CREDIT CARD RATES » Credit Card Rates

Today’s post is courtesy of Mr Credit Card from www.askmrceditcard.com.

The credit card is an essential tool to any traveler. Its most important function is to purchase services that cannot easily be secured by cash or even debit cards. Hotels and rental car companies require a large deposit for reservations made without a credit card. Using a credit card to purchase airline tickets ensures that your ticket cost is not lost in the event the airline should go out of business or fail to provide transportation and a timely refund.

MasterCard is making available a unique spin on its usual credit card offers. MasterCard MoneySend(TM) is offering a way for customers to send money to others through their iPhones and iPads as a free app download.

By working with a participating bank or opening a virtual prepaid account, customers could “send,” “pay” or “request funds” for a wide variety of reasons to everyone from friends to business clients. The customer must have an existing MasterCard payment card or checking account to use. (Market Watch)

Due to newer technologies cropping up around the world, Americans who travel internationally have found that they have difficulty using their credit cards when making purchases. To address this issue, JustAskGemalto.com is hosting a free webcast, which will set out to help international travelers prevent the problems they encounter when using their credit cards abroad.

The webcast is called What You Need to Know about Your Credit Card Before Traveling Abroad and will offer tips from frequent international travelers and educate on how to have a positive financial traveling experience. It is set for 1 p.m. EDT on July 21 and will broadcast live on www.thomson-webcast.net (KansasCity.com).

Retail credit cards are not known for their advantages over traditional credit cards. They often come with low limits, excessive fees or high interest rates. However, some retail credit cards stand out among the rest for their notable perks and features.

Cardratings.com recently conducted a survey to determine how many students carry student loan debt on their credit cards and discovered that a much lower number than expected actually do.

According to the survey, a total of 36 percent carry some or all student loan debt on their cards. While this number may seem big, the company determined that the 64 percent that don’t is very encouraging.

While most lawmakers have been in support of regulations like credit card reform that protect consumers, some states have become unlikely allies to banks when it comes to the idea of raising credit card fees.

Treasurers from at least eight states want to send letters to lawmakers over concerns that proposed limits on the fees that card issuers charge businesses for processing purchases could endanger state programs that use prepaid cards pay out benefits like unemployment insurance. The senate passed an amendment to financial regulation recently asking for the limit to help avoid fees from being passed to consumers. (Washington Post)

Going to college is the next stage up before  having the full responsibility of work, family, and financial obligations. As a college student  you’re in the perfect position to enjoy your last four years of freedom. To help aid you in their final quest of independence, there are credit card companies soliciting you to join the credit world. There are both pros and cons to having college student credit cards that you should be aware of.

You may know that your credit history is the measure of your financial health. By responsibly paying off bills and living within your means you can build your credit score. That credit score will ultimately entitle you to the best interest rates out there for auto loans, mortgages and securing all the credit you need.

Visa recently conducted a survey that looked at how consumers felt about a new amendment in Wall Street reform that would allow some of the fees associated with processing debit cards to be passed from retailers to consumers.

According to the survey, an overwhelming 83 percent of respondents were opposed to the amendment’s requirement that debit cardholders would likely pay fees for owning and using their debit cards if the government was to establish the prices retailers pay for accepting the cards. Because of the strong opposition, it is likely that the amendment will not make it into the final version of the bill. (Market Watch)

Both Standard and Poor’s and Fitch released data showing that credit card delinquencies had decreased in the month of May. According to S&P, the total number of delinquencies fell for the sixth consecutive month from 5.4 percent to 5.2, while Fitch data showed that delinquencies actually reached a 17-month low.

In the S&P report, it was also noted that card charge-offs had decreased to 10.1 percent from 10.2 percent in April. However, while delinquencies had decreased in both reports month-over-month, they’d actually increased some from the same month in the previous year (Wall Street Journal).

If you have had a history of making late payments on your credit cards, you may be relieved to learn that the Federal Reserve placed a cap on penalty fees recently. Now, credit card issuers are only allowed to impose up to $25 dollars in fees.

In addition, the Fed has eliminated their ability to impose inactivity fees, or fees that result from a cardholder not using the card over a certain period of time. And issuers will not be allowed to charge more in penalty fees than the actual payment amount (i.e. $25 fee on $20 minimum payment). These changes are a part of the third stage of implementing the Credit CARD Act. (Market Watch)