The October 2007 issue of Consumer Reports has a long article reporting the results of their Credit Card opinion survey of 36,298 readers. They rate 20+ credit cards based on primarily customer service.

The top rated Credit Card was USAA’s Federal Savings Card. Credit Union cards also had good customer service ratings.

Of the major issuers, American Express and Discover were rated in the top 10.

HSBC, Chase, MBNA and Capital One were rated near the bottom in customer service.

What does this mean?

If you tend to interact with your card-issuer a lot on the phone, consider American Express and Discover cards. I’ve found Discover to be especially helpful in certain cases, and their phone service is usual very good. American Express card holders tend to expect premium service - since it’s a selling point for many Amex high-end cards.

If you tend to pay your balance off, and never miss a payment date or incur a late fee, you should be OK with any card. In those cases, you should look for low-interest credit cards or rewards program cards.

The article also gives tips on lowering your interest rate by informing your issuer that you intend to switch cards or cancel your card. According to CR, “57 percent of people who bargained with their banks or card issuers over fees saved $50 or more.”

If you have a decent credit rating, and hold more than one credit card, you probably have received convenience checks from your credit card company.

To stop these mailings, just call the customer service number for your credit card company (usually printed on the back of your card).

Basically, these are checks that draw a cash advance from your credit card, usually for hefty charge of 3% of the check amount (usually up to a max of $75 for each check). Of course, for your convenience, the credit issuer is also charging interest on the amount, when it goes on your card statement.

In other words, these checks can be very costly forms of cash advances. Even when they have incentive interest rates lower then your credit card APR.

I have so many credit cards that I used to get 1 or 2 mailings per week with these checks. Of course, I shredded them. They are a pain - because they are a bit of a security risk - if they fall into wrong hands.

The mails have no instructions of opting-out of getting sent these convenience checks. However, all you have to do is call customer service for your card company and request that they stop mailing you.

Look on the back on the card, and call them. Request that they stop sending you these conveinence checks.

This works for Chase cards and Discover cards.

There is a great market today for Airline Miles credit cards, so how can you make sense between all those offers ? Read the following point and you might be able to develop a winning strategy

• Ask more than one dollar per mile.
  Anyone who is still earning only one mile per dollar or collecting points on only one airline should rethink his or her cards.
• Consider the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Card
  For every 20,000 points you redeem, Starwood gives you an extra 5,000 points for free, which means you’re really receiving 1.25 miles per dollar spent. You can redeem them on 30 airlines, including every major U.S. carrier, and you need never stay at a Starwood hotel to reap these benefits. Be aware that it can take weeks to exchange points for miles on the airline you select, so the program isn’t great for last-minute tickets. Otherwise, the Starwood card is one of the most powerful ways to earn miles. What’s more, you pay no fee the first year and only $30 annually thereafter.
• Consider the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card American Express
  Like some other airline-branded cards, it awards double miles on certain purchases—such as when you use it at supermarkets, gas stations, and home-improvement stores. Additionally, the card ran a promotion awarding double miles on every purchase last November and December. If Delta miles are hard to redeem, you can use them on alliance partners Continental and Northwest. Remember however that to rake the largest gain you have to use it only for purchases that award double miles.
• Consider a card that gives you “elite-qualifying miles”
  If your priority is to keep or achieve elite status, which provides perks such as express check-in and early boarding. Ordinarily you must fly 25,000 miles annually on one airline to earn elite status. If you’re short a few thousand miles, you can get the boost you need from a card that provides elite-qualifying miles.
• Don’t stop collecting miles on your preferred airline just because it is in bankruptcy.
  
  From 1991 through 2005, no one with a frequent-flier program was ever harmed by the bankruptcy of a major carrier. On the contrary, troubled airlines often sweeten the deal for frequent fliers to make sure they don’t flee. Soon after Delta declared bankruptcy, for example, it offered double miles for every purchase made with a Delta AmEx.
  .
• Beware credit cards offering airline miles that aren’t really airline miles.
  
