comfortskillz: Finance

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Friday, August 23, 2019

How To Support Yourself When You're Doing An Unpaid Internship

dfs 10:08 AM 0

Image Credit: Unsplash

While ideally you should be paid for doing an internship, the reality is sometimes an unpaid internship offers a rare chance to gain valuable experience and get your foot in the door. Whatever your reasons for doing an unpaid internship, you'll want to have a plan for getting through it without upending your finances. We look at how you can plan ahead, strategies for managing your money, and how you could earn money on the side.

Planning ahead

Do a budget for your entire internship, and factor in things like commuting costs and lunch expenses. Also account for rent, food, groceries, and other personal expenses. Plan for your costs ahead of time so you're not caught out without money to cover your expenses during your internship. For example, if you’re working at an agency in Chicago, make sure you do your research on that area’s rent prices before finalizing your budget.

Having done a budget projection, you can work out whether you need to save more money ahead of time. If you do, start cutting out discretionary things like daily coffees, eating out, and luxuries.

Claimable expenses

Check-in with the business about any claimable expenses. For example, the company might be happy to cover your lunch and commuting expenses. This can be helpful if you're traveling quite a distance to your internship.

Perks

Research whether you'll have access to free gyms, fitness classes, and other freebies during your internship. This might mean you can suspend your own gym membership and save more money in other areas of your personal life.

Work clothes

Research the dress code at the company and consider whether you might need to add a few items to your wardrobe. Presentation is important, but suits and workwear can be expensive, so look online and in second-hand stores for good quality used items if you're on a tight budget.

Travel and accommodation

If the internship location is near where you're currently living, then it'll be easy to stay where you are. However, if you need to travel to another city or state/territory, make sure your travel plans and accommodation are taken care of ahead of time. These are the biggest expenses, so be prepared ahead of time. Staying with relatives and friends is the cheapest option, but you might need to find a hostel, homestay, or apartment for your internship. Look on Airbnb and other accommodation sites to get the best possible deal.

Tips for managing money

Look for creative ways to save more before and during your internship.

Transport: If you need to take the bus or train, work out whether monthly passes are cheaper than buying daily tickets. Explore options like cycling, ridesharing, and walking more to keep your costs down.
Lunches: Eating out five days a week for lunch could set you back $50, $100, or more. Consider bringing your own lunch or researching cheap eateries nearby. However, don't turn down work lunches as they can be a great opportunity to network and make valuable industry contacts.
Tax: Get professional advice on whether some of your internship expenses could be tax-deductible.
Groceries: Make a point of buying your groceries on special, seeking out discounts, and using coupons wherever available.

Earning additional money

It's not uncommon for students to keep working part-time while doing an internship. You could partly finance your internship with a part-time job, grants, and/or help from family and friends.

Working part-time while doing an unpaid internship

It's a good idea to try negotiating your working hours so you can manage a part-time job at the same time. If you're already working, this might be the only way to make time for an unpaid internship. If you're not working, avoiding peak-hour traffic times is a bonus and can make your daily commute less stressful.

If you can't be flexible about your internship hours, look for different ways to generate extra income on the side. Part-time jobs like childminding, tutoring, and pet-sitting come with flexible work hours.

Grants and financial aid

Research organizations, foundations, and government bodies that provide grants to students doing unpaid internships. They might provide you with some much-needed funding if you satisfy their criteria. For example, some foundations might be looking to help out students who are interested in conservation and the environment.

Similarly, you could consider financial aid. This could mean taking on more debt though, so be mindful about how much debt you'll be incurring. If your internship counts towards an academic credit, your university might be more likely to have scholarships or financial aid to help you out.

Family and friends

Consider whether family and friends are willing to loan money or make a donation to help you take advantage of an internship opportunity. If you can demonstrate how the internship could help you secure a graduate opportunity or let you get started in your career, your loved ones might be more than happy to help out.

An unpaid internship could pave the way to valuable experience and a job after uni, but you should plan your finances carefully and budget expenses ahead of time. Look for ways to save more money during your internship, and consider how you might be able to finance it with things like grants and working part-time. With careful planning and a bit of creativity, you could pursue an unpaid internship without breaking the bank.

Tags # Education # Finance Continue Reading

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Useful Ways Small Businesses Save On Credit Card Processing Fees

dfs 8:50 AM 0

It goes without saying that when you hire a credit card payment processor for your business you must look beyond the initial price that you have to pay. Especially if you are a small business owner and your business volume is low, you must you must look at the services provided apart from the payment structures so that you are sure that it matches with your specific business needs.

Ideally, all credit card processors who are also referred to as merchant account providers will help you to facilitate such credit card transactions and in turn will charge a fee from you for their services.
You must also remember that, every time a consumer pays you for a purchase using either a credit or debit card, you being the seller will have to pay this specific fee to the credit card processing company.

There are different types of fees that the credit card processing companies may charge you and all these fees will take a lot out of your bottom line. According to The Nilson Report, a payment industry newsletter, it is pointed out thatsuch credit card processing fees can range anywhere from 2.09 to 2.33 percent. This is actually the weighted average processing fee charged by all card issuing companies including:

Visa
Mastercard
Discover and
American Express.

Therefore, when you hire such a company you must consider all these costs carefully so that you do not end up paying more than what you gain from making a sale. This is all the more essential for you to consider if you know that you have a customer base in which most of them use their credit and debit cards to make the payments. Why? This is because all these costs may seem very little initially when considering an individual purchase but when taken together, it can really add up to a huge amount and very quickly.

Choosing the right rate

Fortunately, you have specific and useful ways in which you can save a lot on credit card processing fee costs. Consider the pricing model of the company as different payment processing companies will charge you differently.

Therefore, there is no reason to believe that the convenient and flexible pricing model followed by Nadapayments will be followed by all such companies.

Some payment processing companies may charge you at a flat rate as well as a percentage of the sale made
While a few others may only charge you as a percentage of the sale.

Typically, it is best to choose a credit card payment processing company that charges at a flatrate fee plus a percentage of the sale. This pricing model is extremely beneficial for a small business that sells bigticket items as compared to those that sell lowerpriced items. This is because splitting over a percentage of your sale with the payment processor may prove better for your business in the long run.

Consider a few things

It goes without saying that you will need to do extensive research on the credit card processing companies when you choose one for your small business.

While doing so, you must also keep in mind to ask for a sample bill. This will give you a clear idea about how much you will be spending each month in paying fees to them for their services.
In addition to the fees for their services, you must also consider whether or not hiring their services will be cost effective for your business. Mind you, you will also have to purchase or rent a few gadgets that are essential for credit card and debit card processing.

However, not all credit card processing companies will charge you for these. There are a few that will offer such equipment for free. Looking for such companies will save you from such upfront fee or monthly rental fee for using their equipment.

Difference in processing

The processing process can be different for different types of purchases which will vary the price for such services. For example, the credit card processing process for in-person purchase of an item may be different and cheaper from a purchase that involves mobile credit card transactions.

Therefore, you must first decide what type of credit card transaction you will follow for your business in order to keep your fees under control.Typically, the type of payments you process will depend on a few factors but the most important factor is the type of business you run, whether it is e-commerce or a brick and mortar type of sale.

Ideally, you should opt for a credit card processor that will accept payments made through:

All major credit cards
Debit cards
Prepaid cards and
Gift cards.

In addition to that the credit card processor must also accept payments through different digital wallet payment methods such as:

Apple Pay
Samsung Payand
Google Pay.

Your processing system must allow your customers in your physical store to insert and swipe cards or tap on their smartphones to make a payment.

On the other hand, if you run any ecommerce business the payment processing solution must work on desktop as well as mobile devices both.

