We all want credit cards for excellent credit, but finding them is sometimes as hard as building up your excellent credit score itself. If you’re looking for cards for excellent credit ratings, here are a few that might be exactly what you want.

Capital One’s Platinum Prestige is one of the best credit cards for excellent credit. It offers a 0% APR for a year or more when you first sign up for the card, and that covers balance transfers as well. Following that, you may qualify for a variable APR as low as 8.9%, which is not bad in today’s market. There are few cards that offer a fixed APR now, even those cards for excellent credit.

If you plan on paying off your balance on a monthly basis, the American Express Blue Cash card is a good choice. This card, another card for excellent credit applicants, has no annual fee and 0% APR for a year. You also earn up to 5% cash back on items considered “everyday” purchases, including gas. However, the APR is a bit higher on the American Express—11.49% variable.

Discover Card has a number of different cards for those with excellent credit. Like the other two cards for excellent credit, they offer a 0% APR for a year on both purchases and balance transfers. There’s also no annual fee for their card, and they offer a 5% cash back bonus similar to the American Express. Their variable APR falls between the Capital One and the American Express, depending on your exact credit history.

These are just three of the many credit cards for excellent credit. All three offer some of the best rewards and APR you’re likely to find in today’s credit card market.

The average annual interest rates charged on popular types of credit cards fell last week, according to Bankrate.com.

For low-interest cards, which have rates below the national average but are often offered only to customers with strong credit histories, the average APR slipped to 11.42 percent, from 11.45 percent the week before.

Cash back cards, which feature cash or other reward incentives and generally require a good-to-excellent credit rating for approval, saw their average APR fall to 13.57 percent, from 13.66 percent last week.

For balance transfer cards, which allow consumers to consolidate outstanding debt from one or more cards and sometimes include a low introductory rate, the average annual percentage rate dropped to 13.07 percent, from 13.16 percent the week before.

Overall, the average APR charged for all variable-rate cards tracked by Bankrate was 11.04 percent, from 11.07 percent the previous week.

Bankrate surveys the 10 largest banks and thrifts in the 10 largest markets in the U.S. to determine its averages.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Final rules aimed at preventing credit card holders from being hit by unfair and deceptive practices such as surprise fees and interest rate hikes were approved on Thursday by the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision.
The new regulations are expected to bring some relief to millions of card holders but result in lower revenue for credit card issuers.
The Federal Reserve Board and the National Credit Union Administration are expected later on Thursday to approve the same regulations, which go into effect on July 1, 2010.
OTS Director John Reich said in a statement that the rule will “ensure fair treatment” for the millions of American credit cards users.
“The rule will enhance public confidence in financial institutions and establish a level playing field for institutions that want to do business fairly without suffering competitive disadvantages,” Reich said.
In 2007, Americans used an estimated 694.4 million credit cards with Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover logos, according to the Card Industry Directory.
Citigroup, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase enjoyed almost 70 percent of the credit card market at the end of 2007, according to the directory.

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In today’s economy, credit cards are a necessary evil — it’s difficult to book a hotel, rent a car or buy a gift online without one.

But not all credit cards are created equal and the plethora of plastic options can leave you scratching your head when it’s time to choose the right card for you.

Marie-France Lettre, communications officer with the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada and an expert on credit cards, said the “golden rule” of credit cards is to remember they are a convenient method of payment and not the source of funds.

“(Credit cards) shouldn’t compensate for a lack of liquidity in your bank account,” Lettre told CTV’s Canada AM on Tuesday.

A slew of catchy incentive programs including travel rewards, health perks, gas points and new charitable options can make the task of finding the right card even more challenging.

“It can be very overwhelming for consumers to choose the best one for them,” Lettre said.

In an effort to help shoppers tailor a card to match their unique spending habits, the Consumer Agency of Canada has devised an online interactive tool that narrows down more than two hundred card options to a small handful.

The tool prompts Internet users to answer a few simple questions, such as whether they prefer to pay a small annual fee, have a low interest rate, purchase an insurance plan or enjoy student benefits for example.

Shopping for the right card is just as important as what you buy, Lettre said.

What to consider

One of the most important factors to consider when shopping for a card is whether you typically carry an unpaid balance from month-to-month, she said.

If you do, you shouldn’t get too excited about incentive programs, Lettre said.

Cards with juicy reward programs tend to have higher interest rates. Carrying a rollover balance on these cards could cost more in exchange for a few extra points.

Make sure the rewards outweigh — or at least cover — the extra costs, Lettre said.

Beyond Air Miles

Credit card reward programs have come a long way in recent years. Consumers can earn a lot more than just air travel deals. Some health programs allow holders to redeem points at their next eye exam for example.

Other cards can be used toward large purchases such as vehicles or everyday expenses such as gas and groceries.

