Best Credit Cards For Balance Transfers

Less than five months gone in 2011 and already, it looks like a banner year for credit. Unemployment is down, the economy is adding jobs and people are starting to pay back what they owe. If you would like to be one of them, there is no better way than with balance transfer cards.

Balance transfer cards help you save money by transferring your balance from a high interest rate card to a card that has a zero percent introductory rate on balance transfers, giving you a grace period to pay off your outstanding balance. These cards allow you to pay off high balances racked up during big events like paying for a wedding or starting a small business. Learn about two of the best balance transfer cards below, or let Customer Credit Cards show you more helpful hints.

MORE by Discover Credit Cards: Discover Credit Cards offers MORE, a card long thought to be the industry leader in balance transfer cards. As of May 1, however, the card’s 18-month grace period on balance transfer interest has been reduced to 15 months. While this will likely deter some would be transferors, the card still offers some sterling features. The balance transfer interest rate may have been reduced but the 0% intro on new purchases has increased from six months to 15 months. Some other noteworthy features of this card are the 5% cash back structure on rotating categories such as food, travel, gas, entertainments, home improvement, etc. With no annual fee and a balance transfer fee of just $10 or 4% of the transfer amount, this card is still one of the best values around for balance transfer customers.

Citibank Credit Cards Platinum Select MasterCard: This Citibank credit card offers zero percent intro APR for a whopping 21 months! This grace period leads the industry. After the intro period is over you will incur an APR between 11.99% and 20.99%. This card comes with no annual fee and a generous cash back structure that includes gift cards, travel, merchandise, etc. Besides having a longer grace period, the Citibank Credit Cards Platinum Select offers a lower balance transfer fee than the Discover Card with a fee of just $5 or 3% of the transfer amount (whichever is greater).

Compare these and other credit card offers at CustomerCreditCards.com.

Best Small Business Credit Cards

Best Small Business Credit Cards
When starting a small business, it may seem counterintuitive to have credit card debt right off the bat. But like any business, you have to spend money to make money. And for small business owners, credit cards have benefits well beyond great cash flow and ease-of-use.

The hardest part of entrepreneurship for most small business owners is bookkeeping; developing the discipline to create, and keep, an effective budget. Business credit cards allow small business owners to keep business and personal expenses completely separate.

This comes in handy when tax season rolls around. Credit card statements and online tools make it easy to extract your business expenses on your Schedule C or other business tax forms. If you ever get audited, you have a much better case if you can show that you keep your business and personal expenses completely separate. It also makes bookkeeping easier because your credit card company automatically tallies up and, in most cases, categorizes your expenses for you.

Some credit cards help you out more than others. At CustomerCreditCards.com, you can compare these cards side-by-side and see which will help you most effectively. Here are just a few that we love.

True Earnings Costco Business American Express Credit Card

This card tops tons of small business hot lists for its high-value rewards on things small business owners need like travel, gas and entertainment expenses. The card offers 4% cash back on your first $6,500 worth of gas at any Costco or domestic gas station; 3% cash back on eating out and dining at restaurants; 2% cash back on all travel purchases which include plane tickets, lodging, cruises, tour operators; etc, and 1% cash back on everything else.

Citibank Credit Cards Dividend Rewards Card

Citibank Credit Cards Dividend Rewards Card offers 5% off of gas, groceries, drug stores, and utilities for 6 months, after which it becomes 2%. Also, there’s 1% cash back on everything else.s

Simply Cash OPEN American Express Credit Card

When it comes to cash back, you can’t beat Simply Cash, an American Express Credit Card. The card offers 5% cash back on office supply and wireless purchases, 3% cash back on all automobile gasoline purchases and 1% cash back on everything else. Cash back is automatically credited every month. But unlike a lot of other small business cards, Simply Cash requires no annual fee.

Check out these and other credit card offers at CustomerCreditCards.com.

Michaels Debit Card Fraud Spotlights Need For Credit Cards

As more details emerge about Michaels—the craft supply chain where employees allegedly installed debit card skimmers to track and collect customer information, clone debit cards and steal millions from customers in 20 different states—one fraud professional is warning against the use of debit cards as a form of payment. Instead, he says, credit cards have become the safest form of payment.

Frank Abagnale, a former fraudster turned security consultant who was the inspiration for the film "Catch Me if You Can," told ABC News this week, "I don't have a debit card. I believe it's one of the worst financial tools ever given to the American public."

Abagnale became notorious in the 1960s for passing $2.5 million worth of meticulously forged checks across 26 countries over the course of five years, beginning when he was 16 years old. After serving less than five years in federal prison, he went to work for the FBI and later started his own security-consulting firm. Abagnale sees the recent Michaels case and believes there is a better way.

"The safest form of payment that truly exists on the planet is the credit card," says Abagnale. "I removed 99 percent of the risk because I spend the credit card company's money. If someone looks over my shoulder and gets my number, I have zero liability."

Abagnale may be on to something. Companies like American Express Credit Cards, Citibank Credit Cards and Discover Credit Cards have installed complex fraud preventions to protect your charges and your credit score. Feel free to shop and compare them at CustomerCreditCards.com. But, until then, here are a few highlights of their services.

Forget those free credit report commercials offering a free glance at your credit score. What those commercials tell you in lightning fast jargon at the very end is that you will be automatically enrolled in Triple Advantage, a $15/month credit monitoring system that will simply watch over your credit score and alert you if there are any changes. Citibank Credit Cards offer a better way. With Citi Identity Monitor, you pay just $12.95 per month, which provides you with the same monitoring, plus online access to fraud and credit education. And, the best part is, you get Identity Theft Expense Reimbursement Coverage of up to $25,000.