As for the B2B companies the most popular form of payment accepted is ACH electronic bank transfers, according to the Federal Reserve Payment Study.

The cheapest car processor

If you are looking for a cheapest credit card processor for your business, you will have to compare different such companies. However, you must remember that cheapest credit card processors may not always be the most costeffective option for your small business.

If you earn less than $2,500 per month it is best to work through credit payment facilitators or any mobile credit card processor. If it is more than $3,000 per month, you can work with Independent Sales Organizations, ISO or Merchant Service Providers, MSP.

If you work through these payment facilitators they will surely charge a higher percentage as compared to the other rates but you will save on the long run as there are no other fees such as setup fees, annual PCI compliance fees and others.

Tags # Finance Continue Reading

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

The Importance Of Financial Planning in Your Day To Day Lives

dfs 6:03 AM 0

Financial planning provides a direction, purpose and meaning to your life in terms of financial decisions. The importance of financial planning can be figured out by the importance clients associate to this form of decision making. Financial planning differs in context from one individual to another. It is not only about finances on how you need to achieve your wishes, but it means the cost you might be spending to arrive at those objectives. In hindsight you need to plan for your goals, otherwise it would be really difficult on your part to achieve them.
Financial process is basically the process on the amount of money you earn, spend and invest. Once you plan your finances, you allot money in a manner helping you to achieve your goals.

The benefits of financial planning

A sense of direction to your goals and dreams are provided- Financial planning helps you to figure out what are your goals and how you can go on to achieve them. The impact on how the goals related to your finance and life is mentioned
By financial planning you are able to manage inflation. You take stock of the price of various items and even activities. In short you are able to plan out your budget in a better way
By adopting financial planning you are disciplined in the manner you use money. There is no need to be spending on unnecessary things as a habit of saving culminates
By managing your finances you are able to plan for the future. A sense of visibility is obtained in relation to the finances of the future. You are aware on the returns of investment expected that is going to help you achieve your goals.
Last but the most important fact is financial planning assures you have complete peace of mind

How financial planning is related to every aspect of finance

Income – Once you have a regular income, you tend to manage your income better. You need to be aware on how much amount of money you earn from income, salary and dividends. This clearly helps you to figure out the amount of money you are earning and whether it is going to help you achieve your objectives. Eventually you can outline whether you have a choice or a no choice at all.
Expenses- when you spent money on basic needs, unnecessary spending plummets and a habit of saving develops. Once you are planning your finances you keep an eye on your expenses. In case if we are going overboard in a particular month, then also we are aware on how much to cut so as to make it up in the coming months. The spending pattern varies with our lifestyle and changes of life. Clearly you are able to outline the income requirements and the changes you need to be make accordingly
Savings- In a financial plan you go on to record income along with expenses. By doing so you are aware of the savings. By financial planning you are aware on the amount of money you need so as to achieve your objectives. Just you need to formulate a budget and figure out whether you are sticking within limits or overspending. This is going to help you understand your spending patterns and how much you need to save so as to achieve your goals
Investments- By a financial planning you will be in a position to figure out the right type of investment planning calculator for future. This is going to be dependent upon your goals and risk profile. A top quality financial planning is going to pay a lot of attention to investment diversification along with asset portfolio. By doing so you are able to achieve a balanced portfolio at all times.

To sum it up there are a lot of changes that can take place in your life. You might be getting married, or very well end up losing your job or even death of some member in your family is a possibility. All of them are money decisions that go on to have a reasonable impact on the standard of your living. The evolution of such status leads to a positive or negative impact on your finances.

Tags # Finance Continue Reading

3 Big Reasons You Should Care About Your Credit File

dfs 3:00 AM 0

Do you take care of your credit file? You might have heard about your credit file, or you may not have a clue what it is. Your credit file is important. It’s essentially a footprint of your financial connections and movements. You should take time to consider it, as it could put you in good stead in the future.

Here are three big reasons you shouldn’t neglect that credit file:

#1 – You WILL need it one day and it is FREE

Some people think you only need to care about your credit file if you are planning on buying a house. In actual fact, it is not just house buying that you need a credit file for. Any bank account, personal loan, rent contract, or sometimes even employment contracts, require a credit check. The credit check will tell the person how responsible you are with money. You will need this at some point in your life, so it is best to keep it maintained as early as possible. It costs you nothing to do this.

So, bear in mind that you should always pay bills on time, try not to hit an unauthorised overdraft, and keep credit card debts to a minimum (always pay back in full on time each month!) This will help build a picture of your credit spending for when you need it in the future. Even having a mobile phone contract that is paid in full each month will show on your credit file and will help you. Finder.com suggests putting a utility account in your name. If you live with someone who has all of the household utility accounts in their name, see if you can transfer one of them into your name. Additionally, if you don't want a credit card, a personal overdraft could be an option as this also shows on your credit file. This small step can help build a better credit picture for you.

#2 It is an important part of personal financial admin

So you may be thinking that you don’t need to worry about your credit file because you live at home with your parents, you don’t need any credit, car finance, or anything similar. Your credit file is effectively blank. BUT – this is bad too. Having no credit file means you have no proof that you know how to manage your money. When it does come to the time that you want to move out, you have no credit file to help prove you can be responsible.

It is important to think of a credit file as personal admin and financial maintenance.

Like other day-to-day administration tasks, you should factor money management into your mind set. Instant loans provider Wonga set up a blog post explaining the details of a credit report in more detail, which we suggest you take a look at. You can also visit their Money Academy for more free help and advice to effectively manage your money. This should be a priority for you, even if you have no immediate financial plans. Wonga explains how important a credit file is to your financial future. Their useful blog explains how a credit file maps out your past financial choices to any potential lender, and so you should not dismiss it as being unnecessary. Working on your credit file little and often is the key.

#3 It helps with Identity Theft

If a fraudster makes a credit application in your name, the lender will check your credit report before making a decision. This leaves a mark on your file that you can see. Having a credit file that you can check often is a good way of identifying whether you are an identity theft victim. See a name you don’t recognise? Report it!

Tags # Finance Continue Reading

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Instant Pre-Approved Loan on ICICI Credit Card

dfs 6:23 AM 0

Financial requirements can come up at any time, and it is essential that you are prepared to face them effectively. One of the biggest support systems that you can have is your savings. After all, you have saved the money as protection against rainy days only, but what if the amount available with you is insufficient. If you are an ICICI Bank Credit Cardholder, you can apply for ICICI Loan on Credit Cards. Under this facility, ICICI Bank allows its customers with an option to apply for an instant loan for their necessary requirements and make the repayments through easy EMIs.

More about ICICI Loan on Credit Cards

Being a premier banking and lending institution, ICICI Bank offers multiple types of Credit Cards for its customers. Depending on their Credit Score, repayment history and spending pattern, the bank offers instant pre-approved loan against certain ICICI Credit Cards. As the name suggests, these are instant loans which do not require any documentation and disbursals are made on an instant basis.

Following are the important features of ICICI Loan on Credit Card: -

Customers can avail maximum amounts of up to Rs. 10 Lakh as an instant loan on Card.
Maximum repayment tenor of up to 60 months is available against this facility.
Attractive interest rates, which are much lower than the APR on Credit Card.
Minimal documentation and no need for any post-dated cheques.
No need for any collateral or guarantor.
Loan amount transferred directly to the customer account through NEFT or RTGS.
The option of receiving the loan amount through Demand Draft is also available.
Pre-approved offers keep on changing depending on the credit profile of the customer.
Applications are approved and processed within 30 working days for online transfers.
Demand Draft payment disbursals can take up to 11 days.

