Your Credit Cards Guide

Dear Erica, My ex-girlfriend is going to file for bankruptcy. Why do I care, right? Because she shouldnt be able to. First, she used me for money when we were together, and I paid for everything, including her credit card bills that she constantly ran up to the hilt. I took her to nice dinners and cruises, and vacations. She bought clothes and did whatever she wanted. I was good to her, but eventually, even with my good job, I couldn’t afford her. After I stopped paying for everything, she broke up with me and still ran up the cards and now can’t pay for them. She came crying back to me asking for help or shes going to have to go bankrupt. This time I said no. Does she really have the right to tell the banks off like she did me? Dear Mario, Looks to me like you dodged a bullet with that gem! If I were you, I’d stop wasting one more precious second thinking about her, and that includes getting angry about what she does with her finances.

Not going to happen, though, is it? You’r

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American consumers took on more credit card debt in October, according to the latest G.19 statistical release from the Federal Reserve. That marks a rare in post-Lehman America back-to-back monthly increase, following an upward revision for the Septembers total, which was initially reported to have decreased by one percent, but is now updated to show a growth of 0.6 percent.

Non-revolving consumer debt in the U.S., however, grew by more than expected for a second consecutive month, even as the August number, which already was its biggest drop in three years, was pushed down by another percentage point. As a result, the aggregate outstanding consumer debt also expanded in October by more than anticipated.

The total amount of outstanding U.S.

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For all the recent talk about greed and moving money away from big banks, especially with unpopular debit card fees and rising savings account fees, there’s one thing banks are doing that may take you by surprise: cutting fees.Which Fees Are Being Cut?According to the Wall Street Journal, the big fee on the chopping block lately is foreign-transaction fees.  As a rule, if you use a credit card overseas, you’ll pay a fee to offset the costs of using two separate transaction networks, usually between 2 and 3%, especially as Europe has very different security protocols.  That’s not true anymore: Discover, Chase, and Citigroup have all completely axed those fees.Also seemingly approaching extinction is the balance transfer, which banks are starting to do away with if customers meet certain conditions, like transferring balances within the first thirty days after you open a new card with them.  Only Chase has done it so far, but other banks are considering it, and other fees might not be far behind.Just as surprising is the rise of rewards programs, at least in certain sectors.  Even as rewards programs are being cut for some customers, new and surprising ones are coming out.  For example, several companies, like Capital One, are offering rewards incentives when a customer switches balances. Some a

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CoreLogic’s CoreScore Report supplements credit data

In early October, CoreLogic, a leading provider of credit information, announced they have a report that assesses credit risk and could be used as a a supplement to the traditional credit report.  It is called the CoreScore Credit Report and is compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). It merges CoreScore consumer information and credit report data into one report. It

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Dear Eva, My credit score is low (580) thanks to a tough couple of years as a single mom, but my husband’s credit score is so much better (780). I’ve always wanted to take advantage of the kind of rewards deals that you write about, but I haven’t been able to because of my credit. Is there a way I can use my husband’s credit instead to apply for a rewards card? Would we even be approved? We’ve only been married for a year and so this would be the first time we applied for a card together. Lisa

Hi Lisa, Congratulations on your recent marriage! I’m glad your financial fortunes are taking a different turn. Making ends meet as a single mom is tough indeed.

Regarding your question, yes, technically you and your husband can apply for a credit card together. But you will want to weigh your options carefully before you do to make sure you really want to go down that road.

Let’s deal with the technical side of things first. There are two

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Reuters Linda Stern has a nice report on the huge ramp up of credit card rewards programs in the run-up to this years holiday season. Of course, the current rush to get customers to spend more heavily on their credit cards started months ago and weve been tracking its progress along the way on this blog as well.

In her piece Stern does a nice job of documenting the accelerating pace of beefing up credit rewards programs, while asserting that, as weve also been saying, it is not the imminent holiday season thats causing it. In fact, she begins by quoting an expert stating that the recently enacted Durbin Amendment, which limited the amount of the fees issuers can charge merchants for accepting debit cards for payment, has much more to do with it. I agree.

Stern gives us a preview of a list of best cards for holiday shopping, compiled by lowcards.com, a website providing credit card information.

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