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Credit card rewards come in all shapes and sizes. They include free air tickets, priority booking of special events, free movie tickets, discounts for fine dining and many others. However cash rebate is probably the most popular for many people.

Most people, who are entitled for some credit card rewards, would rather exchange their rewards for cash than redeeming other available freebies. Many financial experts also believe that the cash-rebate programs are actually the most straightforward credit card rewards than other type of rewards. The simple the reward system, the less cost it is to the credit card company.

Cash-rebate programs have a wide variety of classifications. It all depends on the type of credit card that consumers have. For example, there are credit card rewards intended for college students such as college savings. For retirees, they have retirement investing rewards.

In a typical cash-rebate program, the credit card company will return a small percentage of the total amount charged to the card back to the cardholders. The percentage can be as high as five percent of your purchases. The rebate is usually reflected in the monthly card statement as a credit item. As an example, a balance of one hundred dollar with a five-percent rebate will result in a final payment of ninety-five dollars.

Usually, the percentage of rebate is higher when the purchases are made in popular categories like gas stations, restaurants, clothing stores and air tickets. A one-percent rebate seems to be the norm for most purchases. However, the rebate percentage differs with different credit cards and it make sense to do some research before getting one.

Some may feel that the cash rebate is not as valuable as other rewards like air tickets. While this may be true but high ticket items such as air ticket usually required a large amount of reward points. This usually translates to large expenditure on your part and it may take you a long time to accumulate the necessary points. In this aspect, the cash rebate option is more attractive as no reward point is necessary to receive the rebate.

To appeal to a larger customer base, many credit card companies also include other rewards that are redeemable by points in addition to the cash rebate. This open up a lot more choices for the cardholders as they can enjoy the rebate and redeem other gifts with points.

Cash rebate is the probably the best reward for those who regularly charge small purchases to their credit card. The saving over the long run can be pretty substantial. For the big spender, high ticket items like air tickets or fine dining are probably more attractive to them.

Stephen Chua is the founder of FindCreditCardsInfo.com, where you can find detail descriptions on all the major cash rebate credit cards online. Visit http://FindCreditCardsInfo.com and get the latest credit tips deliver to your inbox for free.

There are literally hundreds of credit cards out there and it can be a headache trying to find one that suits you. Here are some pointers that can help you find the best credit cards that will benefit you the most.

First of all, you need to identify the type of benefits you want from your credit card. For example, if you a business executive who travel frequently around the country or internationally, you probably want to have a credit card that allow you to enjoy saving from hotel stays, free air tickets, free travel insurance and others travel related benefits.

Next you need to look at some of the common costs associated with owning a credit card. The first one is the annual percentage rate, which is commonly known as APR. This is the interest rate you have to bear if you carry a balance on your credit card. Naturally you want this number to be as low as possible. You may want to look for one that has an introductory APR of zero percent for first year.

Other common costs that you need to take into account include annual fees, fix or variable interest rate, late payment penalty, over limit penalty, balance transfer cost, foreign exchange charges and cash advance surcharges.

The next thing to look at is the grace period. Most credit card companies will give you some times to pay your outstanding balance before charging interest. Thus the longer grace period, the more time you have to pay your balance without incurring interest expenses.

Once you have identify the benefits you want and understand the common costs associated with a credit card ownership, go online to visit a legitimate credit card directory and do your research. Such a directory usually contains details of different credit cards from different companies that are useful to your research. The cards are usually organized according to their theme or interest. For example, all credit cards that offer free air mileage are usually categorized under the Airline Credit Card category. This will make your research a lot easier and efficient.

Pick four or five cards that closely meet your criteria. After that, study their terms and conditions carefully. The terms and conditions often contain the important cost items that were mentioned earlier. In addition, you should also look out for other costs and terms that are unique to each card. Once you find the card that meet most or all of your criteria, simply hit the ‘APPLY’ button to submit your application electronically.

Do not fret if you are not able to find a credit card that meets your needs. New cards with new benefits are being launched throughout the year. Keep yourself up to date by visiting the online credit card directories regularly and sooner or later, you will find one that meets your needs.

Stephen Chua is the webmaster of FindCreditCardsInfo.com which provide detailed descriptions of all major credit cards online so you can make informed decisions that will save you money! Visit http://FindCreditCardsInfo.com and get the latest credit tips straight to your email for FREE.

The mention of ‘credit report’ sends chills down the spine of people who haven’t been responsible as far as managing their financials are concerned. For these people a credit report is exactly what they need to begin with. Lenders often look at these reports when you are looking for a new loan or even opening up a credit card account. This will give them an idea of how much risk is involved in lending you money.

In the United States these reports are maintained by three major reporting agencies:
1) Experian: PO Box 2002, Allen TX 75013, www.experian.com
2) Equifax: PO Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374; www.equifax.com
3) TransUnion: PO Box 2000, Chester, PA 19022; www.transunion.com

These reports list your financial history including credit cards, home loans, car loans and any other debt you have. The key facts that are recorded are whether you made any late payments, how many times you were late, whether they were 30-days past the due date, 60-days or more. These reports also contain your phone number, social security, current and old addresses.

This information is available to qualified lenders – mortgage lenders, banks, credit card issuing companies and other entities if they required during legal proceedings etc. This can be a scary proposition considering that these reports might have erroneous information.