Types of ICICI Loan on Credit Card

Different customers have different needs. Therefore ICICI Bank offers different types of Instant Loans to its Credit Card customers.

Personal Loan

You can avail an instant Personal Loan of up to Rs. 10 Lakhs against your ICICI Credit Card for any major financial requirement of yours. It is an instant loan with minimal documentation and quick processing. Money borrowed could be used for any purpose. The repayments have to be paid separately from the Credit Card bill, as a new loan account is created. Maximum repayment tenor available is 60 months.

EMI on Call

With this facility, you can convert any purchase transaction above Rs. 3,000/- into easy EMIs with repayment tenor extending up to 12 months. When you opt for this facility, the entire purchase amount is converted into EMIs, and limit up to the said amount is blocked on your Credit Card. Every month, EMI will be added to your Credit Card bill and should be paid along with. The interest rate applicable on EMI on Call is lower than what is charged against the Credit Card.

Balance Transfer

You can transfer your outstanding dues on another bank’s Credit Card to ICICI Bank and enjoy the benefits of lower interest rates. Maximum repayment tenor available under this facility is 6 months, and no documentation is required.

Instant EMI

Instant EMI is suitable for those customers who like to make purchases online. With this facility, you can convert any online transaction into easy EMIs with repayment tenor extending up to 24 months. The interest rate applicable starts from 13 percent per annum, which is much lower than the APR against the Credit Cards, which can go up to 42 percent. No documentation is required to avail this facility, and ICICI Bank does not charge any processing fees against this facility.

How to apply for ICICI Loan on Credit Card

The application process for availing the facility of an instant pre-approved loan against ICICI Credit Cards is straightforward and can be completed through multiple channels. Following is the application process:

Personal Loan

You can apply for a Personal Loan against your ICICI Credit Card through net banking, mobile app, or customer care helpline.

Log-on to your ICICI net banking account with your username and password.
Browse to the Credit Card section and select your credit card against which you wish to avail this facility.
Now, select the option for an Instant Loan against Credit Card.
If you are eligible for a pre-approved loan offer, you will be able to see the amount and other details here.
Now proceed ahead with the application process by selecting the amount, interest rate, repayment tenor, and preferred mode of payment.
Check the details and give your confirmation.
Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the process.
You will receive a confirmation message and mail from the bank on disbursal of the amount along with other loan details.
If you are not eligible, there will be a message displayed on the screen regarding the same. You can still call the customer care center and make inquiries.

EMI on Call

You can avail this facility through net banking, mobile app, or through the customer care helpline.
Steps to apply:

Log-on to your ICICI net banking account with your username and password.
Browse to the Credit Card section.
Now, select the option for “Convert to EMI.”
You will now be able to see different transactions which qualify for this option.
Now, select the transaction and repayment tenor as per your choice and click on confirm.
You will see a confirmation message on your screen.
Alternatively, you can call the ICICI Bank Customer Care help desk for assistance as well.

Instant EMI

You can avail the facility of Instant EMI by using your ICICI Card for making payment online. There you will be able to see an option to convert the amount into EMI. Just follow the on-screen prompts and select the repayment tenor to avail this facility.
With multiple benefits on offer, ICICI Loan on Credit Cards, allows you to enjoy a superior user experience along with the regular benefits of plastic cards.

Tags # Finance Continue Reading

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Personal Loan Overdraft For Salaried Individuals

dfs 12:53 AM 0

Importance of Personal loans in today’s world

Here is the list of interest for your Personal Loans

First of all, you can take it to increase your business that you have just started. When the entrepreneurs are working for the first time, they take care of their Personal loans with themselves so that they can stay around and expand their firm better.

And then you can take them when you have to pay for the higher education for your family. Suppose you have married someone and then you both are having a kid together. By taking care of the personal loan interest rate, you can take care of the loan amount too.

Personal loans are managed when you are using them for going out on a trip. This means that when you take these loan amount, you can take your vacation stay and make sure that you have an excellent tour around without any need of another form of expense.

Personal loans are needed when you want them the most. For example, there are times when there can be medical injuries and emergencies from all around, and you can use these amount for the functioning and better funding of the matter that you are treating.

How to get Personal loans for salaried individuals?

There are a ton of considerations you have to make when you are asking for Personal loans from salaried individuals. In that aspect, you have to understand what are the required documents which will serve you the best from the bank and what the lenders are asking from you in respect to what you can produce them with.

Most of the salaried individuals are working day and night, and they are completely eligible for the Personal loans that they take. Whether you are want to fund your family or your business, it entirely depends on the loan that you are seeking for and the rate of interest for your loan amount too.

There are scopes and options for the dropline overdraft loan which you can use as being a salaried individual. So when you are taking your credit, here are the list of distinctions which have to work for your Personal loans on the matter.

Flexibly of the amount that you are taking from your lender. This implies that your lender is flexible or not.
Next is to understand that you have instant funds or not. It is better in that aspect and that you know that there are a ton of features which will be right for you in every aspect if you choose from.
And the third thing is to understand the need and the usage of the collateral security for your Personal loans.

There are different loan applicants who are used when you are a salaried individual. This means that it entirely depends on the bank that you are taking your loan from and the bank which is asking you to pay for the same. When you are confused, and if you want to know more about your Personal loans then you can ask directly from your lender about the choice and the rate of interest that will be charged for your loan amount.

It depends and completely varies on what type and amount of salary that you have. If you are a high salaried individual, then the rate and the amount of Personal loans that you can have is enormous. It also depends on the tenure period that you choose your dropline overdraft loan for.

Conclusion

No matter where you take your Personal loans, always ask for the term and conditions for your loan amount that you receive from your lender. If you have doubts about the same, then your lender will be there to help you out. It is essential that you listen to your lender's advice and then impose your decision.

Tags # Finance Continue Reading

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Make Money Online: Top 4 Sure Ways To Double Your Earnings Easily

dfs 10:18 AM 0

We’re already a half into 2019. It’s time to put in some work and make some money in 2019. There are thousands of ways to make cool money online in 2019. Today I will share you some sure ways to make money online fast without breaking a sweat.

A recent study shows that more than 64% of freelancers report that they’ve found jobs online easier than last year. Full-time freelancers that earn more than $75,000 per year has increased by 15% as well. Then why not you?

Top 4 Easy Ways To Make Money Online Fast and Easily

Following are some top 4 quick and easy ways to make money fast and easily;

Affiliate Marketing:

If you search for ‘affiliate marketing’ will return over 400 million results. This shows just how important affiliate marketing is today. Affiliate marketing is a way of promoting products or services on your own blog or platform. You do this by creating a tracked link from your page to the product page. When one of your readers makes a purchase through your link, you receive a commission. This is the simple way to earn money. There are hundreds of affiliate marketing programs. You can join them free and earn as much you sale their products. Amazon affiliate marketing. The retail giant has thousands of products that are eligible and that can bring you a very nice amount of money every month.

Blogging:

Making a website and easy became easy because of WordPress. You don’t need any Coding Knowledge to make a website. Make a cool website and start blogging. When you start hitting 1000 of visitors per day then apply for any ad network. I will recommend going for Google Adsense because it is trusty and well-known ad network.

Start Freelancing:

If you are good at something never do it for free. If you are skilled in something then you can join freelancing websites and start working from home. Freelancer and Upwork these are the websites which offer goof amount of projects to freelancers. Start completing projects and make money.

Stat your Youtube Channel:

YouTube is one of the world’s largest search engines. People started searching for videos instead of searching for websites on the internet. You can monetize your YouTube channel by using their advertising system or sending your viewers to a website you’ve monetized in another way. You can think of building a YouTube channel in a similar fashion to creating a website, except you’re creating a video, not written content.

