If you’re in the market for a cash-back credit card and aren’t intending to use it for business expenses, the American Express Blue Cash is one offer worthy of getting a closer look.

Rebates

The Blue Cash is the only credit card we know of (since the Citi Dividend and the Chase Cash Plus Rewards were discontinued) that offers a 5% rebate for all supermarket, gasoline and drugstore purchases.  That’s a lot of cash returned for what are, essentially, daily expenses you’ll be buying anyway whether you have a credit card or not.  For other purchases, they offer a standard 1.5 % cash back.

Like every offer that sounds too good to be true, of course, it’s not as sweet as initially sounds. The 5% and 1.5% rebates only take effect after you’ve spent at least $6500 on your credit card for the year.  Prior to reaching the $6500 milestone, you only get 1% for supermarket, gasoline and drugstore purchases and 0.5% for everything else.  Still, at a potential 5% for everyday items and unlimited rebates throughout the year, this card offers one of the best deals available anywhere.

Other Benefits

The Blue Cash brings with it a slew of other benefits including travel insurance (up to $100,000), access to select merchants worldwide who offer discounts to Amex cardholders,  Purchase Protection Plan (which allows you to return damaged items within 90 days) and Buyers Assurance (extra warranty for all your purchases up to $50000 a year).

Fees And Rates

The card charges no annual fees and APR starts from prime rate plus 4.99%.  You get 0% introductory APR for the first 12 months of use.  It has a 20 day grace period for purchases.

If you’ve ever shopped for a credit card,  you’re probably well-versed with the numerous benefits those pieces of plastic offer - rewards, miles and all the usual stuff.  Many credit cards, though, will offer additional perks and value-added features.

Make sure to check if any of these useful services are bundled with the card before making your final choice:

Car Rental Insurance

When you use them to rent a car, some credit cards automatically give you some form of insurance coverage for the vehicle. Many people appear to skip this and end up buying extra insurance from the rental company - absolutely unnecessary and a waste of money.

Travel Accident Insurance

Most credit cards that are either affixed to an airline or that offer miles as rewards usually includes travel insurance coverage when you use it for the purchase of tickets and vacation packages.

Concierge Service

Some luxury credit cards offer 24 x 7 concierge service, providing numerous “assistant services” that can save you a lot of time.  Everything from scheduling flights, making reservations and booking arrangements can be provided.

Emergency Roadside Assistance

Many cards, particularly those which offer gas rebates, provide emergency road assistance as a value-added service.  That could save you the need to book a separate plan with your vehicle, leading to modest annual savings.

If you’re a frequent flyer of Alaska Airlines, this card - the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Credit Card - may well prove your while.  It’s packed with plenty of benefits that can give you real value from the moment you get it to every year it stays in your pocket.  It’s certain to beat any bank-issued miles credit card on that criteria by, well, a mile.

Mileage

There is no limit on the amount of miles you can earn from an Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Credit Card.

The moment you are approved for one, you get a 20,000 mile bonus, two Board Room passes and $50 off on a roundtrip companion ticket.  Make sure to apply for your card online as that gets you another 1000 extra mile points.  You’ll get another $50 off a companion ticket every year you hold on to the card as an anniversary bonus.

You get one mile for every dollar you spend.  For money you spend on tickets and travel packages from Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, though, you get double the mileage.

Fees And Rates

The annual fee is a steep $75 but the mileage perks can go a long way towards recouping that - the $50 annual Companion Ticket alone should close the gap. APR is prime rate plus 6.99%.  They offer a 20-day grace period for interests on purchases.

Extra Perks

This card offers plenty of extra perks for frequent travelers - travel insurance, car rental discounts and insurance, lost luggage assistance, travel assistance service and more.  For regular customers of Alaska Airlines doing a considerable amount of traveling, this is going to be a card that’s hard to top.

With banks and credit companies anticipating tougher times for consumers, the leash on credit limits is shrinking.  Bad debt is a reality now for a lot of credit card holders and issuing companies don’t want to sit in the sidelines and wait for it to get worse.

It makes sense as a business decision - companies can’t keep absorbing the ramifications of bad consumer credit.  Still, it isn’t something you’d likely want to experience.  Your credit company can all of a sudden cut your credit limit short without so much as a warning - it’s time to do your best to protect it.