An incentive program should not encourage you to change your shopping habits. Never go out of your way to earn points, Lettre said.

Charitable cards are also becoming more common. Some donation plans give a small amount — like $0.10 — from every purchase to charity, while others offer to make cash donations in exchange for points. Research the list of available charities before you commit to one card, Lettre said.

“Everything that is related to reward programs should be up to the consumer and you need to shop around.”

Read the fine print

Tread carefully when considering popular cash-back credit cards, Lettre said. Cash-back cards handover a small portion of spending back to card owner, usually at year’s end. However, many of these cards are associated with annual fees and higher interest rates. Furthermore, many cards-back cards have a ceiling rebate amount. And some payouts only kick-in when a certain dollar value has been spent per transaction or on an annual basis.

You risk spending more with cash-back cards, Lettre said. “You realize, ‘I’ve put myself into debt, I’m paying more interest, I’m paying more annual fees all for a cash-back that I can’t really get.’”

Be careful when using prepaid credit cards as well, Lettre said. These cards are popular among young people and are loaded with a predetermined amount of money. These cards can come with catches including hefty activation fees, reloading fees and charges at each transaction.

Doing the research isn’t always fun but it will save you money in the end, Lettre said.

“Make sure you read the terms and conditions of your contract because it is your responsibility,” Lettre said.

Building credit

Signing up for several cards and deciding which to use later isn’t the best option either. Points are deducted from your credit score each time you apply for credit. Lenders, such as mortgage brokers, review card applications and a high number of requests may reflect badly on your ability to manage debt, Lettre said.

Also, don’t cancel a trusty card with a good rate just to get a new one, if you can help it. The longer you keep a healthy credit card account active, the better it reflects on your credit score.

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If you have excellent credit, you may find yourself approved for better credit cards, cards for excellent credit. But finding these cards takes a bit of work, and with credit card companies sending you offers left and right, why should you bother doing the work it takes to find these excellent credit cards? Well, here are some reasons.

First, cards for excellent credit generally have better APR than other cards. While nearly every credit card has gone to a variable interest rate these days, those cards for excellent credit often feature an APR under 10%, which is very low.

Second, excellent credit credit cards usually offer better bonus programs. These might include cash back for purchasing gas or buying items for particular stores. They may also take the form of travel discounts on airline tickets, rental cars, or hotels. Often, the bonus programs on cards for excellent credit allow you to choose what form your bonus takes.

Third, the best credit cards for excellent credit also offer incentives to transfer balances. Most give you a zero APR on all balance transfers for at least a year, and some even offer 16 months of zero APR. This is something to certainly consider since, more often than not, gaining excellent credit means a person has used a credit card and has a balance to transfer.

Finally, a card for excellent credit comes with some respect for the customer. A person who qualifies for one of these excellent credit credit cards has shown he or she can make payments on time and is responsible. This often results in a better level of customer service from the card issuer, and they are often willing to make payment arrangements should an emergency arise.

Average interest charged on 3 popular types of credit cards rises slightly in past week

The average annual interest rates charged on popular types of credit cards mostly rose last week.For low-interest cards, which have rates below the national average but are often offered only to customers with strong credit histories, the average APR edged up to 11.45 percent, from 11.41 percent the week before.

Cash back cards, which feature cash or other reward incentives and generally require a good-to-excellent credit rating for approval, saw their average APR inched higher, to 13.66 percent, from 13.56 percent last week.

For balance transfer cards, which allow consumers to consolidate outstanding debt from one or more cards and sometimes include a low introductory rate, the average annual percentage rate rose to 13.16 percent, from 13.10 percent the week before.

Overall, the average APR charged for all variable-rate cards tracked by Bankrate was 11.07 percent, down marginally from 11.08 percent the previous week.

Bankrate surveys the 10 largest banks and thrifts in the 10 largest markets in the U.S. to determine its averages.

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1. When possible, always pay with cash. Some people have a bad habit of paying for things with credit cards and then not paying close enough attention to how much of a bill they’ve rung up. When they finally look at their statement, they find they’ve exceeded their budget.

2. Make a budget, and stay within your spending limits. It’s easy to go overboard with your spending if you’re not careful. Most of the time, we don’t have an idea of our total expenses for each month in our heads when we make a purchase. By making a budget, you can determine exactly how much cash you have to spare.

3. When you see the newest gadget or a stylish new piece of clothing, it can be very tempting to buy it straight away. This is known as impulse buying, and it is an easy way to get yourself into financial trouble. We all like to have new things, but it’s important to stick to your budget.

4. Stay away from any offers that give you the opportunity to “buy now and pay later” or any so-called “interest-free financing” deals. While they seem attractive, they are still just delayed debt and can cause trouble.

5. Shop around. Do your research on an item before you make any major purchases. There are two reasons for this: first of all, you can often find a better deal with a little legwork. Secondly, you might find that an item you thought you needed is frivolous, or that there are more practical purchases you could be making.

