December 4, 2008 By Justin McHenry

Discover Card has brought back a popular promotion for this holiday season, offering Discover Card holders the opportunity to get a free $20 gift card when they spend over $200 with their Discover Cards at participating shopping malls.

Cardholders just bring their receipts totaling at least $200 to the customer service area at the mall and they are given the $20 gift card immediately. If you’re spending a lot this year, you can actually get up to 5 gift cards, one for each $200 in receipts.

The promotion runs through January 4, 2009, and a list of the 160+ participating malls can be found at http://www.discovercard.com/mallpromo/. Most states have at least one participating mall, although there are none listed for Alaska, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and West Virginia.

Our latest survey of credit card fees finds the average credit card late fee at $34.09, while the average over-the-limit fee is $36.53. Using data from a cross-section of major and minor card issuers, IndexCreditCards.com found that late and over-the-limit fees ranged from $0 to $39. However, most nationwide issuers charged between $29 and $39 in both categories, with certain smaller issuers a bit more lenient.

As a frame of reference, a $34.09 average late fee is roughly equivalent to the monthly finance charge you’d pay if you carried a $2,900 balance at 14% interest.

Over-the-limit fees are even higher, and many cardholders find them even more galling, as logic would suggest that a card would simply be rejected if it hits the limit. Instead, most card issuers allow you to go over your limit, but then charge you a fee for doing so.

Many credit issuers use a “tier” system in assessing fees. For example, your late fee may be $15 if you have a balance of less than $100, $29 if the balance is less than $250, and $39 for balances beyond that. IndexCreditCards.com attempts to take into consideration these fee tiers when calculating the average fees listed here.

IndexCreditCards.com surveys the terms and conditions of a cross-section of cards every six months to determine these average fees.

November 26, 2008 By Justin McHenry

Planet Hollywood International and US Bank yesterday announced the launch of the Planet Hollywood Rewards Visa Platinum Card, which will reward card holders with points toward Planet Hollywood reward certificates for food, merchandise and more.

The Planet Hollywood Visa will offer its cardholders 5 points per dollar for purchases at Planet Hollywood locations, and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. When a cardholder hits 2,500 points, he or she will get a $25 Planet Hollywood rewards certificate.

Planet Hollywood Visa holders will also get “V.I.P.” reservations and “jump the line” privileges, allowing then to make advance reservations and bypass lines to receive first available seating. New cardholders will also receive 1,000 bonus points, a Planet Hollywood T-shirt and a $25 gift card for Buca di Beppo (part of Planet Hollywood International) after their first purchase with the card.

Go here to apply for the Planet Hollywood Visa. To compare the Planet Hollywood Visa with other reward credit cards, see our Rewards Credit Cards or Cash Back Credit Cards sections.

November 25, 2008 By Justin McHenry

Via its PlayStation blog, Sony announced yesterday the launch of the PlayStation Visa credit card, which will offer reward points good toward PlayStation systems and games, as well as other Sony products. PlayStation fans can also get a $150 discount on the purchase of a PlayStation 3 system when they use the card to buy a PS3 before December 31. (The discount comes in the form of a $150 credit on your card statement.)

The PlayStation credit card is being issued by Chase.

If you must have that PS3 immediately, you can get instant approval for the card and buy the game system online at SonyRewards.com even before the card arrives by using this application.

If you can wait until you actually have the physical card in your hand, you can use this application.

Weekly Averages:

• Average consumer credit card rate, overall market: 14.39%
• Average credit card rate, non-reward consumer cards: 12.82%
• Average reward credit card rate: 15.06%
• Average student credit card rate: 14.66%
• Average business credit card rate (non-reward): 10.68%
• Average business reward credit card rate: 12.01%

Perhaps inevitably, credit card rates have risen over the three weeks since our last report, and the change is substantial — over a one-half point difference in less than a month. Amidst the current credit crisis and record losses, many credit card companies have simply re-priced rates to the upside for all new cardholders. (Some current cardholders are getting surprise increases as well.) The average credit card rate across all consumer sectors jumped to 14.39% from the 13.86% rate we reported in early November.

The average credit card rate for non-reward consumer credit cards increased to 12.82%, up from 12.40% three weeks ago. The average rate on credit cards with rewards jumped to 15.06% from 14.48%.

The averages listed above attempt to take into account the multiple tiers that many credit card issuers offer, instead of accounting for only the lowest listed rates. However, IndexCreditCards.com also tracks the very lowest listed rates, those reserved for customers with the very best credit. This week those averages are 11.16% (previously 10.99%) for the market as a whole, with a 9.32% average for non-reward cards (previously 9.11%) and a 11.95% average for consumer cards with rewards (previously 11.79%). Note that the rise in rates for customers with excellent credit is not as dramatic as the rise in rates overall.

Student credit card rates finally increased, after being inexplicably untouched for quite some time. (It may simply be that students were being unilaterally rejected, meaning published rates largely didn’t matter.) This week the average rate on student credit cards increased to 14.66%, up from 14.22% three weeks ago. Note, however, that this rate is still below the average rate on general market consumer rewards cards. This rarely happens, suggesting more increases are coming in the student sector.

Small business credit card rates jumped dramatically as well, with the average rate for non-reward business credit cards at 10.68%, up from 10.18% previously, and the average rate for business credit cards with rewards increasing to 12.01% from 11.80%.

Financial institutions represented in the survey include Advanta, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase / Washington Mutual, Citi, Discover, National City, Pulaski Bank, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo, and more.

