Credit Card Debt Management

We’ve heard about balance transfer fees, application fees, late payment fees and overdraft fees. But what about when credit cards pay you for your business? We’re not talking about your garden variety rewards points or cash back for purchases, but serious bonuses merely for signing up! Could a credit card company be so generous? You better believe it, and here’s a list of the ones who are:

Bank of America World MasterCard with World Points, Bank of America Visa Signature with WorldPoints Rewards and Bank of America Rewards American Express Card all offer new customers a $50 statement credit. To qualify, the new account must be used within 45 days to make any purchase, balance transfer or cash advance of at least $25 before transaction fees.

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Cardoffers new customers 10,000 Membership Rewards Bonus Points after their first purchase with the new card. The points are redeemable for a $100 gift card.

One, from American Express, offers new customers $50 to “jump-start their savings.”

The Nest, from American Express, offers new customers a “nest-warming” gift of 5,000 Membership Points, redeemable for a $50 gift card.

Chase Freedom Signature Visa offers new customers $50 after their first purchase with the card.

Chase Freedom MasterCard offers new customers $50 after their first purchase with the card.

These are all good options for a great start to your life as a credit card holder, and they’re a great way to make your credit cards work for you!

 Source: Master Your Card blog

Interesting article here about MasterCard’s woes. Seems the credit card company grew so fast that it is expected to peak soon, analysts say. Of even more interest to me is the fact that American Express has sued MasterCard and Visa for allegedly violating anti-trust laws.

AmEx felt pushed out of the U.S. market and unable to form partnerships with certain banks that had partnered with Visa and MC. One of the banks named in the lawsuit, Bank of America, now issues AmEx cards so I guess times have changed!

Am I the only one with little sympathy for American Express? How much money will be enough? I also have little sympathy for MasterCard and the fact that it only boasts a 30 percent profit margin versus Visa’s 35 percent profit margin. Both are being sued by merchants over the fees they charge, so they have that in common - along with the Amex lawsuit, of course.

The lawsuits are a threat to the financial health of MasterCard, as is the recent damage to the mortgage lending industry that could possibly leak into the credit industry as well, Financial Week speculates. However, this latter threat seems overblown because recent numbers show that the credit card industry is thriving in light of the mortgage crisis, with mortgage lenders happy to feed the credit card frenzy. In fact, homeowners can even charge a mortgage payment now.

Cash cows that they are, the major credit card companies are very tied into our U.S. Economy. In fact, they are one of the cornerstones, as an unfortunate number of Americans rely on credit cards for everyday survival. So here’s hoping the doomsayers are wrong. Here’s hoping AmEx gets a more fair shake. And here’s wishing just as much success when Visa goes public early next year as MasterCard has enjoyed since it did the same 16 months ago. Viva credit.

American Express has been thoroughly stigmatized by Visa commercials stating all the vendors who “don’t take American Express.” It is true that American Express does not enjoy the same global popularity as Visa or MasterCard. However, despite that, J.D. Power and Associates’ 2007 Credit Card Satisfaction Study study ranked AmEx higher than its nine counterparts in terms of overall customer satisfaction. The company received 735 out of a possible 1,000 points.

The popularity of American Express is due in part to good rewards, interest rates and customer service. This is largely because AmEx retains a lot of the control over the issuing, payment processing and interest rate levels of its cards. Visa and MasterCard, on the other hand, leave most of these decisions up to the banks and vendors with whom they partner.

But back to the main drawback of AmEx: It is not accepted around the world, just as the Visa commercials claim. The company is working to close the gap, but less than 20 percent of AmEx cardholders reported the ability to use their card wherever they wanted, according to the J.D. Power study. Meanwhile, nearly 90 percent of Visa and MasterCard cardholders reported having this ability. Those two credit card companies are accepted at more than 20 million locations over 150 countries. American Express is widely accepted throughout only North America and Europe.

The recent study, based on responses this summer from 7,812 credit card users, highlights an oft-overlooked company. But for the savvy consumer, albeit one who does not travel extensively, American Express is a choice worth looking into.