6. When you go out shopping, don’t bring any credit or debit cards. Just bring an amount of cash that works with your budget. That way, you can’t possibly go over your budget, and you’ll learn how to shop smart.

7. Keep a close eye on your bank statements. Assuming that you have access to online bank statements, it may be a good idea to check your balance daily to ensure you don’t overdraw and get charged for it.

8. When it comes to borrowing money, make sure you choose the lender with the best interest rate. There may be a lot of other attractive perks offered by some companies, but high interest is any easy way to end up buried in debt.

9. When you are paying on a credit card, always pay more than the minimum. In many cases, the minimum payment is barely enough to cover the interest on an account.

10. If you have the option, consider transferring high balances to a card with a lower interest rates.

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Credit card companies could no longer boost interest rates on existing account balances if the Federal Reserve adopts new rules as written at a meeting set for next Thursday.

But as proposed, the changes also could make it more difficult for millions of people with bad credit to get what’s referred to as a subprime card.

The rules were proposed in May and drew more than 65,000 public comments.

“That’s the highest number we’ve ever received,” said Susan Stawick, a Federal Reserve Board spokeswoman.

Among them: a letter from a single mother of three in Florida who wrote she paid her bill on time but her interest rate shot up from 7.9 to 29.99 percent.

“I would have been better off going to a loan shark. I think their rates are more reasonable,” she wrote.

The changes under consideration would ban that practice and others considered by some to be unfair.

“The proposed rules are intended to establish a new baseline for fairness in how credit card plans operate,” Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in May. “Consumers relying on credit cards should be better able to predict how their decisions and actions will affect their costs.”

South Dakota eliminated the interest rate cap on credit cards almost 30 years ago and has thrived from the industry that employs as many as 20,000.

The proposed limits on subprime cards could cost the state of 788,000 people from 3,000 to 5,000 jobs, said Gov. Mike Rounds.

“In essence it would shut down the low-limit credit card business across the United States,” the Republican said.

Prime credit card companies generally could adapt to the five other proposed rule changes, but there’s not a business model that would work for dealing with the changes to subprime cards, he said.

Rounds said he’s still urging the Fed to reconsider.

The state’s two biggest subprime card issuers are Premier Bankcard and Total Card.

T. Denny Sanford, Premier’s owner, is 15th on the Dec. 8 Business Week list of top American philanthropists with an estimated $706 million in giving since 2004. His estimated net worth is $2 billion.

Greg Ticknor, president of Total Card, said he won’t know the effect until the change is announced Thursday but the company likely would survive by adjusting the types of cards it issues.

Under the current proposal, some of the 70 million Americans with “challenged credit” probably wouldn’t qualify for a card, so they’ll instead rely on payday loans, he said.

“In today’s economy, that’s the opposite of what they should be doing,” Ticknor said of the loss of credit.

Prime card issuers such as Citibank South Dakota, which moved its credit card operation from New York after South Dakota’s 1979 law change, would also feel the change, said Peter Garuccio, American Bankers Association spokesman.

“The Fed’s proposal represents an unprecedented way customers will relate and work with their credit card issuers,” he said.

“What it does, by and large, is limit the ability of issuers to use risk-based pricing. And in so doing, the card companies will have to sort of change their models to figure out how to protect changing risks going forward. It’ll be a big challenge for the business.”

On Thursday, the Fed could adopt the proposals as written or make changes. But it’s unlikely the final rules will stray too far because otherwise, the Fed would have to seek public comment again, Garuccio said.

Travis Plunkett of the Consumer Federation of America said the public comments, most of which are posted on the Fed’s Web site, show deep frustration.

“A good share of these comments weren’t generated by people like me. They were spontaneous from consumers who feel they’ve been treated unfairly by their credit card companies and are literally begging the Fed for help,” he said.

A lot of people acknowledged paying late, often mistakenly, and felt it was unreasonable for their card issuer to increase the interest rate on the balance, Plunkett said.

Another common theme is from people who always pay on time but were hit with a rate increase because the company needed to recoup losses from other cardholders, he said.

“They wake up and get a notice in the mail or a bill telling them that all of a sudden their interest rate is double or triple the rate what it was the day before,” Plunkett said.

The proposed changes would let credit card companies increase the interest rate only on new cards and future purchases or advances, not any current balance.

Another new Fed rule would require firms to apply any payment above the minimum to the part of the balance with the highest interest rate.

Some companies now allow consumers to transfer other card debt at zero interest but then require all payments to go toward that amount, not the part of the balance carrying a higher interest rate, Plunkett said.

The other significant change would affect subprime or “fee harvester” cards used by people with a credit score too low to qualify for a normal card. They typically carry no more than a $500 limit but require a large upfront fee.