  Fly any airline, anytime—no blackout dates or seat restrictions,” promises the no-fee Capital One Visa. Sounds great, until you learn that the number of miles needed for a free ticket varies based on the cost of the flight. A $500 domestic ticket, for instance, would require 40,000 miles rather than the typical 25,000. Another problem with Capital One miles: You can’t use them for upgrades or pool them with the miles you get through airline programs, and you must redeem them at least 21 days before the flight. “The marketers call them airline miles,” says Petersen, “but they’re not.”
• Consider the Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card American Express or United Mileage Plus Platinum Class Signature Visa
  Choose one of these two cards if your priority is upgrades. It’s getting harder to obtain upgrades through elite status, so you are better off racking up points on these cards.For more information on this subject you can refer to
  The Perrin Report

Small businesses should consider getting a cashback reward card. These return from 1% to 5% of your spending as credit to your account. This can add up to a significant amount for most small businesses.

One of the best cash back programs comes from Advanta.

• Advanta’s Business Platinum Cards have low APRs - generally 7.99%, and they have generous rewards - 5% in the Gas, Office Supplies, Computers and Internet services. You should use this card to pay for your computer hosting and network service. You receive a check every month, and there is no limit on rewards earned.

Other choices for cash back business cards include:

• American Express SimplyCash Business Card - You will receive a Rebate of 5% for Purchases of wireless telephone services, automobile gasoline, and office supplies and equipment, in each case not purchased at a warehouse club, superstore or supermarket (“5% Purchase(s)”). You will receive a Rebate of 1% for Purchases in all other categories
• Chase Business Cash Rewards Card - Earn 1 point per $1 for new net purchases totaling $0 to $2,000 each billing cycle. New net purchases totaling over $2,000 and up to $2,500 will earn 5 points per $1, and new net purchases totaling over $2500 will earn 1.25 points per $1.

Credit Card Market Share - Visa Leads

According to the Feb. 2007 Nilson Report, there are 878 million credit and debit cards carrying the Visa and Master Card brands. That’s about 3 credit cards for every person in the US.

Here is the market share by 2006 purchase volume of the top general purpose cards - credit and debit:

• Visa Credit : 31%
• MasterCard Credit: 22%
• Visa Debit: 21%
• Amex Credit: 17%
• MasterCard Debit: 7%
• Discover Credit: 4%

The total purchase on volume on credit cards in the US was $2.4 trillion dollars in 2006.

Random Factoid: Visa processed 52% of that volume. That’s an average of $39,000 per second for the entire year.

You can call 1-888-567-8688 to opt-out of pre-approved credit card mails.

Every day, I get a few ‘pre-approved’ credit card offers in the mail. Today I got one for the American Express Green card. I noticed however, they have easy instructions for removing your name from mailing lists.

If you have good credit and receive a lot of pre-screened credit card offers from companies like Chase, American Express or Discover, it’s a good idea to call the credit bureaus and stop these offers from coming. You’ll eliminate a ton of junk-mail, and decrease the likelihood of identity theft.

There are several ways to do this:

• Call toll-free: 1-888-5-OPTOUT
• Visit: http://www.optoutprescreen.com/
• Write:
  • TransUnion Name Removal Option, PO BOX 505, Woodlyn PA 19094
  • Experian Information Solutions, PO BOX 919, Allen TX 75103
  • Equifax Options, PO Box 740123, Atlanta GA, 30374-0123

By calling the toll-free number or going to the opt-out web site, Equifax, Experian, Innovis and TransUnion are notified to stop offers within five business days of your request.

It’s worth doing now, because it will take a few months for the offers to stop coming altogether.  Since your name may have already been provided to some companies that have not yet mailed their offers, you may continue to receive offers for several months.

Discover is promoting a new credit card called the “Discover Motiva Card“.

Th Motiva card is designed for people who generally carry a balance and pay their payments on time.

The benefit of this new card is that when you make 6 months worth of payments on time, the following month’s interest rate will be added to your cash back account.

