to teach his memory training techniques full time. According to the Associated Press, the brain fitness software market was worth $225 million in 2007, more than doubling the receipts from 2005.Due in part to Nintendo’s release of the “Brain-Age game” and now the second version of that game, the industry’s income is expected to grow again and again over the next several years. By 2015, analysts expect to see the industry take in billions of dollars.Want more of the brain health news for today? While the majority of the games and puzzles target aging baby boomers, teenagers and college students are also getting into brain exercises.Some teachers are using the techniques to improve their student’s ability to remember facts, dates, names, etc. It is estimated that the K-12 market accounted for $60 million worth of the earnings in 2007.Will any of these techniques help you, specifically? There’s a bit of a question mark on that. While some techniques work for some people, they don’t necessarily work for everyone.All that you have to do is read a few software reviews to see that. Some people love the games and teasers. Others are not impressed.In May of 2008, the brain health news was all about the introduction of Posit Science’s new “cognitive behavioral training”. If you took any psychology classes, that term may bring to mind names like Pavlov and B. F. Skinner, whose techniques were not always pleasant.But, the term actually encompasses a broad range of behavioral therapies that relieve conditions such as depression, anxiety and even schizophrenia. It is common today to rely on mood altering drugs for those conditions, but when cognitive therapies are combined with drug therapy, the results are always more positive.Posit Science’s program is rather expensive at $395, but it does combine a kind of personalized program with regular assessments for effectiveness. Instead of a single exercise, the program includes a variety of techniques aimed at improving memory, multi-tasking abilities and mental clarity.In August of 2008, the brain health news from the Washington Post was a little different. While many of us are exciting about the growing number of available options, some experts warn that consumers may be just as well off to save their money.The Nintendo game, for example, is very inexpensive and the teasers range from a kind of “rock-paper-scissors” to telling time on an upside down clock. Researchers have shown that video games improve a person’s cognitive function, but only when the volunteers were “non-players”.Well, that’s it for the brain health news of today. The experts all agree that the best advice is to never stop looking for new challenges.
What are anti-ligature blinds?
Anti-ligature blinds are becoming increasingly popular in a range of different settings. The way these blinds differ from traditional blinds is that they are designed to prevent suicide by hanging.
Initially, uptake for this type of blind was largely restricted to high-risk environments such as psychiatric hospitals and prisons, where suicide is common. In mental health environments and detention centres, suicide via hanging is common and preventative measures must be implemented. A huge range of objects could be used to create a ligature point, meaning anti-ligature systems are highly important.
Over the years, anti-ligature blinds have been supplied to hospitals, schools, student accommodation and even hotels.
How do they work?
There are a range of different systems on the market, but the most reliable could well be the magnetic anti-ligature system. YewdaleKestrel® products utilise load release magnets which separate when a downward force is exerted on the product. This means that the product falls to the ground safely and prevents suicide via hanging.
The magnetic systems used in Yewdale’s products are highly reliable because magnets don’t lose their strength for hundreds of years, guaranteeing a lifetime of lifesaving functionality.
Anti-ligature blinds usually have a magnetic connection point above the blind’s barrel. The blind is easy to reconnect to the magnetic bracket after it has fallen to the floor.
If you are considering an anti-ligature blind, Yewdale is a highly recommended company. Based in the UK, Yewdale produce a wide range of anti-ligature products, commercial blinds, and healthcare products including hospital cubicle tracks and medical curtains.
Yewdale produce other anti-ligature products too including a soft, lightweight en-suite door and other accessories such as soap dispensers, toilet roll holder, shelves and artwork. You can see the full range on the website using the link below.
Complete weight loss strategy
For those who want to lose weight
Research on the causes of obesity, knowledge about weight loss, and various diets for weight loss are updated every year. However, with the update of knowledge and the release of diet pills one after another, the obesity rate continues to rise every year, and there is no sign of wanting to decline. I used to be very, very fat, and I am also a person who is prone to obesity.
So I understand the voices of fat people, I really want to lose weight, but I tried many ways to lose weight at that time without success.
I have tried the common boiled meals on the market, eating less and moving more, but it was not until I tried other diets that I managed to lose weight. After I lost weight, I began to study the essence and method of losing weight, and wrote him in this weight loss strategy article, hoping to help you.
A few key myths about losing weight
The weight loss myth of eating less and moving more
The phrase “eat less and move more” is actually true, but most people do it wrong. Many people think that they should eat less of everything, so they limit their calories to a very low level, and it feels a bit like eating an ultra-low-calorie fairy meal. Then, for the hyperactive part, the first thing that everyone thinks of is aerobic exercise such as running, cycling, etc., but in fact, this is a very short-term and easy way to regain weight, mainly because eating too little is an easy way to lose weight. The reason for the loss of muscle mass, coupled with the fact that aerobic training is not helpful for muscle mass growth, causes the metabolism to drop too much.
Maybe you can lose 5 kilograms in this way, but if your metabolism declines, you will easily regain the weight. And it’s all the fat that gets back up, not the muscle you lose that makes you look fatter than before. This is what we call the yo-yo effect, lose weight, get fat back, get fatter than before, lose weight, get back on Fat, get fatter than before.