The Fed proposal would cap that fee at 50 percent of the credit limit and allow the cardholder to pay off the initial balance over a year, not immediately.

“They are both deceptive and unfair,” the Consumer Federation’s Plunkett said of the cards.

But many of the public comments urge the Fed not to limit the product because it’s a way for some people to rebuild their credit rating.

“If adopted, this rule also would have a disproportionate and adverse impact on minority consumers, who historically have had difficulty obtaining access to credit,” wrote one Arkansas woman.

Miles Beacom, president and CEO of Premier Bankcard, said in a statement the company supports most of the changes but opposes tighter controls on subprime cards.

“In order to be successful, credit card companies must have the ability to price the product based on customer risk,” he wrote to The Associated Press.

Premier is the 10th largest issuer of MasterCard and Visa cards, has more than 3.5 million customers nationwide and a formal complaint rate that’s one of the industry’s lowest, Beacom wrote.

Roger Novotny, head of South Dakota’s Banking Division, said his office typically gets 15 to 25 complaints a month about the state bank.

The company did refund $4.5 million last year to New York customers as part of a settlement reached by the state attorney general claiming Premier Bankcard used deceptive and illegal tactics to market its cards.

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That’s what happened to Visa Chief Executive Joseph Saunders.

He spoke Thursday morning at a Goldman Sachs financial services conference in New York, and had come from San Francisco, Visa’s headquarters.

Unfortunately, his credit cards didn’t make the trip.

“I’m supposed to start off, and say that I’m very happy to be here, and I guess I am. But it’s 4:15 in the morning as far as I’m concerned, and I lost my wallet on the way here,” Saunders said. “It’s rather embarrassing when somebody steals my credit cards.” The comment prompted laughter.

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Lawmaker Announces Plan to Stop Credit Predators on College Campuses

It’s a common sight on college campuses: Credit card companies offering deals to students to get them to sign up for a new credit card.

But many first-time borrowers don’t know what their getting into, and often get stuck with interest rates and credit card bills they can’t afford.

Now, State Senator Thomas Gaffey is introducing a bill that would restrict access for lenders on campus. The restrictions, Gaffey says are needed to protect students from lenders, who often prey on the naivety of college students.

Gaffey plans to introduce the bill in January.

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Cash-strapped consumers can expect a special delivery this holiday season: sweeping new rules on credit cards.

Federal regulators will unveil final rules within the next several weeks to restrict credit card practices seen as unfair or deceptive. Proposals would prohibit institutions from practices such as: increasing rates on an outstanding balance, except under limited circumstances; applying consumers’ payments over the minimum to maximize interest charges; and requiring a reasonable amount of time for consumers to make payments.

Consumers have spoken loudly in favor of curbing aggressive pricing. They’ve posted tens of thousands of comments on the Federal Reserve’s Web site, complaining about predatory lenders.

“Please stop credit card companies from committing unfair billing practices. … Honest people need an honest chance,” wrote Laura White in a comment on the Fed’s site.

Meanwhile, the credit card industry has reiterated concerns that the rules will damage its ability to manage risk, leading issuers to raise rates and cut available credit. Meredith Whitney, a prominent analyst and managing director of Oppenheimer & Co., agrees that the rules would tamp access to credit, and wrote recently in the Financial Times that the rules will lead to the “severe unintended consequence” of pulling credit from consumers to the tune of $2 trillion, or 40 percent of unused credit lines.

“With so many Americans relying on their credit cards as a major source of liquidity, it would be equivalent to a major pay cut,” Whitney wrote.

While there’s no crystal ball to peek at the rules before they are finalized, Ken Clayton, managing director of the American Bankers Association’s card policy council, expects that the Fed will “move aggressively.”

“What you’re going to see is an unprecedented change in the way consumers deal with their card companies,” Clayton said. “In light of the current economic uncertainties, it’s important that all of us understand the full impact of these regulations on consumers and the economy before we can understand (whether they are) successful.”

One point of contention regards the provision that would prohibit issuers from increasing the interest rate on outstanding balances. The regulators’ interim proposal allows for exceptions to this rule, such as when a minimum payment is not received within 30 days of the due date. The credit card industry has argued that the 30-day delinquency is too long, a position backed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the primary federal regulator of national banks, which account for almost 80 percent of U.S. credit card lending.

“We believe the proposed restriction is unnecessarily stringent and would severely curtail the ability of creditors to react to adverse changes in a borrower’s risk characteristics during the term of the account,” the OCC told the Fed in public comments. “The period should be long enough so that payment on the account is clearly late, for example, five days after the payment due date, and before a new credit cycle begins and the next periodic statement is prepared.”

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Credit-card companies will reduce lending by more than $2 trillion over the next 18 months in a “dangerous and unprecedented” move for U.S. consumer spending, Oppenheimer & Co.’s Meredith Whitney said.