Keeping your information stable and secure is part of keeping healthy credit. With that in mind, Discover Credit Cards sends by-phone and e-mail alerts for any of the following changes: new accounts opened in your name, new applications for credit, address changes, public record changes, and any other potentially negative information on your credit files.

In November 2010, American Express Credit Cards added another layer of security for its customers—online certainty. The company purchased Accertify Inc., a company that sells fraud prevention services to online retailers and other merchants. Together with Accertify, American Express Credit Cards can offer an extra layer of security when consumers choose to buy online.

The Best Gas Credit Cards Are American Express Credit Cards

In today’s financial climate, everyone is hurting in different ways. But one way it hits us all the same is at the pump. Americans are paying well over $4 a gallon in gas right now as turmoil in the Middle East has curbed oil supply. To help save gas guzzlers an easy buck, Wall Street Journal reporter Stacey Bradford investigated the top gas reward credit cards this week. Her report, and a report from credit reporting website CreditHub.com, found that American Express credit cards lead the way in rewarding purchasers for gas.

CreditHub gushed over the Blue Cash Preferred card from American Express Credit Cards. This credit card is only available to folks with excellent credit. But if you qualify, you can earn 3% cash back on gas purchased anywhere and 6% on items you buy at the supermarket. The downside is the $75 annual fee and the 17.24% to 21.24% interest rate. (There is, however, a 0% introductory rate for the first 6-12 months).

Another American Express credit card that got CreditHub’s engine revving this week is the TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express. This one offers 3% cash back on gasoline, up to $3,000 annually and 1% thereafter. Card members also receive 3% back on restaurants, 2% on travel and 1% on most other purchases. There’s no annual fee for Costco members. After 6 months, the 0% interest rate jumps to 15.24%.

The CreditHub report and subsequent article also recommended cards from individual gas stations like Shell, BP and Exxon Mobile.

So fill up your tank with savings from these American Express credit cards. Get more info at CustomerCreditCards.com.

Going Somewhere? Get Out Of Town With American Express Credit Card Miles This Summer!

Summer is almost here once again and the beauty of the great outdoors is calling. So, what’s the reason able thing to do? Take a vacation. After all, those vacation days aren’t going to spend themselves! But before you decide where to go, you should take a look at your credit card. Are you getting all the free travel you could be out of your credit card?

By asking a few key questions (and getting the right answers) you can maximize your travel potential and pay less for your vacation. Would an American Express credit card save more on air miles than a Discover credit card? What are the blackout dates like on a Citibank credit card? Does my credit card offer miles on all the largest airlines? When it comes to air travel, no one has more reward options than American Express credit cards.

One of the first things to look for in a credit card with good air miles is how the card allows you to build up points that can be used for air travel. For example, American Express Credit Cards released the Starwood Preferred Guest card, which lets you earn at least one StarPoint for every dollar spent. Purchases made at Starwood hotels earn double points in addition to the points you would normally earn for your stay. All together, this can total 5 Starpoints for every dollar spent. Also, Starwood points can be redeemed at any Starwood hotel for any room available at any time. There are no blackout dates or capacity restrictions.

Some cards are better for road warriors than others. If you are someone who constantly travels for work and spends more time in the air than in your home, look into cards like the Platinum Rewards American Express credit card. Many traditional travelers balk at the $450 annual fee, but that buys you $200 a year in airline fees like checked bags, in-flight meals, access to Priority Pass Select airport lounges (normally $249 for 10 visits), and zero foreign transaction fees.

One frustrating part of any air traveler’s journey is going through airport security. But when American Express credit cards did away with foreign purchase fees, they also added free membership to Global Entry, which offers expedited security clearance for pre-approved travelers entering the United States.

So let American Express credit cards put you in the air this summer with better travel rewards.

You can get more information on these cards and other card offers at CustomerCreditCards.com

The Best Credit Cards for Each Stage of Life

Just like clothes, cars, friends, and homes, as we go through the different stages of our life, we grow out of our credit cards. We start to want different rewards, different features, and different perks to help navigate our new financial course. But which credit card to choose? CBS Money has come up with a card for each stage of life that will help you choose the card that is best for you, including Citibank credit cards, American Express credit cards, and Discover credit cards. 

For College Grads

For new graduates, Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, author of "Perfect Credit" and founder of the free financial advice blog "Ask The Money Coach," recommended the Citibank credit card known as Citi Forward. This card offers young spenders benefits for paying on time, like an up-to-2 percent reduction on their interest rate. Beyond this offer, which is currently featured on CustomerCreditCards.com, Forward rewards you for doing things socially, like visiting the movies, restaurants or coffeehouses—great for young grads. 

For Newlyweds

Paying for a wedding? Want to transfer your debt from your college interest cards to something better? Try the Discover More card offered by Discover credit cards. Discover More offers 18 months with 0 percent APR on balance transfers, so you have a year-and-a-half to pay off those old debts that have been hanging over your head. 

For Parents

Want to get a head start on the college fund but don’t know how to get it going? Let your credit card do the work. American Express credit cards partnered with Fidelity Investments to give you cash back rewards that go right into a Fidelity account for college. They’ll get there sooner than you think. Best to be prepared.

Each of these stages is unique, so it is best to examine these cards carefully and make sure you have the best information available before signing up for any credit card. But with CustomerCreditCards.com, you can make a more informed decision, no matter what stage of life you are in.