So these are some ways to earn money in 2019. Then what are you waiting for? Choose your skills and start making money even while you are sleeping....!

Tags # Finance Continue Reading

Thursday, July 4, 2019

7 Changes that Impact Your Financial Plan For FY 2019-20

dfs 2:59 AM 0

Planning your finances in advance have various perks. It gives you ample time to make the right investment decisions. This, in turn, allows you to achieve your investment goals that also translate into maximum tax savings. Though your financial plan heavily draws from your personal goals, changes in the economy in general and within the personal finance sphere can have a significant impact too.
As you steer into the new financial year 2019-20, plan your taxes and finances after considering the following 5 major economic changes.

Changes in the repo rate by the RBI
Repo rate is the interest rate at which the RBI lends money to financial institutions. Any change in this rate has a direct bearing on interest rates of loans and deposits offered to you. Thus, an increase in the repo rate pushes up both loan and deposit interest rates and a decrease, on the other hand, brings them down. A hike in the repo rate is bad news for borrowers as it means higher interest rates on loans. In contrast, investors can breathe a sigh of relief, as repo rate hikes signify a hike in interest rates for fixed income options like fixed deposit, provided the issuers follow suit and hike the rates.
The RBI has slashed the repo rate by 25 bps in its recent bi-monthly policy declaration. Going by the above, fixed deposit interest rates can also alter anytime soon. Thus, instead of waiting for any further and investing in a low interest regime, do it now and make the most of the attractive interest rates available at present.

Tax rebate on taxable income of up to Rs.5 lakh
The Interim Budget 2019 has proposed a tax rebate of Rs. 12,500 for taxpayers earning an income of up to Rs.5 lakh annually. If the ruling party accepts this proposal post-election, then that will decrease your tax liability, increasing the quantum for investments. Add to this the standard deduction hike, which has pushed the earlier amount of Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 50,000, and you will be in a position to increase your investments even more. A reduction in your tax liability will give you a chance to reconsider your investment plan, wherein you will have more room to diversify your corpus for wealth creation.

2019 Lok Sabha elections
Experts opine that the post and pre-election phase brings instability. However, once the market settles after the results, you can expect stability. Thus, investing in the stock market now with a short-term perspective will not reap you good returns. Dodge this risk by investing in SIPS keeping the long-term horizon in mind. This way, irrespective of the market position after elections, your investments will not be impacted by temporary volatility. Instead, your folio will give you great returns over time.

TDS limit on FD interest income increased to Rs. 40,000
Issuers of FDs are liable to cut TDS on your FD interest earnings if it exceeds Rs. 10,000. However, the Interim Budget 2019 has proposed to increase this limit to Rs. 40,000 for regular investors. Furthermore, the TDS limit in case of company FDs and for senior citizens remain unchanged at Rs.50,00 and Rs.5,0000 respectively. TDS is cut at 10% in case you have submitted your PAN details to the issuer and 20% if you haven’t. When planning investments, count in this TDS limit increase and invest higher amounts in fixed deposits without worrying about the deduction.
Irrespective of the TDS limits, when looking to invest in FDs, consider investing in company FDs as they offer higher rates than those offered by banks. For instance, Bajaj Finance Fixed Deposit offers FD interest rates of up to 8.75% for regular investors and 9.10% for senior citizens when you choose an FD for at least 36 months, with interest payable at maturity. Apart from this, you can also benefit from an additional interest of 0.25% on FD renewals. What’s more, Bajaj Finance FD is backed by the highest ICRA and CRISIL rating, of MAAA and FAAA respectively, which makes it extremely stable and secure.

Interest rates on loans to be linked to an external benchmark system
Earlier, the interest rates on personal, retail, and MSME loans were linked to an internal benchmark system. However, the RBI, in its bi-monthly policy meet in December 2018, declared that the interest rates on all new floating interest rate loans starting from 1 April 2019 would be linked to an external benchmark. RBI opines that this change will bring about an increased transparency in the interest rates fluctuations.
Keep in mind the above changes when planning your finances. Adapt to rigorous planning right now, so that by the end of the financial year you are ready with ample investment and have the right tax saving instruments in your folio to claim the maximum exemption.

Tags # Finance Continue Reading

How to Speed up your Credit Card Reward Point Accumulation?

dfs 2:55 AM 0

Credit cards are fast becoming one of the most preferred methods of availing instant financing in India. Almost every major financial institution including NBFCs offers this financial tool to eligible applicants. Lenders also entice prospective customers with various loyalty programs offered with their credit cards.

One of the most popular loyalty programs offered by different financial institutions is credit card points. Such programs help the cardholder earn a certain number of reward points against the transactions they make using the credit card.
You can accumulate these reward points and redeem them for discounts, gift vouchers, and even cashback from various retailers. It can reduce your expenses in the long run. There are various types of reward points that credit card companies offer their customers. These include –

Travel points – These reward points can be redeemed for discounts on airfare, hotel bookings, complimentary airport lounge accesses, etc.

Shopping points – These points can be redeemed for discounts, cashback, vouchers, and special coupons while shopping online or offline. It is ideal for frequent shoppers.

However, you will need to accumulate a substantial number of credit card points to avail these features. There are certain methods you can follow to speed up your reward point accumulation.

Earning credit card reward points
There are several ways how you can speed up your reward point accumulation using your feature-packed credit card. Here are the factors that you should take into consideration

Choose the most suitable credit card _

You need to use a credit card which will help you earn the maximum reward points. Select a product according to your spending habits; for example, if you shop frequently, use a credit card that offers accelerated reward points against online and regular shopping. These purpose-specific cards will disburse the most number of points against their particular usage.

Divide the spending –

Financial experts often suggest using two different cards and divide the entire spending between them to speed up the accumulation of credit card points. For example, use a credit card to pay for your daily purchases, utility bills, etc. and another to pay for occasional expenses, fuel purchases, travel and flight bookings, etc. It will help you keep track of your expenses more accurately and allow maximum reward point accrual with each transaction.

Use it frequently –

Always utilise the credit card that offers the best reward points program. Cards like the Bajaj Finserv RBL Bank SuperCard comes with a reward point program that offers up to 2 credit card points for every Rs. 100 you spend with it.

Select a product that offers milestone and welcome packages –

Certain financial companies also offer welcome rewards along with several milestone gifts. These programs offer reward points as you sign-up for a credit card or reach a certain spending milestone. For instance, Bajaj Finserv RBL Bank SuperCard offers up to 20,000 reward points as a welcome gift after you apply for a credit card. They also offer up to 20,000 points when you spend Rs. 3,00,000 in a year.
Bajaj Finserv also provides pre-approved offers on credit cards, personal loans, home loans, business loans, and a range of other financial products. These offers not only to simplify the process of availing finances but also helps you save time. You only have to share some essential details online to check your pre-approved offer.
Things to remember about credit card reward points

Redeem the points before it expires –

Reward points come with an expiration period that generally ranges from 12 to 18 months. These points are redeemable only within that time frame beyond which they will expire in usage. Ensure you use the collected points within the given timeframe. The necessary details regarding the validity will be available on the company’s website.

Do not own multiple cards at once –

It is wise not to own more than 3 to 4 cards at the same time even if you want to divide your total spending over multiple credit cards. Credit bureaus will consider you credit dependent if you apply for a credit card too frequently. It will negatively affect your CIBIL score and deem you less creditworthy.
The above mentioned tips will help you speed up your card’s reward point collection, as well as aid to properly utilize the redeemable points. Follow these guidelines, and you will be able to get the best out of your credit card and its reward points.

