Credit Cards

Credit Cards

How Credit Cards Protect Purchases

You already know about bonus travel miles and cash back rewards, but some credit card benefits stretch well beyond instant savings on a vacation getaway. Many credit cards include purchasing safeguards that protect against anything from rental car insurance to extended warranties. If you can't find your credit card policy or if you're confused by the jargon, call your bank or credit card provider to ask about the benefits you're entitled to. Taking the time to understand your credit card protection plan might determine when you use credit or cash on your next big purchase.

3 Things to Never Buy with a Credit Card

In the age of everything from constant Twitter updates to Wikileaks, it seems as if nothing is kept private anymore.  In fact, this lack of privacy is clearly apparent within the world of credit cards.  While most people would like to believe that how they spend their money is their own private information, in reality, big brother (AKA your credit card company) is always watching. That’s right; practically every purchase you make on your credit card is scrutinized by your credit issuer.  This is because credit card companies are constantly searching for patterns in spending histories that might shed some light on their customers' financial stability.

Store Credit Cards Aren't for Everyone

Walk up to any department store checkout stand and you'll hear the same sales pitch: "Would you like to save 10% today by opening a Brand X credit card?" Experts say you should think twice before you answer.

10 Best Credit Card Designs Ever

Your credit card is much more than a piece of plastic. It’s a status symbol. It’s an expression of your personality. It’s how you open your beer in a pinch.

The credit card has come a long way since the Diners Club of 1950. Now with more benefits and custom options than ever before, credit card companies are doing everything to attract customers. Even redesigning the credit card itself.

Introducing the top 10 best credit card designs:

10. Epos Card

Epos released a spectacular lineup of artistic credit cards in 2009. Here are just a few of their 100 jaw-dropping designs:

creditcard numbers

5 Credit Card Myths

[caption id="attachment_1955" align="alignleft" width="254" caption=" "]Credit Card Myths[/caption]

That shiny piece of plastic burning a rectangle-shaped hole in your wallet is one of life's trickiest necessities.

On the one hand, you can't make it much farther than 25 without some line of credit to show for yourself.

On the other, credit cards are often intimidating: whole episodes of Oprah are dedicated to really good people with decades' worth of credit card debt they didn’t mean to accrue. You're a good person. Does that mean you are going to accrue a Kilimanjaro-sized mountain of debt as well?

Buy Me Some Beer, and Then Cosign My Credit Card

What's a college student to do when he's not old enough to buy a six pack of his favorite brew? He simply asks his older frat brother to buy it for him, of course. And now that the CARD Act restricts anyone under 21 from acquiring a credit card without an adult cosigner or proof of ability to pay, students are using the same old tactic in order to skirt the intent of the law.

Ask Creditnet: Is My Credit Card Reporting Correctly?

[caption id="attachment_1773" align="alignleft" width="300" caption=" "]Ask Creditnet: Credit Card Advice from Industry Experts[/caption]

Dear Creditnet: I'm a cosigner on my son's credit card. I know, that may have been a mistake in the first place.

Recently, I pulled my credit report and found out that the account was maxed out, closed in March of last year, and then reported late for six months before he started making payments again. The account status is currently listed as "Pays As Agreed."

Card Issuers Don't Care What Credit Limit You "Need"

[caption id="attachment_1735" align="alignleft" width="300" caption=" "]Credit limits for Balance Transfer Credit Cards[/caption] Credit issuers have become quite stingy when offering new credit card limits. But who can really blame them? With unemployment high and the economy still sputtering along, it shouldn't come as a surprise that credit issuers want to do everything possible to reduce unnecessary risk. Likewise, consumers are trying to reduce their own risk by paying down credit card debt and saving more cash. According to the latest report from the Federal Reserve Bank, revolving credit decreased nearly $900 million between June and July of this year. That marks a total annual decline of 1.8 percent and suggests that Americans are truly serious about not only curbing spending but also managing their existing debt.

MasterCard's inControl: Would You Use it?

These are strange economic times we live in. I've heard others refer to it as the "new abnormal", alluding to the fact that their guess about where our economy's headed is basically as good as anyone's. And I have to agree—nothing seems to make sense anymore. People are walking away from their homes yet still vacationing and buying up the latest expensive Apple gadgets. Unemployment continues to hover around ten percent, yet I can't ever find a parking spot at the local mall. And the stock market...well, it's all over the place. Absolutely nuts! Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, may have said it best when he declared in July that our economic outlook is "unusually uncertain." Way to go out on a limb there Mr. Bernanke.  I don't know about you, but I've felt unusually uncertain for almost two years now.

Third Phase of Credit CARD Act Finally Arrives

[caption id="attachment_1624" align="alignleft" width="243" caption=" "]Photo by Andres Rueda[/caption]

Has it not felt like an eternity since President Obama first signed the Credit CARD Act into law? Here we are almost 15 months after the stroke of his pen, and we're still waiting for the final round of new credit card rules to take effect.

Fortunately, we don't have to wait much longer. Beginning August 22nd, here are five of the final key changes you should expect to see from your credit card companies:

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