Wells Fargo Star Program: Fill & Download for Free

Answering for consumers located in the United States.If you are only looking for the lowest rate, you are going to be sorely disappointed. Any unethical lender will advertise shockingly low mortgage interest rates. What you’re missing is more facts. Either the mortgage product is not the product you want or need, or the other fees attached to that mortgage rate are significantly higher.Just google “mortgage interest rates.”Today, the first four are ads. Avoid.Fifth result is from Wells Fargo. Avoid Wells Fargo until they break up that bank and/or remove all executive management.A little farther down is Bankrate. Click on that. Do you understand anything you’re looking at?If not, stop shopping for the “lowest rates.” You will be very easy to deceive and manipulate by unethical mortgage lenders.Better idea: Shop for THE PERSON. Look for a LOCAL, licensed, highly ethical loan originator located in the city in which you live. Perhaps the bank where you do your banking, unless it’s Wells Fargo.After you talk with a loan originator at your bank or credit union, find a licensed loan originator who works for a non-bank mortgage lender. And then find a local, licensed, loan originator who works for a mortgage broker.Ask for referrals from friends and family. Ignore Zillow Five Star reviews which can be manipulated. There will be a company name or a person’s name that will keep coming up. Word of mouth referrals are the hardest to obtain. This means the person has a long history of taking care of his or her clients. This person will have a long history of helping to educate his or her clients as to why the lowest rate may not be the best choice. Sometimes a slightly higher rate and a better loan program will be a better choice. You should be given choices with “reasons for” and “reasons against” The loan originator can even write all these reasons down for you, if needed.Last, I would ask the three people you are interviewing, “Why should I work with you and not your competitor?”Avoid all internet based lenders. Go local.Hope that helps and good luck!

At a high level, the different types of companies involved with card payments are:Processor: A processor is a front-end network that enables a terminal, point of sale device or gateway to connect to the credit card networks for an authorization from an issuing bank. A processor is often also an authorization network and sometimes a bank, but not always. An example is Authorize/Cybersource (now Visa).Authorization network: They electronically settle sales tickets to a back-end network for eventual funding to a merchant's bank account. This is done through the automated clearing house (ACH) system by way of the acquiring bank. Front-end networks can be tied to back-end networks; they can also be separate. Examples are Global Payments, Chase Paymentech and First Data.Acquiring bank: An acquirer is normally a bank with a unique Bank Identification Number (BIN) that enables merchants to access the card networks for processing. Sometimes an acquiring bank rents their ability to acquire in what's known as a rent-a-bin. Examples are J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Fifth Third Bank.Issuing bank: Issuing banks give credit cards to consumers and manage all the associated activities with a card program.Debit network: Debit networks are traditionally used for ATM transactions, but are making a push into payments with pinless and pin debit for card not present retail transactions. Examples are Star and Plus.Credit network: They consist of member banks that market card brand acceptance to merchants. They are responsible for compliance and overseeing the way their card brands are marketed on both the issuing (issuing cards to cardholders) and acquiring (accepting payments at the POS) sides of this business. Examples are Visa and Mastercard.ISO: This term is often used to indicate anyone selling bankcard services to merchants.Agent: An agent is an individual selling bankcard services to merchants for an ISO.Program Manager: Normally program management refers to a prepaid product, but is applicable to credit as well - in particular white label card programs. Program management can be identified as "being fully responsible for all manner of day to day operations in support of program, including but not limited to back office support functions interfacing with processor systems to ensure accurate account set up; individual card account maintenance, balancing and reconciling; chargeback and dispute resolution; lost and stolen card reporting; fraud reporting; customer service; and any other aspect of management of the program."Card Program: The total concept of the bank issued and settled cards in a Program Manager's portfolio whereby cardholders will be issued cards for funds distribution.Also part of the credit card ecosystem are companies that provide ACH processing, identity verification, card printing, direct mail, fraud prevention, lock box, point of sale and terminal hardware, and PCI compliance.I'm sure I've missed some others and there are many different types of relationships between these types of businesses, but this should be a good start for someone just learning about payments.

The scary thing about searching for a loophole is that if you look long enough someone is going to come around and sell you one.TL/DR: Don’t look for loopholesIf you are interested in learning about first time home buyer’s programs, talk to a skilled loan officer.My experience has taught me that you will get better answers talking to a mortgage specific company’s loan officer rather than a big bank’s mortgage division like Wells Fargo simply because a big bank will only try to sell you products they offer. A company like Guild Mortgage (not in every state) will have access to a wider range of products and if they find that a big bank’s product will suit you best then they will point you in that direction.I also don’t think its ever too early to meet with a loan officer. Maybe you have bad credit that can be fixed in 6 months, so its better to discover that sooner so you can make the changes required before you begin your home search.Do some research in your state. Check Yelp and Facebook for loan officers that have long written reviews. I think this is more valuable than those that have more reviews. For example, someone with fifty 5-star reviews on yelp but have one sentence or less explanations seems fishy to me compared to the company with less reviews but paragraphs of explanations.If someone is wiling to take the time to write a couple paragraphs, that means they really care.Cheers, and good luck!