Tags # Finance Continue Reading

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Willing to work in Australia? Apply for subclass 187

dfs 3:58 PM 0

Are you willing to work in Australia? If yes then Apply for subclass 187. Working in a foreign nation is an option not available to everyone. Because only qualified workers can move to offer nations with the help of their excellence and intellectual talent in their domain. Australia is going to be a fantastic option for workers if they could get their work visa. When you are staying away from a foreign country, definitely it is a challenging task to get a working visa. But in this scenario and the additional advantage is that the application can be made from Australia or from offshore. So it reduces your hardships to a certain extent. But still, you are going to be clueless about the procedures to be followed and the regulations which you need to comply with.

Need for professional help

Only with the help of experts, you can easily achieve success because only they can provide you with proper details about the updating in the process. In contemporary era, norms are properly keen on changing by government from time to time. Sometimes you can even get your parents into Australia by the sponsorship program, then you need to complete a certain profile to do the same, and they are selected only through random selection. Sometimes people think that they can do things alone without the help of professionals in order to save a certain amount of money. They contemplate that to give a lot of money on the lawyers is not going to provide them anything in return. This is a type of overconfidence because this is going to spoil your daily routines and in addition, a common person cannot go into the nutty gritty details of the process.

In order to get a work visa in Australia, you may need to get the help of an immigration professional advice because the citizenship programs are always operated with huge complex requirements and you need to be into the process for the entire period. Therefore to get 187 subclass visas with ease you should get some professional help from the immigration Agent perth.

Starts with the right choice

Even though there are many ways to achieve a work visa in Australia you need to access the best way ensuring a success. The immigration professional advice can provide the right path to avoid any legal problems during the assessment sessions. In addition, it is always good to use more than one way in attaining the work visa because the outcomes may be different depending upon the processing authority. But to be sure, visa subclass 187 is the best choice and you can depend only on this scheme alone. But before getting professional advice it is very important to learn about Regional Sponsor Migration Scheme subclass 187 provided by the Australian immigration services. Also, try to take a look at the 187 Visa Checklists in order to avoid last minute hassles during the process.

About the visa

It is available to a person only when an Australia resident employer could offer an invitation to work. With the help of this particular scheme, it is possible to work in a particular region within Australia depending upon the location of the employer. But the worker is allowed to live and work within Australia permanently.

Processing time

It is also important to know about the 187 visa processing time because it may help you to starts the process of applying in an earlier phase. You can plan your future activities only after knowing the processing time. The processing time will be different depending upon the type of scheme you choose. Because if you have already worked for the Australian employer with a subclass 457 for three years then the processing time would be lower than 14 months.

It is enough to have a bridging visa A, B, C in order to qualify for this scheme. Many prefer to use this path because it takes almost ten months lesser than the other form of 187 rsms visa. Among the applications, seventy-five percent of it is processed within 11 months. But prior experience is required to choose the temporary residence transitions scheme which works faster.

But there is no need to worry if you could fit into this scheme. Because of another form of 187 rsms processing time takes a bit longer around 21 to 23 months, but there is no need to meet the TRT stream requirements. But there is a need to comply with certain other requirements. The most important one among them is that your occupation should match your skill set. Because sometimes the employee may not have proper competency in a specific work that he has applied for.

In addition, the applicant must be proficient in English which is one of the basic qualifications for all kind of visas. Without English, it is hard to survive with Australia whatever may be your purpose of visit.

Tags # Finance Continue Reading

How to Reconcile in QuickBooks Online

dfs 8:34 AM 0

You can easily Reconcile in QuickBooks Online account with the help of some simple ways. As you know that QB Online is an accounting software which is used to manage and maintain financial tasks. In other words, QuickBooks is an online software which is used to monitor all of your accounting tasks in one place. It saves a lot of time of yours. Read this article to know more or you can discuss it on QuickBooks support phone number with QuickBooks ProAdvisor.

When you are reconciling a bank or credit card account, you can think about the starting balance and every all the exchanges recorded inside your QuickBooks company file compared with the month to month statements made by your bank or Mastercard organization and there you could ensure they match.

Generally, a reconciliation is a procedure of watching that the transactions in your bank statement match the records found in your accounting. Since coordinating transactions utilizing bank feed information is the new standard with web-based accounting, reconciliation has become a piece of that procedure. In any case, QuickBooks Online still has an official Reconciliation page, regardless of whether it isn't obvious from watching at the Banking page.

Why Reconcile?

There are some steps for which we need Reconciliation. These steps are:

You can know about your books are complete.
Simplify tax time by improving trust in your books.
know whether your clients are paying you, and also pay your own bills on time to late charges and unhappy sellers/providers.
Can take quick, informed, and conclusive activity when you see inconsistencies in your banking.
Enable your bookkeeper to give you the most ideal advice about business, and not "accounting".
Perhaps recognize misrepresentation by workers, bookkeeping experts, or merchants before it becomes unmanageable.
Can get the bank errors that could cost you cash, for example, the wrong amount being saved store with various checks.

Reconciliation of your account

There are some ways from which you can reconcile your bank account. These some ways are:

Navigate to the Reconcile Menu

==> Goto the home screen, Click on the ‘Gear’ menu.
==> Click on the ‘Reconcile tab’ under the ‘Tools’ heading.

Choose an account

==> On the Reconcile page, Click the ‘Account’ drop-down menu and Select the account you want to Reconcile.
==> Once you’ve selected, click ‘Reconcile Now’.

Enter statement details

==> Find the corresponding bank or credit card statement for this account.

==> The account beginning balance appears to the left.

==> Enter the statement ending balance into the ‘Ending balance’ field.

==> Enter the statement ending date into the ‘Ending date’ field.

Finally Click Ok, if the whole fields are done.

Match expenses

In the Reconcile window, match each transaction from your bank statement with a list of item. One thing is notice that clicks only to the small checkboxes.

Finish Reconciliation

If all the items are matches all of your transactions on your statement and difference value at the bottom to zero then Click ‘Finish Now’.

Review Reconciliation report

Now, back to the Reconcile home screen, you will see the Reconciliation report you just completed. Click the Reconciled account listed. It will open a detailed report for you to review. If due to some reasons, the report doesn’t match to the statement then you need to Un-reconciled your report.

Run report

Once the detailed Reconciliation report screen opens then Click the Run Report. If you keep a paper file then you need to attach this paper file with your bank statement. You can also download this report in the PDF format.

QuickBooks Online Support centre

QuickBooks Online Support centre team is always ready to help you. If you have certain queries or if you are facing some issues regarding reconciliation then dial our toll-free phone number and get connected with our specialists. These specialists are highly qualified and certified specialists and they can resolve to your all issues. Don’t be hesitate to dial our customer support toll-free number. We are ready to help you. You can contact us anytime. You can also take help from via remote access.

Conclusion

Reconciliation is a process of matching each transaction from the bank statements compare with the monthly accounting. With the help of the above steps, you can easily Reconcile in QuickBooks Online.

