For the fourth year in a row, American Express has topped the charts in the 2010 J.D. Power and Associates U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study. Released last week, the study indicates that AmEx received a customer service ranking of 769 on a 1,000 point scale, which was 12 points higher than the runner up—Discover Card. In addition, AmEx was the only credit issuer to receive five out of five J.D. Power.com Power Circles. Bringing up the rear for the ten major credit issuers analyzed in the study was HSBC, which received a ranking a 686 and just two out of five power circles.

This holiday season, Citibank is offering new student cardholders of its Citi Forward(SM) Card for College Students and Citi® mtvU™ Platinum Select® Visa® Card for College Students enough bonus points to redeem $25 in gift cards and more. While credit is being portrayed poorly in the media right now, it's refreshing to see some credit issuers like Citibank actually step up and offer incentives to customers for responsible use of credit.

I've heard a lot of hype during the last few days about Citi's new Forward card, so I thought I would take a closer look at what benefits the card really offers to consumers. I must admit that after a quick review of the details, it seems as though the card can actually be quite rewarding. And it has no annual fee! I especially like that part of the deal.

It's a rare day when you are able to walk through any major city's downtown or financial district without being asked at least once: "Can you spare some change?" My answer is always, "No, sorry!" It's not that I'm void of all compassion or that I don't want to give away the money I've worked so hard to earn. But unless the panhandler has a credit card machine in his pocket, I literally can't spare change because I don't physically have any! I cannot remember the last time my wallet even came close to smelling the scent of a USD bill of any denomination.