Compared to the regular Discover More card, which earns cash back, the benefit of the Motiva card is that when you are carry a large balance, you are not using it much for purchases, just trying to pay it off, so on the More card it wouldn’t earn cash back rewards for purchasing, whereas the Motiva card is reducing your interest cost.

If you have a good credit rating, Motiva might be a good card to consolidate your balance transfers on.
Here are the details on the Motiva card.

• Pay-On-Time Bonus equal to a full month’s interest each time you make 6 on-time payments in a row- twice a year, every year when you pay on-time every month
• 5% to 20% Cashback Bonus® at top online retailers through our exclusive online site
• Up to 1% Cashback Bonus on all other purchases
• Free payment by phone or online - even on your due date
• $0 fraud liability guarantee

Difference Between the Discover More Card and the Discover Motiva Card

The Discover More is the one that offers the “Get more program” that pays 5% cash back. That is where Discover offers popular categories that change 4 times during the year that pay the higher amount. They are free to you, but you do have to activate each category that you are interested in.

The Discover Motiva Card will offer the interest back to you twice a year for payments made on time. That is the difference between the two cards.

Both cards do pay up to 1% on all purchases.

Each year, millions of dollars are lost due to fraudulent use of
charge and credit cards. Reduce the risk of your business being
victimised by following some basic guidelines.

• Check the overall appearance of the Card.
  Does it look tampered with? Is the signature panel taped or painted
  over with correction fluid or erased? Are there valid dates shown on
  the front of the Card? Ensure that the account number on the front of
  the Card matches the one on the back of the Card, and that they both
  match the account number printed on the receipt.
• Don’t overlook the basics
  Always examine security features on credit cards when accepting them.
  Compare the account number printed on a customer’s card must match the
  account number printed on the sales draft. Also always compare
  signatures when accepting a card for payment.
• Use special care for phone and Internet orders
  When taking orders over the phone, or over the Internet, ask the
  customer for the card expiration date.
  On top of that ask the customer for the Card Verification Value 2
  (CVV2) as part of the authorization process.
  CVV2 is a three-digit security number imprinted on the signature panel
  of Visa cards to help validate the cardholder has the genuine card in
  their possession. If the customer is using an American Express card
  check the Card ID which is a four digit code printed on the face of
  the Card.
• Be aware of the suspicious characteristics of a transaction
  Be alert for transactions by first-time shopper, larger than normal
  orders, orders consisting of several of the same item, orders made up
  of ‘big-ticket’ items, orders shipped ‘rush’ or ‘overnight’, and
  orders shipped to an international address.
• Be aware of the suspicious characteristics of a customer
  Be alert for customers that make several small purchases to stay
  under the floor limit, or ask what the floor limit is or a customer
  that is looking at the Card before signing the Record of Charge. Also
  watch out for customers who purchase a lot of merchandise without
  regard to size, style, colour or price, or those who try to distract
  or rush you during the sale. This type of behaviour could signal card
  fraud.
• Watch out for skimming
  Skimming is an illegal act that helps criminals obtain credit card
  account information through a device to produce counterfeit cards. If
  you see anyone in your workplace using a device that is not part of
  your day-to-day activity, call your company security immediately.
• Use Internet wisdom
  Be on the lookout for purchases where multiple cards are used from a
  single IP (Internet Protocol) address, or those where orders are
  charged to multiple cards but are shipped to the same address - these
  could signal fraudulent activity. Also your business should only
  conduct transactions on the Internet using browser software that
  supports industry standard encryption protocols. Make sure to protect
  systems and data from viruses, and update security software
  frequently.For data maintained on databases or files accessible from the
  Internet, and any data sent across networks make sure that standard
  encryption is used.
• Protect your business and your customers
  Do not store unnecessary track data from credit cards.
  Know your employees. Check references or conduct background checks on
  all your employees. Credit card companies are continuously working to prevent credit card
  fraud, to find out more you can check
  http://www.visa.ca/en/merchant/fraudprevention
  or
  http://www24.americanexpress.com/thailand/en/merchant/manage/reducefraud.asp