Tags # Business # Finance Continue Reading

Smart Yet Simple Tips to Improve CIBIL Score for a Personal Loan

dfs 12:01 AM 0

CIBIL score is an indicator of all your past credit activities. It is an extremely beneficial tool for lenders to judge an applicant’s repayment ability. Therefore, a good credit score will shift the odds in your favour of getting the loan approved. A good score is mandatory for all major banking and non-banking financial institutions (NBFCs) to sanction unsecured advances like personal or business loans.
You need to understand how a CIBIL score works, before diving head-first into the world of CIBIL score improvement strategies.
What is a CIBIL Score?
It is a summary of all your credit transactions and repayment records summarised and represented with a three-digit number. Person specific financial data is collected by CIBIL using Personal Account Numbers and other identification tools from all the different financial institutions. The collected data is then represented using a three-digit figure, which is called the CIBIL score of a person.
Financial data is used to identify a person’s repayment methods and intentions over the years. Things like unpaid debts or unbalanced spending behaviours mainly contribute to a low credit score.
A CIBIL score of 300 signifies an unsatisfactory financial performance, and 900 is the best score one can have. All major NBFCs require a score of 750 and above to approve any personal loan.
Here are 7 Smart yet Simple Ways to Improve Your Credit Score:

Take Credit- Keep this in mind that you will not possess a credit score if you’ve never taken a loan. Take that first step towards building a good credit score. A short-term personal loan can help you at the time of an emergency. So if you are ever in need of a personal loan, having a score will help you secure your required funds from a financer.
Sustainable Use – Use your funds wisely. Under-utilisation will lead to your credit limit being lowered. Both over and under-utilisation of your availed credits will reduce your credit score. Try to be reasonably regular with your monthly transactions. Avoid spending more than 30% of your credit limit on a credit card and you will be on the road to a better credit score.
Pay Your Older Dues – Clear your unpaid dues. They bring down your score by a lot. Refrain strictly from dragging your dues for too long. Try paying them off as soon as they accrue. Leaving your liabilities unpaid will create a bad impression about your financial intentions, therefore increasing the odds of rejecting your application for a business loan.
Check Your Score – Keep a regular check on your score and track the changes in the score. This will help you to form a clear idea of what are the factors that contribute to the changes. Once you have a proper plan on how to improve your score, then there remains no worry about it. Your spending habits will improve drastically, thereby increasing chances of getting a Personal Loan from Bajaj Finserv approved.
Maintain a Versatile Portfolio – Keeping your loan portfolio versatile is also helpful in improving your credit score. Don’t stick to the same type of loan every time you need funds. Take different kinds of loans according to various needs. Example – home loans, personal loans, etc. This will create a diverse credit history which is benefactor when it comes to credit scores.
Minimize Loan Frequency – It is of utmost importance that you avoid taking too many loans at any given period of time. Try to minimise the frequency of loans you take in a year. Nothing signals bad financial sense to the lenders like taking multiple loans in a year. So, keep the number of credits to a minimum if a good CIBIL score is your goal.
Scrutiny – If you find any discrepancy or any mistake that has been committed while preparing your CIBIL report, report to the authorities immediately. It shows you have good financial knowledge. If the rightfulness of your grievances gets established, your CIBIL score is bound to improve. It is always a plus point to know the reasons of personal loan rejection and how to avoid them.

It is wise to choose a Bajaj Finserv personal loan for self employed as they provide unique features with their financial products. They provide features like borrower-friendly interest rates, flexible repayment tenors, minimum documentation requirements, instant approval, and many other additional benefits.

Tags # Finance Continue Reading

Monday, July 1, 2019

PMAY Scheme - Live The Luxury at Very Affordable Price

dfs 11:42 PM 0

First things first!

In November 2018, the Central Government approved the construction of more than 2 lakh homes. It was sanctioned in six Indian states under a flagship housing scheme.

Yes, it is nothing but the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).

As per the Government reports, it is still short of the target after 4 years of its announcement. Hence, the approved numbers will surely push it to accomplish it soon.

If you wish to know more about the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), then you should continue to read this post to explore some basics.

What is Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)?
The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana or PMAY is the credit linked subsidy scheme (CLSS) launched by the Central Government of India in 2015. It has the provision to offer the Pradhan Mantri Home Loan at affordable rates.

By opting for the Pradhan Mantri Home Loan scheme, people can avail housing finance with interest subsidies. This way, even people belonging to the economically weaker section of the society can have a roof on their heads.
What is the Purpose of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)?
The major intention of the PM Awas Yojana (PMAY) is to provide even the economically weaker section of the society the housing solutions. The Pradhan Mantri Yojana also intends to see everyone having a home by 2022.

The Pradhan Mantri Home Loan scheme is targeted towards Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Low Income Group (LIG), and Middle Income Group 1 and 2 (MIG).
Who is Eligible for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)?
The determining factor for the awarding of the Pradhan Mantri Home Loan is your income group. Here is a quick look at various PMAY eligibility criteria according to the income groups in India that are offered the financial assistance under the PMAY scheme:

EWS – an annual income of up to Rs.3 lakh
LIG - yearly income from Rs.3.01 lakh to Rs.6 lakh
MIG 1 – yearly income from Rs.6.01 lakh to Rs.12 lakh
MIG 2 – annual income from Rs.12.01 lakh to Rs.18 lakh
A female member of the family need to be a homeowner if you come under the EWS and LIG sections
Any applicant and dependents must not own any property in India at the time of applying for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).

What are the Documents Required for PMAY?

KYC papers including photographs
Salary Slips and bank account statements
ITRs of last two years for self-employed applicants
Self-certificate or affidavit as the income’s proof
Customer declaration and undertaking

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) or the Pradhan Mantri Home Loan scheme will be able to benefit many more people if it achieves in goal by 2022.

The subsidy that one would get after applying for the Pradhan Mantri Home Loan will enable weaker sections of the society to pay lower home loan EMIs. In turn, it will also let them run their households without facing financial blues.

NBFCs provide the pre-approved offers on many financial services like home loans. You can opt for these offers and go through all loan procedures fast and hassle-free.

Tags # Finance Continue Reading

The Best Financing Options For Chartered Accountants

dfs 11:25 PM 0

If you are a self-employed individual, your needs vary from a salaried professional when it comes to finances. Apart from financing the personal needs, you also need to ensure that your business venture also has adequate funds for smooth and efficient operations. In such a context, relying on a CA loan is the only viable option you have.

An aspiring chartered accountant may also need a lump sum amount for his/her educational expenses or even to initiate a CA firm.

Chartered accountant loans are vital to help you to tackle every personal and professional requirement with adequate financing.

Now, before you apply for a loan, you need to have an idea of the type of chartered accountant loans you can opt for. Match each variant with your requirements and choose suitably.
Top Financing Options For CA
One can avail from a mix of secured or unsecured credit options. Take a look before you settle on one.

CA Business Loan

As a business owner, you might require funds to boost your working capital, or to purchase new machinery, pay for an expansion, etc. You may also need to hire professional chartered accountants to join the workforce during peak seasons.
In these cases, arranging for a business loan for CAs can financially help you meet your business goals. Make sure to check the CA loan eligibility criteria and know how to avail a collateral-free business loans before applying for one.

CA Personal Loan

If one needs external financial aid to fund his personal needs like renovating a home, or paying for a medical emergency, applying for a Personal Loan for Chartered Accountant from NBFCs like Bajaj Finserv can be the saviour.

CA Home Loan

One can become a home-owner without any hassles by availing a home CA loan. You can procure it from all leading financial institutions to buy a property of your choice. Purchasing a new residence with a home loan is a long-term plan which requires in-depth research and more. Leading financial institutions such as Bajaj Finserv offer multiple additional customer-centric benefits to help them make the best choice, e.g. –

Personalised insurance scheme
Property search service
Property dossier service

Furthermore, you can repay this loan comfortably over a flexible tenor. Additionally, in case you want to invest in furniture and fixtures, you can arrange for a top-up credit at nominal interest rates.

CA Loan Against Property

You can have access to a loan against a property by submitting the necessary documents or assets as collateral. As it is a secured credit, you'll be getting a high-value CA loan against a property.

