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The 6 Top Credit Cards for 0% APR on Purchases

by Luke Landes

Updated March 20, 2008. If you manage your money well and can afford to do so, there’s nothing wrong with using 0 percent offers to make larger purchases. Taking this approach gives you two advantages: you can leave more of your money in savings earning interest and use inflation to your advantage. (Your $100 final payment ... Continue reading this article…

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Consumer Reports: Best and Worst Credit Card Issuers

by Luke Landes

Consumer Reports surveyed customers in an effort to find the best credit card companies when it comes to incidences of interest rate problems, incidences of bill-timing problems, and effectiveness of problem resolution. If you’ve paid for a subscription to Consumer Reports, you can view the results here. At the very top of the list is ... Continue reading this article…

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Don’t Tell Teens Too Much About Credit Cards

by Luke Landes

I wrote earlier about the JumpStart Coalition‘s highlight of the Citi Curriculum for children in kindergarten through young adults. I thought this curriculum had excellent suggestions for teaching students of a variety of ages about basic tenets of money management. Janet Bodnar, an author and seminar leader, thinks these lessons have too many details. I ... Continue reading this article…

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New American Express Bonus: 40,000 Points (for Big Spenders)

by Luke Landes

The American Express Business Gold Rewards Card recently changed its sign-up offer. Previously, the card offered 25,000 bonus points redeemable for a round-trip airline ticket, $250 in gift certificates, or $125 in cash. Now the card is offering 40,000 bonus points, but there is a catch. Here are all the details. 5,000 welcome bonus points ... Continue reading this article…

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A Credit Card With No Late Fees?

by Luke Landes

Over the last year or two, credit card companies in general have been ratcheting up fees, perhaps to make up for more and more people who are learning to avoid them and to pay for the generous rewards they have been offering until recently. For example, it’s difficult to find full 0 percent balance transfer offers. ... Continue reading this article…

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5 Good Reasons to Avoid Debit Cards

by Luke Landes

I have two checking accounts. One is with Wachovia, which has been my main checking account (through bank mergers and acquisitions) for the last 15 years or so. The other is with ING Direct, which is a more recent development. Both checking accounts have provided me with debit cards which can be used to access ... Continue reading this article…

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Reader Question: Timing of Credit Card Payments

by Luke Landes

Today I received a question from a reader about the timing of credit card payments. He asked, “Is it better to pay credit off right away or wait until the bill is due?” Assuming you are in the habit of paying off your credit card every month — and therefore you are never charged interest ... Continue reading this article…

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Capital One’s New Breed of Debit Cards: Would You Use It?

by Luke Landes

Capital One has created a new kind of debit card, and the company is hoping it will replace traditional debit cards or even credit cards. This new debit card can be linked to any account at any bank and can be used for purchases or ATM withdrawals. There will be no fees, and Capital One ... Continue reading this article…

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Rent Payment Options at My New Apartment

by Luke Landes

Reminder: So far there has been a very good response to the Consumerism Commentary reader survey. If you have not yet done so, please complete the survey so I can learn about you and improve this blog. Last night, I signed the lease for my new apartment. While doing so, I asked about payment options. ... Continue reading this article…

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FICO Will Eliminate Common Way to Build Credit

by Luke Landes

One of the most common ways for young people, say teenagers, to build credit is to become an authorized user on one or more of their parents’ credit cards. This way, they immediately have a significant amount of available credit, and by the time they need a credit score after college, they might have a ... Continue reading this article…

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Credit Cards With Sign-Up Bonuses

by Luke Landes

If you’re a responsible user of credit cards — someone who pays their balance off each month — or if you use credit cards for business purposes, then you may be able to benefit from some of the offers from credit card companies. I wouldn’t suggest these cards for anyone who pays interest on their ... Continue reading this article…

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Components of Your FICO Credit Score

by Luke Landes

While the formula that Fair Isaac uses to determine your credit score is a closely-guarded secret, the company does provide an overview of what they use in the calculation. Looking at these components, it becomes pretty clear what the company looks for when providing the best scores, which will assist in qualifying the borrower for ... Continue reading this article…

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Should You Pay Your Mortgage With a Credit Card?

by Luke Landes

Whenever it has been allowed by my landlords, I’ve paid my rent with my credit card. For me, this type of arrangement makes sense. I have the money to pay the credit card bill right away, and I earn cash back for using my Citi Dividend Platinum Select. The cash back isn’t the only benefit. ... Continue reading this article…

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Money Magazine’s 7 Best Reward Credit Cards

by Luke Landes

Updated: Here are 15 Credit Cards With the Best Rewards. This month’s issue of Money Magazine contains an article with credit card recommendations for a variety of spending types. Here’s the run-down. For big spenders: Blue Cash from American Express. This card offers an introductory 0 percent APR on purchases for six months, but the best ... Continue reading this article…

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4 (Plus 1) Great Credit Cards Offering 0% on Purchases

by Luke Landes

For people who are responsible with managing money, sometimes it makes sense to pay for large purchases with a 0 percent APR loan or credit card. The reasoning is fairly simple. If you have a card that is offering an introductory rate of 0 percent on purchases, and if inflation for the year is running 3 percent to ... Continue reading this article…

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Another Form of Credit Card Arbitrage

by Luke Landes

After writing about the effect CitiBank’s new balance transfer fee has on balance transfer arbitrage, I received an email from a reader, Andy, who has an idea to take advantage of healthcare savings account (HSA) reimbursements. This is a summary of his idea. A good way to make some extra money is to take advantage ... Continue reading this article…

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CitiBank’s New Fee: Forget About Credit Card Arbitrage

by Luke Landes

The thing about playing the credit card balance transfer “game” is that you have to pay by the credit card companies’ rules — and they can change these rules with very little notice. On my most-used card, the Citi Dividend Platinum Select Card, CitiBank lowered the cash back rebate last year, making it more difficult ... Continue reading this article…

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3 Ways Waiters Can Steal Your Credit Card Information

by Luke Landes

The Real Hustle is a BBC show that describes how criminals, scammers, hustlers, and average tricksters manage to fool everyday people in typical situations. The three Hustlers — confidence trickster Alexis Conran, scam artist Paul Wilson and ‘sexy swindler’ Jessica Clement — carry out notorious scams on unsuspecting members of the public to reveal how ... Continue reading this article…

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Question for Readers: Closing an Old Capital One Account

by Luke Landes

A reader wrote to me with a question, in response to my entry regarding how Capital One credit cards hurt your credit score. She is concerned with Capital One’s bureau reporting tactics and their junk mail, but it’s her oldest account, so she doesn’t know if closing the account is the best thing to do. ... Continue reading this article…

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Credit Cards at T.J. Maxx Hacked, Checked My Credit Report

by Luke Landes

A few weeks ago, I heard the news that credit card numbers were stolen from T.J. Maxx computers. Coincidentally, I had shopped at that store recently. In fact, it was the first time I had shopped there in many years. This was a good reminder for me to check my credit report. Last night, I ... Continue reading this article…

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