Credit Cards and the Consumer: Don't Throw Baby Out With the Water

Most of the practices deemed unfair or deceptive by the Federal Reserve have disappeared from new credit card offers since federal passage of the Credit CARD Act last year, according to a new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, Two Steps Forward: After the Credit CARD Act, Cards Are Safer and More Transparent – But Challenges Remain.

(Bryan Brenneman)

The federal funds rate, to which the prime rate is closely tied, is expected to remain close to zero percent for the foreseeable future.

MUMBAI: Japanese financial services firm Credit Saison and a consortium of PE fund Carlyle Group and Cognizant Technology are among the final contenders for GE's stakes in SBI Card in a deal that values India's third-largest credit card player at $750 million-1 billion, several people aware of the development said. Bulge-bracket private equity player Warburg Pincus and a combine of General Atlantic and NYSE-listed payments giant Tsys are the other two shortlisted from among diverse strategic and financial suitors.

If you have great credit, you probably pay your credit-card bill in full every month, which means the interest rate isn't a deciding factor when you're selecting a new card.

Cash-back rewards are great, but not all cash-back credit cards are created equal.

A ruling expected this week on a complaint against Visa and MasterCard could significantly change how consumers use credit cards in Canada. The federal Competition Tribunal is set to issue a decision Tuesday on whether rules imposed on merchants by the credit card giants are too restrictive. Striking down the rules could allow merchants to either reject certain cards that offer incentive points, or charge consumers more for using them.

I review dozens of credit card offers each week to find the best deals. Check out more on our credit card page.