Flexi Loan

One can also add flexibility to your business by availing any of the mentioned loans with the Flexi Loan facility. This facility from Bajaj Finserv allows you to borrow an amount of funds from the sanctioned loan principal and pay interest only on the borrowed amount. You can also choose to pay your interest as EMIs and repay the principal later at the end of the tenor. Flexi Loans can help you lower your EMIs and make your repayment even easier.
You can apply any of these loans online as it is convenient and time-saving. However, make sure you check the CA loan interest rates before you provide your personal and financial details.
With all the information in hand, you’re now equipped with the knowledge of choosing the best financial option to meet your requirements. Now, your personal or professional needs can flourish without any hindrance from lack of funds.

Tags # Finance Continue Reading

Friday, June 21, 2019

Things You Must Know While Closing a Personal Loan

dfs 5:49 PM 0

Personal loans constitute to be one of the more crucial financing products that help you to tide over financial emergencies. However, being typically unsecured, these loans carry a relatively higher interest rate as compared to other products.

You might prefer to pre-close your personal loan in order to save on the interest outgoes that you would have to bear with otherwise. Moreover, if you are planning on applying for long term credit – a home loan, for instance – in the near future, it would be wise on your part to clear outstanding personal loans - something that can help to pull up your credit score by notches.

Stated below are a few factors that you must keep in mind before you decide to close a personal loan. Read on:

Whether foreclosure is allowed

Certain lending institutions do not permit foreclosure of loans. It follows that you should ideally check if your preferred lender has the provision for a pre-closure or not. Should pre-closure not be allowed, you would have no option but to continue servicing the EMIs till the end of loan tenor.

- Lock-in Period

Many lending institutions attach a lock-in period during which you would not be permitted to pre-close your personal loan account. Generally, this lock-in period is of 12 months; however, it is likely to vary across institutions and their statutes. You should ideally verify if your lender attaches any lock-in period before moving ahead with pre-closure.

- Pre-closure Penalty

Most lending institutions levy a penalty for pre-closure of personal loans. The pre-closure penalty can range anywhere within 0.5% - 5% of the outstanding loan amount. Before opting for a pre-closure, make sure that the amount you’d save on, in all probability, calculates to be higher than the pre-closure charges.

Simply put, pre-closing your personal loan should be an informed decision, one that you arrive at after having compared the potential savings (on interest outgoes) and the penalties payable, if any.

- Follow the Procedure

In order to close a personal loan, you’d have to comply with a few rules and regulations. For instance, every lender has a set procedure for loan closing that you will have to abide by. You’d need to intimate your decision to close the loan to your lender and carry all relevant documents with you. Also, have the proof of loan closure handy in order to avoid any confusion in the future.

How to close Personal Loan

Loan closure can be of two types:
1. Normal closure: This refers to closure of your loan account at the end of the loan tenor after having paid off all the EMIs.

Process

For normal loan closure, you’d need to visit the issuing branch, along with your id proof, a cheque in case of any outstanding amount and your loan account number. You may need to fill and submit a loan close application to the lending institution. Once the loan is closed, the lender will issue a “No Dues Certificate” or a loan account closing letter as proof of closure.

2. Pre-closure or foreclosure: This refers to paying off the outstanding amount and closure of your personal loanaccount prior to expiry of tenor.

Process

In case of Personal Loan Foreclosure, the procedure is rather similar; except that you’d need to pay off the outstanding loan amount and shell out the prepayment penalty. Once all the dues are cleared, the lending institution would issue a loan account closing letter or a “no dues certificate”. It is advisable that you retain this certificate in order to save yourself the hassles of any dispute in the future.

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Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Why Company Lunch Is Essential To Building Stronger Teams

dfs 4:24 AM 0

source: Freepik.com

Happy and productive employees are the pillars of every successful company. Therefore, if you want your business to strive, you must invest in its people. By investing we don’t mean unlimited days off work or expensive spa treatments (although they sound nice). There are little things that you can do to show that you care and appreciate your team. Company lunch is one of them. It's a perfect opportunity to bond with your employees. It will create a friendly atmosphere that will in return motive people to work better as a team and be more productive. Happy employees are putting more effort into their work and not just that. They'll become passionate about coming to work. Following reasons will help you understand why organising company lunch is important. You'll also find a few tips on how to incorporate this simple yet amazing strategy into your daily office routine.

1. It boosts your employee satisfaction.

There’s something about the food and the way it makes us feel. Recent surveys have shown that employees who have access to free food at work are generally happier with their job than those who don’t. If you run a successful company or striving to get there, this is something to think about. Satisfied employees are more productive and eager to collaborate. There are many ways to achieve this, but providing a free lunch for your hard-working team may be the best solution. Truth be told, it's a spread, but investing in the core of your business is everything but a waste of money. Some things can't be bought, but delicious lunch with your fellow co-workers can and it is probably one of the best investments you can make as an employer.

2. It encourages healthy food choices.

Introducing healthy food choices at work will lead to a better mood and productivity of your employees. Although it's never a good idea to impose this at any cost, it's good to have it as an option. Healthy home-cooked meals are a much better solution than a food truck catering or a box of donuts. This is why more and more company owners have these delicious meals delivered to their office. Introducing your employees with healthy meal plans will have numerous benefits on your team. Whether some of them are on a weight-loss programme, or just want to incorporate new healthy habits into their lifestyle, replacing fast food with home-cooked meals is a great way to go. Foods with high nutritive values will boost the energy levels, concentration, and overall mood of your employees. Eventually, you’ll have a happy, healthy, and strong team.

3. It promotes team bonding.

Sharing meals have been considered to be one of the best bonding activities out there. Whether you’re lunching with business partners, friends, or your colleagues, you’ll be exchanging ideas and getting to know the people sitting across the table. Eating together at work boosts friendships. Stepping away from the computer even for a short period of time can improve productivity. It also encourages cooperation and teamwork. When you surround yourself with people who can sit down, have lunch, and discuss everything from current projects to personal issues, you’ll end up with a strong team with high moral values and appreciation of one another. Not only that, they’ll become more passionate about the work they do, and that is something every entrepreneur strives to.

4. It improves creativity and collaboration.

Organising company lunch will give your employees an opportunity to talk to new people. If your company has many different departments, chances are some of your workers have never met their colleagues from other departments. Gathering everyone around the table for a lovely meal will encourage some new collaborations. Aside from sharing a meal, people will be sharing new inspiring ideas, too. Getting a new perspective can spark creativity and shed new light on a current task. Creativity is connected to productivity. Employees who have more freedom to express themselves instead of strictly sticking to guidelines show better results. They are happier, too. By giving creative freedom to your employees, you're showing them that you value their opinion and that you trust them. That is one of the essential tips when it comes to building a strong team.

5. It reduces stress.

We live in a time of hectic schedules where multitasking has become a must if you want to get through the day. Commuting, traffic jams, deadlines, meetings, and demanding clients are just some of the things working people have to deal with on a daily basis. You’ll admit that all those situations can leave you quite stressed out. That’s why it’s important to find time for your hard-working team to have a break. Company lunch is a perfect opportunity to unwind. Shifting focus from issues to a fun chit-chat with your colleagues can do wonders to your mood. You'll energy levels will rise, fatigue will go away, and you'll be ready to tackle the next after-lunch task with bells on.

6. It validates employees.

Rewarding your employees for outstanding results is something you should definitely do if your goal is building a strong team. Company lunch is a fantastic opportunity for this. If you want, you can make it special by changing or expanding the usual lunch menu and throwing in a bottle of champagne. By giving the awards to employees, they'll get the recognition they deserve. That will be the biggest motivation you can provide them with. If you had a great period in a previous couple of months, celebrate it. Acknowledge the effort of all the people involved. It will build a team where people realise they matter and that will make wonders for productivity in the office.

