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Poll: the 4 smartest credit card moves
What’s the smartest credit card move you’ve ever made?
CardRatings.com asked that very question in a recent poll in the weeks leading up to the American Bankers Association’s annual “Get Smart About Credit Day,” set for Oct. 20, 2011. The ABA’s nationwide campaign aims to educate young people about sound credit card use.
The poll first appeared on the CardRatings.com home page on Sep. 23. Respondents had a choice of four answers. Here are the results:
“Got a rewards card and ran all my regular expenses through it”
48 percent. This was by far the most popular answer, chosen by nearly half of you. This means many of you are capitalizing on rewards cards to reap the benefits – cash back, airline miles and points – simply by paying your bills with your rewards credit card and paying your balance each month.
With rewards cards, you make money every time you use them.
A College Student’s Tips On Your First Credit Card
Credit card language is scary for the first-time cardholders like me.
Principal? Fixed Rate of Interest? Default rate? Oh my!
Yet these mysterious terms can be mastered and the average young person, like myself, can become a king or queen of credit! Or at the very least, new-to-credit consumers and college students need to be responsible users of credit.
At first, I didn’t see the difference between a debit card and credit card. I mean, it seemed that the same machine swipes either debit or credit in stores. But beneath the pseudo-similar pieces of plastic are two completely different transaction processes.
Swiping a debit card is like transferring money from your bank account to a store, while swiping a credit card is like signing an IOU. With a credit card, you are essentially telling the store, I want to spend $862, you swipe your credit card, and the cards bank or issuer gives the store $862. A
Cash, Points, or Miles: Which Rewards Credit Card is King?
Whenever you’re presented with credit card offers, whether through the mail or online, there is always a selling point from the issuer. Some cards reward points for every purchase that can later be redeemed for merchandise while others can hook consumers via travel rewards and free flights around the world. However, there’s always been, and will always be only one type of credit card that outperforms all others, and that’s the cash back credit card.
Mechanics Behind Rewards Cards
The mathematics on why cash back credit cards are a better value for consumers is easy to understand. You see, credit card issuers offer rewards on credit cards by creating their own conversion rate. If you own a travel rewards credit card, you earn points for every dollar spent. That’s also true for other types of rewards credit cards. Then, a Read more…
New York AG Tries to Enhance Credit CARD Act’s Student Protections
To capitalize on the consumer protections created by the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has developed a new code of conduct for in-state colleges and universities. As part of the effort, Cuomo has requested that schools across the state reveal any existing deals they have with issuers that are designed to boost revenue. The Credit CARD Act prohibits issuers from soliciting college students on campus and from offering gifts to those who apply for credit.
The State University of New York (SUNY) recently became the first institution to comply with Cuomo’s code of conduct, according to Bloomberg. The school, which has 64 campuses across New York, plans to limit the amount of advertisements students are exposed to while attending classes.
Need To Know List: 5 Credit Card Changes & 5 Credit Card Warnings
Disgruntled credit cardholders have long been grumbling about ridiculous $39 late fees and arbitrary interest rate hikes. But before you go ballistic on your credit card issuer in a way even Steven Slater could be proud of, it might bring some peace of mind to know the final stage of the CARD Act just kicked in to ease harsh credit card penalties and issuer abuses.
Know the following changes to save some money and maybe your sanity too.
- Late Payments. No more late fees as high as $39. Issuers can’t charge more than $25 for a first-time late payment. If you are late again within 6 months, issuers can charge up to $35. But if you pay on time for the next 6 months, the late penalty lowers to $25 again. In addition, late payments cannot exceed the minimum amount due, so if you are late on a $20 minimum payment , your late fee is also capped at $20.
- Inactivity fees. B
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