CREDIT CARDS » Credit Card Rates

If you're like millions of other Americans then you've got a credit card. Just about all credit cards require you to make a minimum monthly payment on your balance of charges. Very often you choose the date you want to designate the one-month point -- say, the 1st of every month, or the 16th.

It's easy to forget when the bill is due, and when you forget the bill is due you forget to pay it, that results in you getting a late penalty fee added to your balance, and a ding in your credit history. Why doesn't the credit card notify you when your balance is do?

For the very reason that if you miss your payment date you'll get hit with a late fee, and those late fees are a big part of your credit card's profit margin.

Credit Cards Need to Make Money

It's no fun being cynical, but let's face it, when it comes to credit cards and the way they treat their members, profit is the name of the game. That's what all business is about, of course, but with credit cards its more overt, because they consciously seek to trump their members in order to get as many dollars out of them as possible.

Notifications that the credit card minimum monthly payment is due would alert plenty of people who are busy and forgotten tha it's time to pay. They'd rush to the computer, click on the "pay now" button, and all would be well.

The problem is that the credit card company wouldn't get your late fee.

Not All Credit Card Companies are Out to Get You

Some credit card companies do send out notifications that the monthly payment is due, but they are few and far between. The vast majority of credit card companies won't offer that courtesy, and can actively -- although never explicitly -- seek to confuse their members with confusing monthly statements and even counter-intuitive design of their online account pages.

When it comes to paying your monthly bill on time, you need to rely on your own organization skills to give you the necessary prompt.

One part of credit card companies' arsenal in the war against fraud is the three-digit security code found on the back of your credit card.

Why is the security code there?

Your credit card's security code is designed to make fraudulent purchases more difficult. It's primary angle is to make it a more certain that, in electronic or phone transactions, the card is actually with the person making the purchase.

If a thief has somehow gained access to your credit card information, they most likely won't have the security code because it is never included with your credit card information. It is also not printed in of one of the raised numbers on your credit card, so if a merchant makes a copy with the printed carbon method then the three-digit security code will not be retained as part of that information. So, no thief will be able to fish through Dumpsters in order to find your three-digit security code.

Remember, the code doesn't make your credit card fraud-proof

The security code on the back of your credit card has gone a long way to putting a dent in credit card fraud.

However, thieves have gotten smarter about it. One new tactic is to find your credit card information and then e-mail you with it, pretending to be your credit card company. They then ask you for your three-digit security code. Many recipients of the e-mail think it must be legitimate since it contains your information, and so they respond by giving out their security code.

To learn more about your security code, credit cards or any other credit-card related topic, be sure to speak to a representative of your credit card company.

For whatever reason, people cancel their credit cards soon after getting them.

When this happens, the credit card issuer will very often level what is called a "closed account fee." A closed account fee penalizes a card holder if he or she cancels their credit card within a certain time period...

In theory credit card protection sounds like a good idea. If a consumer has a credit card protection plan and is no longer able to pay the balance on the credit card due to job loss or illness, the credit card protection will cover the minimum payments of the credit card until you are able to...

Credit card companies are not immune to the credit crisis, and one way they're protecting themselves is by lowering credit limits wherever and whenever they can.

You might have a perfect payment history and still wake up to a $5,000 card limit that's been reduced to $500.

One of the biggest...

Somewhere in the world, a person is reviewing a stack of mail and among their correspondence is an offer from a credit card company stating "you have been pre-approved!"

Many times people shred the offer, but if you are looking for a new line of credit there are many benefits to having a...

Credit cards make a lot of their profit from fees and penalties leveled against their members. Late fees, over-limit penalties, and other sundry charges are of critical importance to the credit card companies.

As part of their tactics to squeeze more money out of members in the form of...

Since the 1970's, credit cards have become the most convenient way to pay for consumer purchases. Without them, international travel, emergency car repairs, Internet shopping and renting a car would be nearly impossible. The amazing thing about most credit cards is that they have tons of hidden...

Many credit card holders will be able to breathe a sigh of relief as they receive favorable deals from credit card issuers prior to the new law taking effect in February 2010. As a way to clean up their image after hearing months of criticism from President Obama and Congress, major banks are...

Many people like to transfer their credit card balances from one card to another. They usually do this because the new card offers a tempting introductory grace period where interest rates on the debt are either zero or very low.

These grace periods, which can last for as long as a year (but...