Each year, millions of dollars are lost due to fraudulent use of charge and credit cards.
Reduce the risk of you being the victim by following these basic guidelines

• Don’t leave your credit cards unattended.
  If you usually leave your cards in the car be aware that a very high proportion of credit cards are stolen from motor vehicles. Also always keep your cards with you at work, there are more credit card thefts in the workplace than in any other single location. As a general advice never carry credit cards you don’t use.
• Always check your card when returned to you after a purchase.
  Remember to sign credit cards, in ink, as soon as they arrive and then every time you use it make sure that the card that is returned to you is your card.
• Do not provide account data to someone over the phone
  If you really have to do it make sure you are the one who initiated the call and the company you are talking to is reputable.
• Take good care of your credit card receipts
  They may include your credit card number so never toss them in a public trash bin. You’ll need that receipt later anyway to tally things up when your statement arrives. When you eventually decide you don’t need them anymore shred them.
• Shred all documents that might include your credit card number
  To prevent identity theft shred them before disposing of them - old slips, credit card statements, bills, anything.
• Never respond to an e-mail asking for your number
  No matter how official or legitimate the mail looks, this is one of the most popular fraudulent activities.
• Review your monthly statement
  Do that as soon as it comes and report any problems right away. To insure your rights, follow-up by filing a written complaint form.
• Always use the credit option on a bank card
  If you are given the choice between credit or debit always use credit as this may prevent the skimmer device from accessing your four digit pin number.
• Apply for a Photo Credit card
  The picture as is added security measure which could help your identity from being impersonated in merchant establishments.
• Keep a record of your card numbers
  Record their expiration dates, and the phone numbers and addresses of each creditor, in a secure place.

For more information on this subject you can refer to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_card_fraud or
http://www.ckfraud.org/credit_card.html

Cash back credit cards provide cardholders with cash rebates or cash
rewards for making purchases with their cards. The reward is usually a
percentage of purchases charged on the card, and usually up to a
limit.

Here is a list of the some of the most popular cash back
credit cards

If you are thinking about getting one of these credit cards here
are the things you need to be aware of

• Retailers pay for your reward
  You might be wondering how all the credit card companies can afford to
  give you cash back. They can do it because retailers and merchants are
  charged a fee for every purchase that you make with the card. So in
  essence, they take back a portion of that fee as your cash back
  reward.

• Beware of the annual fee
  Since cash back programs still end up being pretty costly to the
  credit card companies, some cash back credit cards will have an annual
  fee, which can range from around $25 to as much as $100, which will be
  incurred after you apply and are approved for the card. However there
  are still plenty of “No annual fee” cash back credit cards to choose
  from, so we would advice to look at those first.

• Check the percentage
  Normally, a cash back credit card will have a cash rebate of around
  1%, which is the industry standard.

• Cash back percentages can vary with time and merchants
  Most card issuers established a tiered level of rebates that were tied
  to amounts charged to the card. Scenarios such as 1/10th of 1% for
  monthly purchase below some high dollar amount, such as $2,500.
  Other cards will offer you a higher cash back percentage at select
  merchants, such as gas stations, supermarkets and select retailers.
  It’s up to you to decide which one will serve you best.

• Check where the percentage applies
  Be mindful that most cash back cards typically only offer cash back on
  purchases, so if you are transferring a balance or getting cash
  advances you might not get any reward from those actions.

• Cash Back cards are for people that don’t carry a balance
  Cash back cards typically have higher APR’s (roughly 1% higher)
  compared to standard platinum credit cards. If you carry a monthly
  balance, the higher interest rate on cash back credit cards will more
  than offset the rebate that you’ll receive and you’ll end up paying
  back the cash rebate in the form of higher interest charges to the
  card issuer. A recent survey by BankRate.com revealed that four out of
  five cardholders preferred to receive lower interest rates rather than
  cash back.