http://www.smartcreditchoices.com/blog Be Smart About Credit Cards Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:32:44 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en If you've waited until the last minute to apply for a credit card to use for holiday purchases, applying sooner rather than later is key.  Most credit card companies are taking longer to review and approve credit card applications than they were in the past and the days of instant ... http://www.smartcreditchoices.com/blog/2009/11/best-credit-card-offers-2009/ Earlier this month,  Bank of America announced that they would be charging annual fees on a limited number of their credit cards.  According to Market Watch (see http://www.marketwatch.com/story/credit-cards-gouge-consumers-ahead-of-new-law-2009-11-06?link=kiosk), Bank of America will begin charging annual fees in February, the month the final elements of the new credit card laws go ... http://www.smartcreditchoices.com/blog/2009/11/will-credit-cards-charge-annual-fees/ Credit card companies have recently starting offering 0% APR offers lasting one full year again.  In the past, nearly every credit card advertised a 0% APR for 1 year.  However, during the past nine months, many credit card companies started reducing the length of these offers to 6 months.  Recently, ... http://www.smartcreditchoices.com/blog/2009/11/credit-cards-with-0-apr-for-1-year/ Given all the turmoil in the credit card market this year, finding the best credit card applications has become a significantly more difficult process.  For starters, many credit card companies have shortened 0% interest rate periods and, despite an historically low Prime Rate, continue to increase long term interest rates.  ... http://www.smartcreditchoices.com/blog/2009/11/finding-the-best-credit-card-applications/ After months of 0% rate decreases and interest rate increases, major credit card companies are beginning to advertise good credit card offers again.  For many of us, its hard to trust any credit card company.  Loyal customers of 20 or more years recently saw their Citibank interest rates increased to 29.99% ... http://www.smartcreditchoices.com/blog/2009/10/good-credit-card-offers-return/ After months of decline, a number of 0% credit card offers have returned to the market.  During the majority of 2009, credit card companies relentlessly slashed the duration of 0% introductory offers, with most companies only offering intro rates that lasted around 6 months. In the past few weeks, however, more ... http://www.smartcreditchoices.com/blog/2009/10/more-0-credit-card-offers-hit-the-market/ After substantially raising interest rates on customers during July, Citibank has recently raised interest rates to 29.99% on thousands of unsuspecting customers, many of whom have very good credit and longstanding histories with Citi credit cards. Citi's decision to raise interest rates to an astounding 29.99% represents perhaps the most dramatic ... http://www.smartcreditchoices.com/blog/2009/10/citibank-increases-interest-rates-to-29-99/ With the holiday season approaching, I'd like to be optimistic about the availability of credit.  Unfortunately, credit card companies appear to be making it even more difficult for consumers without excellent credit to get new cards.  While its easy to blame this on the credit card companies, the new credit ... http://www.smartcreditchoices.com/blog/2009/10/credit-card-companies-continue-to-tighten-credit/ A number of visitors have been justifiably angry at Chase for raising their monthly minimum payment requirements on fixed for life balances from 2% of the balance owed to 5% of the balance owed.  For many, the new payment required is mortgage sized and, in some cases, more than $1,000 ... http://www.smartcreditchoices.com/blog/2009/06/chase-payment-increase-leads-to-rate-increase-for-consumer/ I haven't really had the motivation to post recentlly, despite all the credit card news, as it seems hopeless to blog about important news on credit cards when I know no one will find my writing in the search engines.  I contacted a very well respected search engine link expert ... http://www.smartcreditchoices.com/blog/2009/04/penalized-by-google-for-10-months/