November 24, 2008 By Justin McHenry

American Express will begin their annual My WishList promotion on December 1, giving lucky winners (or wishers) the opportunity to buy big-ticket items at a fraction of their cost, and those not so lucky to at least get some nice discounts on less pricey merchandise. Among the items in the mailed brochure for this year’s promotion: a 42″ Sharp Aquos LCD TV for $700, a Dell Studio 15 laptop for $499, and a “Dream Dining Experience” with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay for $2500. In addition, on December 18 (the final day of My WishList), American Express will give away at no charge three 2010 Mercedes-Benz GLK350 SUVs.

My WishList offers multiple buying / saving opportunities on a first-come, first-served basis in these categories:

• “Hot Products” are the big ones, offering extremely-limited quantities of very high value items, and are the most difficult to actually get your hands on
• “Featured Products” have higher quantities (still limited, however) but savings aren’t quite as large
• “Wish Certificates” are simply free coupons for up to 25% off when you make purchases at partner retailers

American Express will also feature special merchant offers that are available to any American Express cardholder and that do not have limited quantities.

You can get more information on merchandise and packages to be offered at http://www.amexnetwork.com/2008mywishlist.

November 10, 2008 By Justin McHenry

Citi is running a new sweepstakes that gives holders of Citi credit cards the chance to win a backstage mini-tour with the group Nickelback or to hang in the recording studio with singer Mary J. Blige. Citi cardholders are automatically entered with each card purchase, and all Citi cards are eligible, except the Macy’s, Home Depot and Upromise cards.

The grand prize winner will be able to take 5 friends to a city where Mary J. Blige is recording, watch her session and meet her (as well as other goodies) OR take 5 friends and have extensive access to 3 Nickelback concerts, including rehearsals, backstage passes, and travel on the tour bus between concert cities. The estimated value of either grand prize is just under $34,000. Grand prize winners can also choose to forget about Nickelback or Mary J. Blige and just take $10,000 in cash.

There are also 100 first prizes: winners get a $1,000 Live Nation Gift Card that can be used toward tickets to Live Nation-sponsored concerts.

Learn more here.

Weekly Averages:

• Average consumer credit card rate, overall market: 13.86%
• Average credit card rate, non-reward consumer cards: 12.40%
• Average reward credit card rate: 14.48%
• Average student credit card rate: 14.22%
• Average business credit card rate (non-reward): 10.18%
• Average business reward credit card rate: 11.80%

Though many credit card companies are raising interest rates and changing rate formulas to protect profitability, the recent Federal Reserve rate cuts have still been strong enough to knock average rates down, at least a little. (Federal Reserve rate cuts affect the rates on variable-rate credit cards, which include about 70% of all cards issued.)

The average credit card rate across all consumer credit card types and credit histories is 13.86% this week, down slightly from 13.88% previously.

The average credit card rate for non-reward consumer credit cards actually increased slightly, to 12.40% from 12.37% previously, yet the average rate on credit cards with rewards fell, down to 14.48% from 14.53%. Having rates on non-reward cards rise while reward card rates fall is a rare occurrence. However, the cuts in reward card rates may be coinciding with decreased rewards from many cards. Cash-back cards in particular are becoming less generous.

The averages listed above attempt to take into account the multiple tiers that many credit card issuers offer, instead of accounting for only the lowest listed rates. However, IndexCreditCards.com also tracks the very lowest listed rates, those reserved for customers with the very best credit. This week those averages are 10.99% (previously 11.26%) for the market as a whole, with a 9.11% (previously 9.15%) average for non-reward cards and a 11.79% (previously 12.16%) average for consumer cards with rewards. This reflects a significant decrease in rates for those with the very best credit — these are the customers that credit card issuers currently crave the most, as the economy has caused more and more of the less credit-worthy consumers to default on their balances.

In the current market, it is surprising to see student credit card rates continue to drop. The average rates on student cards fell to 14.22% this week, a significant drop from 14.45% less than three weeks ago. While published rates do not necessarily reflect how many students are actually being accepted at these low rates, it is still surprising that the card companies have not re-worked rates to the upside.

Small business credit card rates dropped this week also, with the average rate for non-reward business credit cards falling to 10.18% from 10.43%, and the average rate for business credit cards with rewards declining slightly, to 11.80% (from 11.83%).

Financial institutions represented in the survey include Advanta, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase / Washington Mutual, Citi, Discover, National City, Pulaski Bank, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo, and more.

November 3, 2008 By Justin McHenry

In a down economy and an unsure holiday season, Office Depot hopes to sell more computers, printers, cameras and more by announcing today that holders of its Worklife Rewards Visa card who make purchases of over $499 with the card won’t have to make any payments until January of 2010. The offer began yesterday (November 2) and runs through December 24.

Those who sign up for the Worklife Rewards Visa (issued by Chase) for the first time will also get a $20 bonus credit after they use the card for the first time.

The Office Depot Worklife Rewards Visa offers a 5% rebate on purchases at Office Depot, and 1% cash back on all other purchases. You can compare it to other cards offering cash rebates in our cash back credit cards section.

October 28, 2008 By Justin McHenry

Continental Airlines announced today that fliers who use their Continental credit cards or debit cards to purchase tickets will get a break on the first-checked-bag charge of $15 that Continental recently implemented. Continental Presidential Plus cardholders will have the fee waived for their first two checked bags — a savings of $40 per trip.

The fee waiver also extends to those traveling with the cardholder, provided they are part of the same reservation and check in with the Continental credit card holder.

Continental said that over 1 million people hold a Continental credit or debit card. The airline added the $15 first-bag fee last month.

For more information on the Continental credit card and other travel-related credit cards, see our page on travel credit cards.