With credit card companies desperately vying for the attention of prospective customers, there have never been more rewards credit card offers available on the market. Fortunately, the majority of rewards credit cards provide some form of benefit or discount which can be extremely advantageous when one is planning for or is enjoying a vacation. The following are five ways that a rewards credit card can save money on a vacation.

1. Gasoline Discounts

Some credit cards, commonly known as gas rewards cards, provide a specific rebate percentage for each gasoline purchase. At the end of the rewards period, a check or certificate is mailed to the cardholder for the total amount of all of the rebates applied to the account during that year.

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A consumer watchdog has claimed that credit card companies are regularly giving clients false or misleading information when they call to make a claim inquiry.

Research conducted by Which? noted that Tesco and Nationwide were particularly poor while HSBC staff were most unhelpful.

Peter Vicary-Smith, Which? chief executive, said: “It is not as if the rules on credit card claims are complicated. This situation is unacceptable – companies must accept that advice really matters.”

He added: “Consumers are potentially missing out on money they are owed because they have been misinformed. The industry must know the rules, and it should not be up to the consumer to remind them of their rights.”

As a result, Which? Read full article…

At any time of year, credit card debt relief is a popular topic. But around the holidays, it suddenly spirals out of control. We’ve all been there: we want to give our families and friends a great Christmas season, so we let our spending get a little out of hand. And since most of us don’t have tons of spare cash lying around, all of that money goes on our credit cards.

But that spending catches up fast, and come January, you find yourself facing a pile of credit card debt. If that describes you, don’t panic: just follow these simple steps.

Credit card debt help

First of all, if it’s not too late, there’s something important you need to know. Just because it’s Christmas doesn’t mean you get to throw the budget out the window.

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Credit bureau Experian announced last week that positive rental history will be included on credit reports going forward.

The move should help underbanked consumers, such as college students and recent immigrants, build credit history.

In the past, only subsets of negative rental activity were included on credit reports, so consumers’ credit scores could only be hurt by their rental history.

The company said one-third of the country rents and argued that on-time rental payments should be included to reflect the “true creditworthiness” of those who pay on time each month.

Banks and lenders also stand to benefit from the change, as they’ll be able to update their underwriting procedures to automatically capture a consumer’s rental payment obligations from a credit report, instead of inputting it manually.

They’ll also have a more accurate understanding of a consumer’s total monthly obligations to assist in making future credit offerings.

Experian noted that the addition of positive rental history on credit reports will boost credit scores for more than one in three consumers in the highest risk VantageScore® score band to at least the next highest score band.

VantageScore uses both a number and letter grade (A, B, C, D or F), and has a credit score range of 501-990.

It’s unclear if the more popular Fico score will utilize positive rental history, but it’s fair to say it would make sense.

All the more reason to ensure you make your rent payments on time each month.

Credit card fraud has affected a quarter of adults in the UK, a new report has claimed. The annual Card Fraud Index published by life assistance company CPP found that 13 million people have now been hit by card fraud, although 2010 did see a three per cent drop in the number of card fraud incidences.

The study revealed that Brighton was the worst affected area of the UK for credit card fraud, with 38 per cent admitting that they had been a victim, followed by London with 34 per cent, Manchester with 33 per cent, Bristol and Leeds with 32 per cent and Edinburgh having 31 per cent. Read full article…