Stop taking diet pills and meal replacements
At this time, you may start to seek other ways, eat weight loss meal replacements, taking diet pills, and so on. But believe me, most diet pills will inevitably hurt the body, especially the gastrointestinal tract. You may actually lose weight in the moment, but when your gastrointestinal tract is damaged, you will be fatter than before.
The key to understanding how to lose weight
You must have thought, why some people will not gain weight no matter what they eat, while some people will gain a kilogram the next day after eating a little bread? What is the cause of obesity? This is not a simple answer that can be solved!
You can see the link to the picture below, mainly talking about the influencing factors of obesity, which are very, very complicated.
Image source: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/296290/obesity-map-full-hi-res.pdf
In the middle of this picture is the heat balance
So we can know that calorie balance is very important
But this article doesn’t keep preaching that calorie balance is the key to losing weight like other sites
If you don’t know what calorie balance is, you can probably imagine that our body has calorie consumption (exercise, thermogenesis, basal metabolism), and calorie intake (eating).
When calorie consumption exceeds calorie intake, the weight will drop, so the truth of weight loss is to eat less and move more, very simple. In the short term, it is really possible to simply achieve weight loss by eating less and moving more, but simplicity is not simple, because the operation of the body is very complicated. Many people think that they can control their calorie consumption, that they can achieve a lot of calorie expenditure by running all the time, and that eating fairy meals (low-calorie meals) can reduce calorie intake and then easily lose it.
However, according to research, 90% of people who use calorie control, eat less and move more to lose weight will fail or regain the weight.
Because eating less and moving more for too long, metabolism will easily drop, hormones will easily become imbalanced, and muscle mass will easily be lost. Even if you lose 10 kilograms, you will easily regain weight.
When losing weight, the body is like a factory
For me, the key to long-term weight loss and maintaining good posture is the environment in the body, such as hormones, the level of inflammation in the body, and the gastrointestinal system.
Think of the body as a factory
-Your hormones are the managers and workers of factory operations
-Inflamed condition is how good factory machinery and hardware are
-Calorie intake is wages for factories as well as fuel
If the manager of this factory is an idiot, or if the hardware in your factory is completely rotten, then no matter how it works, it will create a pile of waste. Just as our hormones are already out of balance and the level of inflammation in the body is very high, no matter how much you eat, if you don’t solve the existing problems, it will easily accumulate into fat. It may be easier to understand with a few examples.
Hormones vs Weight Loss
This study looked at the effects of sleep and weight loss
Research source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20921542
Both groups of humans were calorie-restricted, but one group slept 5.5 hours a night and the other 8.5 hours. Both groups lost weight, but the group that slept less lost 55 percent less body fat and 65 percent more muscle mass than the group that slept more. It is equivalent to losing weight, but most of the loss is muscle mass, which reduces metabolism and makes it easy to regain weight later.
There is such a big difference mainly because poor sleep has a negative impact. The imbalance of the secretion of these things will easily increase fat and reduce muscle.
This next study looks at the effect of insulin sensitivity on body composition!
Research source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19471290
Basically, many chronic metabolic diseases, obesity, and poor muscle-building effects are closely related to low insulin sensitivity. Insulin is an anti-catabolic hormone whose main function is to store nutrients in cells. For example, after heavy training, our muscles will be more sensitive to insulin, and the nutrients we eat will be more easily absorbed into the muscles. When insulin sensitivity is low, the nutrients we eat are more likely to be stored as fat rather than absorbed into muscles.
We can simply say that the nutrients in the food eaten by people who are insulin insensitive are more likely to be stored as fat, and the relative fat mass will be much higher than the muscle mass.
To put it simply, the key to losing weight is actually to improve hormones, improve inflammation in the body, and add an appropriate calorie deficit. It is not difficult to achieve a calorie deficit. What is more difficult is how to choose the type of food that suits your body to improve hormones and achieve a long-term good body.
If you only pursue short-term weight loss and rely on a lot of calorie deficits to achieve the effect of weight loss, and then the hormones are still the same after the loss, then I can guarantee that you will gain weight very easily.
With so many ways to eat on the internet, which diet should I try?
When talking about losing weight in Taiwan 30 years ago, everyone would definitely want to use boiled meals
When it came to losing weight five years ago, everyone might think of using a low-sugar diet. When it came to losing weight in the past two or three years, everyone might directly think of the ketogenic diet.
I lost 30kg in 3 months on a low-sugar diet myself for the first time, so I used to believe that a low-sugar diet was the best way to lose weight
But after my long-term understanding of weight loss-related research, genetic cognition, and observation of students, there is no diet that is most suitable for everyone! Although it is said that high-carbohydrate foods will most stimulate insulin secretion, which in turn promotes the storage of nutrients into fat, some people are naturally good at metabolizing carbohydrates, so they can still be healthy and strong after eating high-carbohydrate throughout their lives.
For example, this study compared the responses of people with high and low insulin sensitivity to high- and low-carb diets.
