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Companies that offer credit cards have pulled back in recent months on many fronts, including by limiting their scope on who they offer debt accounts to or closing the cards of already-existing customers.

However, a recent study from Mintel Comprepmedia shows that credit card debt companies have made a push to increase the number of accounts they are offering through the mail. According to the firm, the number of offers for credit cards hit 180 million in October, which represents 34 percent increase over the amount of offers made in September. For that month, card companies mailed 134 million offers.

“Credit card mail volume is still down significantly from a year ago, but October’s sharp increase is an excellent sign for the industry,” Andrew Davidson, senior vice president of Mintel, said. “With recent green shoots of economic recovery, card issuers feel more confident about the future. Read Full Post…

These days it’s not a matter of “if” your credit score will drop but how far for so many Americans who continue to struggle just to stay above water.

As you would probably expect there are different tier levels based on the infraction.  The tier is much different, for example, for an individual who simply misses a payment versus an individual who has a property fall into a foreclosure status.

Below is a list of common mistakes that affect your credit score in an adverse way and the point hit you can expect.

Do you know your credit score? Review

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Most of us have always had a love/hate relationship with our credit cards.  Whether its convenience, access to cash, fraud protection…we’ve all come to depend on our credit cards.  Many of us have stuck it out with the same credit card company for years, believing, falsely, that we were building relationships with these banks that would be helpful down the road.   Such has not been the case in 2009.  In fact, credit card companies have been putting the screws to customers all year long, with the latest and most egregious example being Citibank’s recent interest rate increases.

Beginning in mid-October, Citi began notifying customers it would be raising interest rates to as much as 29.99%-for no reason.  Or at least no legitimate reason.  29.99% is a bit of a magic number in the credit card world as it is usually the rate reserved for people who default, or fail to pay, their credit card.  A few years ago, it would take at least two missed payments to get slapped with this interest rate.  Today, one missed payment can lead to a 29.99% interest rate with most credit card companies.  And with Citi, simply having their credit card in your wallet is apparently all it takes.

Visitor’s of Smart Balance Transfers have written hundreds of posts about this matter.  Most of the people slapped with a Citibank interest rate increase reported having excellent credit scores, low debt, and high credit limits.  Many had been customers for up to 20 years.  Unfortunately, in today’s credit environment, neither loyalty nor good credit histories have been enough to save people from substantial rate increases.

This, in turn, has made many people’s relationships with their credit cards very one sided.  The love is gone, replaced by hate and anger.  Unfortunately, credit cards are still and will likely always be a necessary evil.  They are extremely convenient and, when used properly, provide substantial benefits.  Thus, the key thing today is getting a good 0% credit card, not just any credit card.  And once you get a good credit card, be sure to keep balances as low as possible.  If you owe Citibank nothing and they raise your rate to 29.99%, the rate increase is irrelevant.  However, if you owe them $10,000, a rate increase can be disastrous.  In the post-Lehman economy, credit cards need to be used like charge cards or as short term loans.  This is the only way to avoid paying the price for the mistakes made by our banks.

To learn more about what others are saying about recent rate increases, see the article Citibank Interest Rate Increase Solutions which has over 50 visitor comments

SBI Cards today launched an option for its customers to pay their credit card dues using SBI debit card.

With this, SBI card holders will now have 13 different options to pay their credit card dues, a press release issued here said.

Customers can log into PayNet on the SBI Card website and pay on line using their SBI ATM cum Debit Card.

Presently, SBI Card customers have the payment options through the internet, mobile phone, at ATMs, through drop boxes at vantage points, and through the branches of SBI among others.

SBI Card is a joint venture between State Bank of India and GE Capital. Presently, it has a cardbase of 30-lakh.