Credit Card Solution

With the new year passing, and a gazillion resolutions being made, it wouldn’t hurt to remember that some preventive measures might keep your credit cards and their information a little safer. So as we look at the latest in credit card crime, keep these lessons in mind in 2012.

Lesson 1: Monitor your mail

The crime: In Atlanta, a man, believed to be 35-year-old Jason Michael Keenan, apparently had quite the mailbox and credit card identity theft scheme going on, per an account in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. He was pulling mail from mailboxes, getting personal information from the mail and then opening credit card accounts. Then he would make sure that he visited the mailboxes regularly enough that when the new credit card came to the house, he could get to the mailbox first.

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Lately, Chase credit cards have been getting a lot of press for their big, temporary signup bonuses. Remember when they gave away 100,000 British Airways miles? Seriously, who does that? They don’t have any offers like that now, but Chase credit cards tend to have excellent rewards programs, making them well worth a look. The points and cash back programs offer the same dollar-for-dollar value, and you can redeem points for cash anyway if you want to. The one thing to watch out for with Chase cards? Don’t expect the lowest APR in town. Here’s a list of our top picks.

Best Card for Travel: Chase Sapphire Preferred

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is one of the top travel credit cards, mostly for its killer 50,000-point signup bonus, worth up to $600. It al

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Going online to compare credit cards may enable those who already have plastic to save money, an expert has suggested.

Jackie Pearson, managing editor of YourMoney Magazine, asserted that Aussies should not be distracted by offers such as frequent flyer points and low introductory rates.

Instead, she recommended that those who already have an outstanding balance focus on finding credit card deals with low ongoing interest rates.

“Many people stay with the same card provider for years to avoid the hassle of switching, but you could be finding a better deal elsewhere so its important to shop around,” she stated.

According to YourMoney Magazine, taking care when heading online to compare credit cards could help Aussies to save hundreds of dollars each year.

Last month, data from the Reserve Bank of Australia revealed that in May 2011, borrowing on plastic rose to nearly $50 billion, up 45 per cent on the figures from five years ago.

If you’re currently paying astronomical credit card finance charges, which is pretty much a given if you’re carrying a credit card balance without a promotional introductory rate, you may want to consider a credit card balance transfer.

Most credit card balance transfers come with 0% APR for a certain period of time, whether it be as short as six months or as long as 21 months.

Picking a 0% APR credit card based on the length of the 0% promotional credit card APR is very important, especially if you’ve got a sizable credit card balance that’s going to take some time to pay down.

Why go with a credit card that only offers 0% APR for 12 months when you can get a credit card that offers 0% APR for 21 months?

Let’s look at a 0% APR credit card example:

Current credit card debt: $2,500 @ 20.99% APR
Monthly finance charges: $44
0% APR for 21 months: no interest charged during this period

If you continued to carry a $2,500 credit card balance, you’d be hit with roughly $44 in interest charges each month, which is more than $500 annually. Why subject

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