These sometimes list inactive loans, show credit accounts that are open even though they are cancelled and others. At times, they don’t list payments that have been made to overdue amounts or other debts that have been paid off. These discrepancies exist even though these companies do their best to maintain up-to-date information.

This is exactly why it is your responsibility to review these reports thoroughly. Request copies from the 3 agencies mentioned above, note any errors, find proof via documentation and send these documents along to the agencies to fix the entries.

Fortunately due to a recent law being passed, you can obtain one copy free of charge from the credit reporting agencies. You will find several websites which will let you do this. One such website is annualcreditreport.com.

If you are struggling under a mountain of debt, your first step to become debt-free is to get your credit report. Getting to know your past spending habits is the best way to start working on that plan.

After having a look at your history, notice any debts that are overdue. These should be cleared up as fast as you can. Often the recommended approach is to pay off the smallest amounts first. The psychology behind this is that you will get more satisfaction from these mini-successes and this momentum will help you build confidence of working towards the bigger goal of being totally debt-free.

Tired of making payments and seeing the interests and penalties pile up? It doesn’t have to be that way, check out http://zero-debt.info/debt-relief-blog/ to start liberating your self from debt today!

An international credit card is very useful and provides a lot of convenience to frequent travelers. However, it also has a higher risk of frauds as compared to those for domestic use only.

Here are six drawbacks of an international credit card:

1. Recycle of used credit card numbers

Each day, a fair number of credit cards are being canceled. However, the card companies would reissue the same numbers to other cardholders at a later date. While the personal identification numbers (PIN), expiry dates and cardholder personal information has been changed, the same number that was used before are printed on the cards. This will expose the new cardholders to a higher risk of frauds and invalid transactions.

2. Limited Merchant Information

The account statements issued by the credit card companies usually contain limited information about the participating merchants. Most of the time, the statements contain only the date of transactions, merchant names and the amount charged to the cards. Other information such as the exact item details that were charged, cashier names and employee IDs are usually not present.

3. Delay in blocking a lost card

When a card loss is reported, it takes some time for the credit card companies to block any future transactions being made through the stolen or lost cards. The delay can be matters of days or weeks. During this interval, the stolen cards may have been used many times already.

4. Lack of Good Validation Software

Most participating merchants do not install high quality validation software in their point-of-sale systems. They leave everything to the credit card companies. This will increase the risk of frauds for the cardholders.

5. Fraud management policies are not consumer friendly

For many credit card companies, the policies on fraud management may not be very consumer friendly. While they do not put the blame on the cardholders directly, they do have terms that protect themselves from bearing the full responsibility and cost. This means that the policies on fraud management usually favor the card companies and not the consumers.

6. Investigation on fraudulent transactions is slow

Investigation into international credit card fraud is a tedious process. You have to write in to the card company and explain what has happened before they kick in any form of action. Even after they start the ball rolling, it takes a long time to gather enough evidences to bring charges to the suspects who are proven guilty of fraud.

Despite these drawbacks, an international credit card is still a very useful tool for the frequent traveler. By planning ahead and taking the necessary precautions, one can actually reduce the risks of fraud to a minimum.

Stephen Chua is the founder of FindCreditCardsInfo.com, where you can find detail descriptions on all the major credit cards online. Visit http://FindCreditCardsInfo.com and get the latest credit tips deliver to your inbox for free.

There are a lot of people trying to get a cash back credit card – but are they for real? The lure of getting cash back has a lasting appeal, especially in days when people are feeling a financial pinch. But are they really worth what they promise? Here are some ways you can make sure that you get a real deal when you apply for yours, plus some tips on things to watch out for.

Know How To Use Them

Credit cards are of the most value to those who know how to use them. This means that you can get the most benefit from a card simply by not leaving a monthly balance on the card, and by making payments on time. So if you can follow those two simple rules, then you can qualify to get the best benefits from a cash back credit card.

Choose A Type Of Card

Every one has a certain type of credit card that they can profit from the most. For instance, a gas card will profit those the most that drive a lot of miles each month, and need to maintain a car, or spend time in a hotel. This is because the points that are given for your purchases can be used toward hotels, and you may get the most cash back for your purchases of gas. Some gas cards will even give you points for car maintenance expenses, and possibly the points may even be applied toward buying another car. A card that is selected for your greatest monthly expenses will give you the most benefits.

Also, see how much of a percentage of cash back is given toward your more ordinary purchases – like food, medicine, and gas (if it is not a gas card). This can go anywhere from 1% up to 6 % for some products. Obviously, you want the highest percentage you can get.

Get One With Balance Transfers

This feature is especially important if you have balances on other credit cards. You can transfer them to your new cash back credit card and enjoy a 0% APR balance for up to 15 months. This gives you great savings in interest and can help you to reduce those other credit card debts, if you will pay the same amount on the new credit card.

Don’t Lose Your Rebates To Fees And Interest

This is one way that many people lose their benefits. Not comparing the various features listed in this article, and following its advice will often reduce their benefits reduced to a big fat zero – or less. Although they will get some rebate checks, they need to add up their late fees and interest for each month in order to determine if it really is good deal.

Choose a cash back credit card with a low rate of interest, no annual fees, or a lot of other fees. In addition, remember that by using it right, you also are building up a credit score – one that will allow you to buy the big purchases – especially if you don’t have all your credit cards maxed out.

Joe Kenny writes for the UK personal finance sites http://www.creditcardstore.co.uk and also http://www.cardguide.co.uk