What can you do to make sure you don’t fall prey among the lot of consumers who find their credit limits strip?

1. Avoid Unnecessary Spending

Some consumers have seen their limits strip after a month or two of excessive credit card spending.  It may be counter-productive to the purpose of having a credit card in the first place but getting your limits further limited can end up as its result.

2. Reduce Your Credit Card Balance

If you’re running the card at or near the capacity, try working to pay it down as soon as you can.   The bigger your debt, the more likely you will be considered in the high-risk category, effectively endangering your credit limit.

3. Watch Your Credit Report

More than ever, it’s important to be vigilant with errors on your credit report.  You don’t want to pegged in the high-risk credit category, so contest any problem entries immediately.

4. Pay On Time

Even with all of the above going against you, your credit company isn’t likely to view you in a negative light if you continue to settle your bills on time. In fact, you might be able to negotiate a higher limit even during these troubled times.

The ability to stroll down the streets of Hong Kong, hit the pubs of London and shop for souvenirs from Paris all with a single credit card in tow is one of the plastic’s main advantages.  You can even get cash back, if you have the right card.  As a result, growing numbers of consumers use it as currency during overseas travel.

If you’re traveling to other countries and intend to use your credit card for local purchases, however, you might want to check what kind of exchange rates you will get before swiping that plastic for international bargains (hint: it’s usually higher than existing forex rates).  More importantly, your credit card company is likely to charge additional fees for purchases made in foreign lands.

Foreign transaction fees, in particular, can prove a deal-breaker, essentially packing extra costs for every single time you use it.  Visa and Mastercard charge an even 1% for all foreign spending.  Save for Capital One and Discover, all card issuers charge their own fees as well.

The following table lists the known foreign transaction fees charged by different card issuers.  Charges will be computed on the dollar conversion of whatever you bought.

HSBC - 3%
Wells Fargo - 3%
Bank of America - 3%
Chase - 3%
Citi Bank - 3%
American Express - 2%
Washington Mutual - 1%

If you have an HSBC Visa card, for instance, that means an extra four percent markup (1% from Visa, 3% from HSBC) on any purchases you make on your credit card - quite considerable, especially when using it during your whole stay.  Still, few options have proven more cost-effective and safe than credit cards as an overseas payment method.

If you’re a college student, beware of a few student-targeted credit cards that may look good or sound good but are really no good for you.

One such card you should do without is the University of Michigan Alumni Association’s MasterCard.  If you can’t recall which one it is, it’s the one that bills itself as having a “backpack full of benefits” packed in it.  Unfortunately, we’ve looked and looked - and we can’t find anything that sets it apart from the multitude of student cards available elsewhere.

Let’s see the “backpack full” of beneficial features:

* No annual fee
* 24-hour customer service
* Online access to credit card tools
* Free credit lessons
* either 9.9% or 15.99% interest rate

Wow.  That must be a really small backpack.   The interest rate is particularly interesting - it’s almost guaranteed that the student will get 15.99% since they’re pretty much at the bottom of credit ratings.

Unfortunately, most alumni-affiliated credit cards are no different from the one offered by the University of Michigan Alumni Association.  In fact, it’s one of the most lamentable problems with regard to credit card marketing to students - schools and alumni barely bother to negotiate better terms, making the whole thing look nothing more than a money-grubbing scheme.

If you’re a college student looking to get your first credit card, it might be a good idea to skip the school-branded ones in favor of cards that actually offer you some useful value.  Get educated before putting your future credit standing in a dangerous light as these cards are likely to lead you into.

As one of the most aggressively-marketed credit cards in recent memory, cash-back cards come with plenty of expectations built in.  In fact, they see the most number of applications, both online and offline, among all credit cards in the US.  How good are they really for consumers like you, though?

Rebates Galore

The basic feature of cash-back cards is the fact that you’ll get part of the all money you spent on purchases charged on it.  If you’re constantly using your card to pay for both personal and business expenses, that means plenty of additional rebates you otherwise wouldn’t have access to.

Among credit card holders who qualify for reward credit cards, 60% prefer a cash rebate program - very telling of the feature’s popularity and the perceived level of satisfaction it can provide.  Why not, after all, when you can get such offerings as no annual fees, bonus cash rebates for specific purchase categories and 0% introductory rates?