Whether you run a successful business, or you’re aspiring to get there, you will want a strong team of people to work with. The first and maybe the most important thing is to understand that you need to take care of your employees if you want them to give you great results in return. Organising company lunch is probably the easiest and most effective way to build a healthy and productive community in your office. With a little effort and time, you’ll gain something money just can’t buy – happy, efficient, and trustworthy employees.

Tags # Business Ideas # Finance Continue Reading

Friday, May 10, 2019

Business Loan without Security: How to avail in 3 Easy Steps?

dfs 3:48 PM 0

A business loan is a credit facility offered to business owners in India to help them with business funding. There are several times when a business owner is not able to meet the financial requirements of the business. For this, he looks forward to availing an external finance sourcing. There are two types of business loans available- business loan with security and business loan without security.

What is a Business Loan without Security?

A business loan in India without security is offered to small and medium business owners who cannot afford to pledge security. Generally, to avail a business loan or any other type of loan for that matter, the borrower is asked to pledge an asset to back the loan amount in case of default. This type of loans is called a secured loan.

However, not all small business owners can afford to pledge security or they do not wish to take the risk. Thus, they cannot avail collateral loans. These unsecured business loans are the loans which are offered without security. There is no need for the business owner or borrower to offer an asset as security. Thus, business loans without security are the best types of loans for them.

How to avail a Loan for Business without Security?

A business loan without security involves a certain amount of risk due to no collateral or security. Therefore, not all banks and traditional lenders offer unsecured business loans. Generally, these loans are offered by NBFCs and Online Lending Companies. So, a businessman too can avail a business loan without collateral from them.

In addition, NBFCs offer business loans at basic eligibility criteria that enable all small business owner to get access to additional funds. They require minimal documentation, offer an online loan application, and have a fast turnaround time. In fact, many NBFCs also offer business loans in just 3 days. The SME owner can look for such lenders and apply with them.

The following are the steps to apply for a business loan without security:

Search Lender: search for the loan lenders who offer collateral-free business loans. After shortlisting them, check for their eligibility criteria and other terms and conditions. Zero in on a lender whose eligibility, terms and conditions, and all other requirements you meet. This will ensure that the loan application will get approved in the first go itself.
Apply for Loan: after finalizing the lender, next, apply for a loan. If an NBFC is shortlisted, they offer an online loan application. Visit their website, fill the application online, and submit. It won’t take more than 10 minutes to fill the application. Also, with the online application, there is no need to visit the lender’s office.
Submit Documents: the last step is to submit the documents required by the lender. If you have applied for a business loan online, you can also submit documents online on the website. However, it is suggested that you upload documents in PDF format to make it easy for the lender to process the application.

Now that you know how to get a business loan without security, you can take its advantages for the benefit of your small business in India.

Tags # Business Ideas # Finance Continue Reading

Monday, April 15, 2019

05 Things to Know About Credit Card Processing (And Why It Matters) in 2019

dfs 11:53 AM 0

Credit card processing might not seem complicated, but small businesses, like home-based sellers and one-person operations, have a lot to contemplate when they accept card payments. The way to accepting credit cards is not simple at all. Getting permitted for a merchant account, utilizing the similar technology as a large business, and keeping up with the ever-changing safety protocols and needs can be harrowing assignments in their own right; all in all, the hurdles can seem insuperable. Small business holders do not need to feel as though they are at a total disadvantage. Here are top 05 Things to Know About Credit Card Processing in 2019 to stay ahead.

First, Learn The Lingo:

Accepting credit cards denotes having to know about a new vocabulary to comprehend how the cash is being moved and who is doing that. But for the majority of resource-strapped small companies, the center is more on getting the system set up than being concerned with such particulars and industry jargon.

Nonetheless, to save yourself any future annoyances should an issue come up, it is significant to at least have a little idea of what takes place behind the scenes. To begin, Intuit, the maker of the accounting program QuickBooks, identified the following few key players in the credit card processing:

Merchant Bank:

The financial institution that offers merchant account services to make transactions to bank accounts easy. (Note: There’s dissimilarity between aggregators and merchant banks. Credit card processing services, like PayPal and Square Here, are aggregators that might make merchant accounts and process your credit card transactions, but they’re not financial institutions or banks.)

Processor:

Basically, the 3rd-party middleman that takes on merchant bank errands makes credit card transactions easy and routes credit card info to the correct merchant accounts and payment networks.

Issuing Bank:

The monetary institution that issues a credit card to a consumer is called an issuing bank.

Card Payment Brand:

Credit card brands such as MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and American Express are different card payment brands.

Second, Locate The True Credit Card Processor:

Only because you are an extremely small business does not denote the credit card processing choices are limited. It all rides on the type of your business, where and how you mean to conduct your business, and how much streamlining you will require to make running your business a lot simpler.

For example, if you own mobile business, splurge a lot of your time going to trade shows or else desire the flexibility of accepting the credit card payments anyplace, a moving credit card processor is the great option for you. And if you own an electronic commerce store, contemplate a shared commerce POS (point-of-sale) system that combines credit card transactions with the accounting and CRM (customer relationship management) program to automatically merge online and offline sales data.

Third, Revenue Needs:

Despite the numerous credit card processing choices accessible, one problem to being an extremely small business is that it can be a dare to meet seller needs if the business does not make enough profits, credit card processing businesses might reject the application. Income needs differ broadly, but a few credit card processors expect at least ten thousand dollars in profits a month. If you do not meet strict revenue needs, have no fright. With a little digging, you will locate credit card processors that deal with very small businesses.

One such low-income seller is BluePay, which presents customizable solutions for companies of all sizes, from mom-and-pop shops to sellers. Others include Stripe, Helcim, and PayPal Credit Card Processing.

Forth, Security Of Data:

Small companies are held to similar security standards as large companies. Irrespective of the business’s size and which processing service you go for, you are accountable for ensuring the seller has strict standards of security and fulfillment measures primed. Such standards comprise the 3-digit CVV2 (card verification value), the PCI (Payment Card Industry) Data Security Standard, E2EE (end-to-end encryption) and SSLs (secure sockets layers) protocol.

In fact, new Payment Card Industry changes implemented 30th June 2018, need that all electronic commerce merchants update their measures of security by utilizing either Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.1 or Transport Layer Security 1.2 to encrypt better credit card and client info transmitted between their browser and server.

Fifth, The Fees Of Credit Card Processing:

Finding out the fees of accepting credit cards can look like rocket science. There is a myriad fee engaged, varying from proportions to actual dollar amounts that differ based on the kind of processor or transaction. Such fees are principally significant for extremely small business merchants who are worried that the fees of credit card processing might cut a lot into their bottom line (for example, mom-and-pop stores that need a minimum buying amount to make use of a credit card). Here are the kinds of fees extremely small businesses ought to be cautious about as they append up on a per-transaction and monthly basis:

Statement Fee:

Costs charged to cover the mailing and printing charges for credit card statements (the industry standard is ten dollars a month but can be as low as five dollars or as high as fifteen dollars per month).

Payment Gateway Fee:

Just like terminal charges, such fees apply to electronic commerce companies to process consumers' credit card information (fees differ).

Average Discount Rates Fee:

A proportion of the sale that your credit card processor keeps (rates vary).

Monthly Minimum Fee:

Costs charged to merchants who do not get to their transactional total for a month or the year (differs but might need you to disburse extra if you do not meet the least).
Transaction Fee:
A set dollar amount charged for each transaction.

AVS (Address Verification Service) Fee:

If you have an electronic commerce company, you will be charged an Address Verification Service fee on each transaction.

If you keep the things mentioned above in mind, these can really help you grow your small business. Hope that this guide will help you learn a little more about the credit card processing.

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