Do you remember the 80’s?  I was a kid back then but what I remember about it was the sudden proliferation of credit cards. It was extremely difficult to get credit cards before 1980 or at least for most of the people I knew back then.   There is an interesting history of the credit cards…
Category: Credit Cards
Bank of America Debit Card Fees – Switch to Credit Union!
If the banking crisis, Bank of America’s role in that crisis, and the subsequent tax payer bailout haven’t been enough for you to dump the big banks and Bank of America, perhaps the new gall to charge $5 month for debit card usage will give you the courage to go check out a local credit…
How To Beat The Credit Card Company Every Time
I’ve been reading the fascinating tale of “James” over at Red Tape Chronicles and I have the simple and ultimate solution to his woes: Cash Reserves.  Do people simply not understand that credit cards are essentially a loan and not “free” money? I have a fairly simple rule I follow: If I don’t have the…
Credit Card Arbitrage Being Stomped Out By Transfer Fees; Effectively Dead
According to Bloomberg, Chase will up their balance transfer fee to 5% and with Advanta shutting down their credit card division and banks continuing to cut credit lines, it looks like credit card arbitrage is effectively dead and I suspected as much back in October 2008 but was hoping for a turn around. The math…
Credit Card Discrimination Inflicting More Damage on Economy
By now, you might have read that some credit card banks are scrutinizing the spending patterns of their customers and lowering credit limits based on where and how a customer is shopping. In one scenario, I can imagine a bank looking at a person charging a few hundred dollars at a divorce attorney’s office and…
The FICO Credit Card Conspiracy?
I’m being inundated by e-mails and comments that people’s FICO scores seem to be dropping mysteriously for no reason.  People don’t appear to be late on any payments and not increasing debt or credit lines so what’s happening? I’m beginning to wonder if the banks are involved in these shenanigains as many credit card banks…
Credit Card Arbitrage Days Are Here Again!
I’ve been receiving more and more credit card balance transfer offers in the mail recently and I had pretty much written off credit card arbitrage a while ago since banks had removed caps on their fees for balance transfers. With the existing credit crunch and depositors skittish about keeping more than 100k in any FDIC…
Why Are Shops Dumping American Express?
Having dealt with many retailers for a while, I know American Express has traditionally charged higher fees to merchants for processing transactions but I’ve been recently encountering more and more shops dumping American Express.  The biggest chain that I’ve seen doing this is Subway.  I’m guessing it’s the independent franchises that are dumping the card…
Debit or Credit, New Dirty Tricks At The Retail Shops
I don’t shop too frequently at retail shops since I do most of my shopping either online or at Costco but this past week I visited many retail outlets to buy some x-mas gifts for family and I noted something new when paying. In the past, the little card swipe device would prompt you to…
I’m Moving My Debt Off Balance Sheet
I’ve ranted about the idiocy of FICO scoring system many times and I’ve discovered a solution to my problem. Like many big banks, I’ll simply move all my credit card debt off balance sheet. Once I do this, PRESTO, no more debt on my credit report and my score should rocket back up to 825…