High APR

A feature common to all rewards cards, particularly cash-back plastics, is an unusually high APR.  Customers who like to keep floating balances for months on end are likely going to feel the pinch of that high interest rate so make sure the rebates can more than make up for it.  Otherwise, your cash-back feature just ends up being just another debt trap.

Other Things To Consider

There are redemption minimums on most cash-back cards.  Unless, you’re spending a lot using plastic, you’re not likely to see your rebates anytime in the near future.  Some have a fixed schedule for the rebates (usually once a year) so you’ll have to wait a while before seeing the benefits.

Is your son or daughter bound to leave the nest for college?  If they are, it might be time to have “the talk”.  I don’t mean the birds and the bees either - you should have had that one a long, long, LONG time ago.

I’m referring to the talk about debt responsibility and credit management.

Before they’ve settled well into their new college life, chances are they’ll be inundated with a deluge of credit card marketing, offering everything from a free shirt to a new iPod to sign up.  While enticing, credit cards aren’t always the best idea for an impressionable young mind.

A credit card is one of the few ways a young student has of being able to build up their credit scores.  Unfortunately, it’s equipped to just as easily wreak havoc on it.   Most students take to college (and their first credit card along with it) fully unaware of what its consequences are.  As a result, they spend its purchasing power irresponsibly, digging themselves into an unfortunate hole early in their financial lives.

Well before they pack those bags to head out for the rest of their adult lives, sit them down and discuss the dfferent types of credit cards.  Let them know its benefits as a way to pay for emergency expenses and its value in extending their spending power.  At the same time, help them be able to differentiate between a good credit card offer and a flashy, empty one - including interest rates, credit limits, perks and more.

Credit card purchasers who do not wish to use Paypal’s interface now have a second choice when shopping on eBay.  Late last month, Propay launched their electronic payment services for eBay power sellers, offering them an alternative way to process credit card payments from customers.

ProPay Membership Options

While ProPay will cost a few dollars more than Paypal, it is certain quite a few sellers will be glad with the change - after all, Paypal isn’t exactly perfect and is, in fact, laden with numerous documented issues from both buyers and sellers.  The difference will not be that great either.

The basic membership to ProPay’s services, called eAuction, will only cost merchants a $24 annual fee plus transaction charges similar to that of Paypal.  The annual payment, however, will be credited back to sellers who process charges exceeding $3000 within the first six months of their calendar year.

The second level of membership to ProPay, called eAuction Pro, requires a $240 annual fee.  In return, the eBay merchant can enjoy a smattering of features that will make their payment processing activities both faster and more secure.  They will have access to a secure card  reader, an online version of a credit card terminal, various software tools and much more.

Wider Selling Options

Using ProPay as an alternate processor, in place of solely depending on Paypal, should encourage that minority of online shoppers who choose to avoid dealing with the eBay-owned company.  There’s a number of them with a few being quite vocal.  At the least, it finally offers eBay power sellers a chance to reach out to those individuals without a lot of increase in costs.

ProPay is available to all power sellers with Silver ratings and higher.

When you are considering getting a new credit card, you might want to do a double take and opt for a charge card instead.

Charge cards require to pay off your credit balance each month in full.  Credit cards, on the other hand, let you drag it on and pay it over time.  A credit card, then, is more flexible and, at first glance, does seem like the best offer, right?

Not exactly.

Since charge cards require you to settle debt immediately, you don’t run the risk of piling the money you owe.  In fact, the feature that allows you to defer payment in full so easily is the main reason that many credit card holders find themselves neck deep in debt.

During the 2008 Credit Card Satisfaction survey released last October and conducted by JD Power & Associates, charge cards scored consistently high across all the five categories.  In fact, the results of their study pretty much pegged charge cards to be the safer and more useful for credit - as opposed to credit cards.

As a result American Express charge cards scored very high in all five customer service categories.  Additionally, it was found that majority of AmEx cardholders owned charge cards - and that they’d prefer it against a credit card offer any day.

Additional results of the survey indicate that charge cards owners are happier, overall, with the service their card company provides.  They benefit from better rewards packages, as well - since their interest and fees do not pile up the way it does for credit card holders, any rewards they receive tend to cost much less.