|
Credit Card News
Jill Jaracz is the writer for the Credit Card News section of our website. Jill Jaracz is a freelance writer who's published articles on consumer finance, identity, authentication and consumer goods and services for outlets such as NFC News, Third Factor, How Stuff Works and Content That Works. Prior to becoming a freelance writer, Jill spent a decade as a researcher at The Boston Consulting Group. View her portfolio at jilljaracz.com.
New Guide Takes Mystery out of Prepaid Cards
Many people are discovering the advantages of using reloadable prepaid cards as an alternative to credit cards. These cards typically look like a credit card--they can have the same brand, like Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover, and can be used at locations that accept credit cards....Continue Reading (May 16, 2012)
Contactless Credit Cards Could Encourage Spending
Credit cards have all sorts of features like points and miles that can entice consumers to use them. While studies have shown that credit cards in general can encourage people to spend more than if they were just using cash, can the technology within a credit card also change consumer spending....Continue Reading (May 9, 2012)
Chase and LivingSocial Offer a Deal of a Card
Over the last several years, websites that offer online daily deals have captured the imaginations of online shoppers and have provided affordable ways to explore local businesses. Lovers of LivingSocial's online offers and experiences now have a new way to earn reduced or free deals with a new LivingSocial and Chase Card Services co-branded credit card....Continue Reading (May 2, 2012)
Women Pay More than Men for Credit Cards, Study Finds
Women may be more apt than men to think of shopping as retail therapy, but if they rack up credit card debt, they certainly may be paying more than men, a new study finds....Continue Reading (April 26, 2012)
Springtime Means New Bonuses for Popular Rewards Cards
With April and the official start of the second quarter underway, it's time for cardholders to get a handle on the new bonus categories available to them through their rewards cards....Continue Reading (April 18, 2012)
Convenience Stores Pass Credit Card Fees on to Customers
Most people have noticed that the price of gas is creeping up again. With the national average at $3.927 per gallon for regular gas, consumers are paying nearly 16 cents more per gallon than they did a year ago....Continue Reading (April 11, 2012)
Discover Expands Internationally, Sets EMV Mandate
For the first time in its 26-year history, Discover will make its credit card available outside of the United States, when Banco Pichincha in Ecuador starts issuing cards. The international expansion is a new extension to Discover's franchise agreement with Diners Club Ecuador (DCE) that allows Discover cards to be issued in a non-U.S. country....Continue Reading (April 3, 2012)
American Express Cardholders Can Tweet for Savings
This month, American Express started a new social media program that gives cardholders the chance to earn special offers from national merchants just for tweeting about them....Continue Reading (March 27, 2012)
Contactless Payments: The Faster Way to Pay
Part of the drudgery of shopping is getting stuck in line behind several people who pay for their purchases with a credit card. You have to wait for what seems like forever while the credit card reader processes the transaction and prints out a receipt for the customer to sign. However, some credit cards have the capability to speed up the payment process so that you can get through the check out line and out of the store in a flash....Continue Reading (March 20, 2012)
MasterCard Offers "Priceless" City Experiences
MasterCard has taken its popular "priceless" advertising campaign and has turned it into an opportunity to enjoy unique experiences in its Priceless Cities initiative. Launched last July, MasterCard started off this initiative with Priceless New York, which offered cardholders the opportunity to go to events and experiences like special dinners and events with famed New York chefs, the opportunity to get tickets to special music performances, a family sleepover at the Bronx Zoo, special savings at retail stores and more....Continue Reading (March 14, 2012)
Plain Vanilla Cards Pack a Big Punch
Sometimes you don't need anything fancy, which is perhaps why plain vanilla is the best selling flavor of ice cream, so says the International Dairy Foods Association. In the world of credit cards, while rewards cards and other perks get a lot of airplay, there are still plain vanilla cards that can be good options for your wallet. These cards have no annual fees, no rewards and sometimes offer low rates....Continue Reading (March 7, 2012)
Scrap the Plastic: A New Way to Pay is Coming
This week, some new plans for mobile payment options were announced, paving the way for consumers to be able to ditch the plastic in their wallets and pay for purchases using a mobile wallet feature on their cell phones....Continue Reading (February 29, 2012)
Americans' Financial Situation Improving - Not Out of the Woods
This month, credit monitoring company Equifax released the results of its National Credit Trends Report, which looks trends in consumer credit card and other types of loan data. The study analyzed quarterly data on an anonymous subset of consumers from Equifax's credit database who had more than one installment loan or revolving account and reported on the percentage of income credit card represented on a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) basis....Continue Reading (February 22, 2012)
True Romance Is About Discussing Finances
The fancy chocolates have been eaten; the gourmet meal digested and the expensive flowers have died. Another Valentine's Day is over, and so is the money you put into it. In fact, if you're one of the millions of Americans who have credit card debt, you might regret your spending when the credit card statement arrives next month, especially if it turns into an argument with your partner over money....Continue Reading (February 15, 2012)
FTC Action Stops Fake Credit Card Telemarketing Operation
On February 3, the Federal Trade Commission announced that a federal judge has issued an order to a telemarketing operation to temporarily stop its credit card selling operation, stating that the company allegedly sold phony credit cards and took money from its customers' bank accounts without permission....Continue Reading (February 8, 2012)
MasterCard Lays Out EMV Roadmap
This week, MasterCard announced its plan for the migration from magnetic stripe cards to EMV chip cards in the United States. This plan is to help prepare the market for the adoption of the cards next year....Continue Reading (February 1, 2012)
Sovereign Bank Launches a "Sphere" of a Simplified Card
Credit card holders in the northeastern United States have a new option when it comes to rewards cards. This month, Sovereign Bank launched its Sphere Visa Signature Credit Card....Continue Reading (January 25, 2012)
New Year Starts with Mixed News on Credit Defaults
2012 has started off with a mixed bag of results for many credit card issuers, as some banks and lenders are seeing their delinquency and default rates drop, while others are noting an increase....Continue Reading (January 18, 2012)
|