Research source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1038/oby.2005.79
The study concluded:
-For people with high insulin sensitivity, eating high-carb and low-fat to lose weight is very helpful
-However, people who are insulin insensitive use a high-carb low-fat diet to lose fat, but the weight loss effect is not so good.
But on the contrary, studies have also shown that people with low insulin sensitivity have a very good weight loss effect on a low-carb high-fat diet, which shows that improving insulin is very important for weight loss, and it also shows that people with insulin insensitivity are more suitable
Lose weight with a high-carb diet.
So if you have been obese for a long time, you know that you eat carbohydrates easily, or you know that you have diabetes in your family and want to lose fat, then I would suggest that you can start by reducing carbohydrates, which is what we call low carb diet!
The Negative Impact of E-Levy on Mobile Banking.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Mobile Banking is a service provided by a bank or other financial institution that allows its customers to conduct financial transactions remotely using a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet.
Electronic Transaction Levy or “E-Levy” is a tax applied on transactions made on electronic or digital platforms.
ADVANTAGES OF MOBILE BANKING
Mobile banking offers numerous benefits such as ease of transaction, convenience, time-saving, managing your finances, and budgeting. Some advantages of Mobile Banking in remote areas include:
Financial Inclusion — mobile banking offers convenient and easy banking services to people in remote areas. Thus, it allows banking on the go and offers all benefits of a banking system to rural areas without the presence of a financial institution.
Accessing the bank 24/7 — Mobile banking provides ubiquitous banking services without the need to visit the bank to have access to services. This offers time to benefit and ease of transacting at a distance.
Cost-benefit — Mobile banking saves the banks the cost of building physical infrastructures (branches) and maintaining branches and staff. Also, reduced costs on the customer side since the burden of visiting the bank for services is eliminated.
Improving resilience in the face of poverty — Mobile money acts as both a savings vehicle and a means of transferring funds during times of economic or environmental shocks.
Strengthening the formal economy — For many micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), opening a mobile money account can facilitate access to formal financial services. Mobile money is well placed to address the issue of informality that blights many developing economies and hampers domestic resource mobilization efforts. Mobile Money enables ease of transacting, thus increasing business profits for MSMEs.
Facilitating economic growth — Mobile money has been shown to contribute to economic growth by increasing both productivity and per capita incomes
DISADVANTAGES OF E-LEVY ON MOBILE BANKING
The design of mobile money taxation policy appears to be the antithesis of a well-designed tax system. The disadvantages include:
Inequity — Mobile money taxes as currently structured to create inequity in the tax system. As the tax is mostly borne by the poor and users of the services are subject to additional taxation (unlike bank or cash transactions), the principles of both horizontal and vertical equity in the tax system are contravened.
Uncertainty -. Uncertainty and lack of transparency over taxation systems can have a direct impact on the operations of the tax authority, increasing enforcement costs, as well as discouraging investment.
Inconvenience — The administration of mobile money transaction taxes creates an inconvenience for MMPs who must calculate and collect the tax on the revenue authority’s behalf. There is an additional inconvenience for users of the service for whom remote digital transactions become more expensive or out of reach if they revert back to cash.
Inefficiency — Badly designed mobile money taxes have been shown to have a distortionary impact on demand for mobile money services. This in turn has had negative impacts on overall tax takes, as well as impacting the attainment of national economic and development goals.
EFFECT OF MOBILE BANKING — CASE STUDIES
The decision to impose taxes on mobile bank transactions will trigger so many problems.
Ghana — According to The Fourth Estate Ghana; Although the government projects a 24% decline in transactions when the levy is finally implemented, preliminary findings published by the bank of Ghana indicate the value of mobile money transactions had dropped by 3.2 billion in December 2021, less than 2 months after the proposal to introduce E-levy.
Uganda — An e-levy of 1% introduced in 2018 has led to an overall drop in the person-to-person transaction by more than 50%, and a 24% drop in industry transactions within the same year the tax was introduced according to a report by Global system for mobile communication (GSMA).
Congo — An e-levy of 1% was introduced in 2019. The government had to reverse the tax on cash outs only due to negative results of the levy on Mobile money users such as a decline in mobile money agents (unemployment) and high-value withdrawals by people.
Other countries include Benin (5%) and Cameroun (0.2%). In all these countries, the e-levy has imposed a negative effect on the economy and people. If we want to ensure the financial inclusion of people in rural areas, we need to ensure that we encourage mobile banking by withdrawing the e-levy tax.
Reference:
https://thefourthestategh.com/2022/03/16/e-levy-this-is-what-happened-when-other-african-countries-passed-it/
Purohit, S., & Arora, R. (2021). The benefits and challenges of mobile banking at the Bottom of the pyramid. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Business and Government Vol, 27(1).
Charles G. Kpan, Jr. is an Information Technologist with over 5 years of experience in the provision of Information Technology Services and an emphasis on Web Development and Visual Branding. He’s the managing Director of CYGEC IT SOLUTIONS INC. and holds a bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology from Blue Crest University, Liberia.