USA TODAY recommends LowCards.com

How to cope with new fees, rule changes on credit cards

....Last week, the Federal Reserve Board proposed rules that would prohibit credit card issuers from charging customers an inactivity fee for failing to make new purchases with their card. That's good news for infrequent card issuers. But the rules wouldn't put any restrictions on credit card companies' ability to slap an annual fee on your cards, says Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards.com. Nor do the rules prevent credit card issuers from reducing your credit limits or closing your accounts....

...Credit card comparison sites such as LowCards.com....can help you search for the best deals....

AP quotes LowCards.com CEO

Lower interest rates? Not in the (credit) cards

...Instead, banks could opt for a minimal reduction, said Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com.
The latest proposal by the Fed is part of the broader credit card reforms that went into effect last month. After a public comment period of one month, if approved, the rules outlined in the proposal would take effect Aug. 22....

Forbes cites LowCards.com study

Five Reasons To Switch To A Credit Union Credit Card

...Even those with pristine credit are paying at least two percentage points more in interest this year, according to a study by LowCards.com.

MSNBC recommends LowCards.com

New credit card laws rife with loopholes

Make sure you look at various options. Use sites such as lowcards.com .... to shop for cards. Be sure to check with the credit unions and smaller regional banks in your area. You may be pleasantly surprised to find better rates and lower fees.

TIME magazine cites LowCards.com

Tagging along with Credit Card Reform: More Fees, Higher Interest Rates, and Less Credit Period

...While the CARD act was created to help consumers—and in many ways it does just that—the law has also resulted in quite a few ugly unintended consequences, as a LowCards.com post said....

The New York Times interviews LowCards.com CEO

What the Credit Card Act Means for You

...Still, this provision means that you won’t get an increase for late payments that are within 60 days of the due date or for late payments to other creditors. In addition, when balances have multiple interest rates, any payment above the minimum payment required must generally be applied to the balance with the highest interest rate. But, according to Bill Hardekopf of LowCards.com, there will probably be consequences of these changes, including a scarcity of fixed-rate credit cards as most issuers switch their fixed-rate cards to variable rates and the spread of higher minimum payments.

CNN Money quotes LowCards.com CEO

Credit card relief is here, but watch out for new traps

..And whereas 3% was once the standard charge for rolling over a balance from one credit card to another, issuers like JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) are now assessing customers a 5% fee, according to Bill Hardekopf, CEO of the card rating site LowCards.com.....

The Wall Street Journal mentions LowCards.com

Credit-Card Fees: the New Traps

.... That compares with an interest rate as low as 11.99% on a Citibank Platinum Select MasterCard, touted as one of the cheapest rates around by Lowcards.com, a card-comparison Web site. The average rate at the end of last year was roughly 14%, according to the Federal Reserve.

U.S. News & World Report quotes LowCards.com CEO

A New Era Begins for Credit Cards

....Bill Hardekopf, the chief executive of LowCards.com, a company that analyzes and reviews credit cards, speaks of this disillusionment in terms of a shifting partnership dynamic. "That partnership between the credit card issuer and you as the consumer has changed dramatically. The pendulum has kind of swung in favor of the issuer," he says.

NPR interviews LowCards.com CEO

The loopholes of credit card reform

Bill Hardekopf is the CEO of LowCards.com.

BILL HARDEKOPF: If you're 60 days late on your payments, your interest rate can be hiked immediately.

And that higher penalty rate applies to what you already owe, as well as new charges.

Boston Globe quotes LowCards.com CEO

Credit card reward points can help you fatten your brokerage account, too

...“If the card offers you more than 1 percent of what you spend, it is an above-average offer,’’ said Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards.com, which lets you compare more than 1,000 credit cards. Few cards offer cash-back rewards of more than 1 percent; the ones that do usually have a minimum spending requirement, or the higher rebate rate is part of a rotating reward program with categories of eligible purchases - groceries or restaurant meals, for example - changing every month.

Forbes quotes LowCards.com CEO

New Credit Card Choices For College Students

...Often it will require some parental involvement. Parents should give children "real-life examples of the credit card mistakes you have made so they can avoid making the same ones," says Bill Hardekopf, of LowCards.com.

CNN Money quotes LowCards.com CEO

'Consumer-friendly' credit cards?


To rehab their image, some companies have recently ginned up new "consumer-friendly" cards. But many are less about helping you and more about "something they can revolve an ad campaign around," says Bill Hardekopf of Low-Cards.com.

Wall Street Journal quotes LowCards.com CEO

CONSUMER FINANCE: New Rules, New Card Tricks

"The provisions of the CARD act were excellent and they addressed key problems, but because card issuers are in the business to make money, you had to think they would find other ways to make up for the revenue they were losing because of the law," said Bill Hardekopf of LowCards.com. "Now they are instituting a number of other practices--perfectly legal even after the new law--to make up for lost revenue, and consumers now have some new things to worry about."

The Washington Post quote LowCards.com CEO

Credit cards get friendlier after recession and reforms

But experts caution that consumers should remember to do their math: Compare the benefit of the promotions with cards that offer lower everyday interest rates to make sure you're getting the best deal.

"They may be cutting you some slack over here, but they're hoping you spend more over there," said Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards.com.

NBC Today Show Recommends LowCards.com

Forbes mentions LowCards.com

How Credit Cards Will Change In 2010

...Banks know that these new regulations may make it harder for them to play the sort of billing games that brought in billions of dollars in extra revenue a year. In response, they've adopted a number of tactics to create new ways of making money, says Bill Hardekopf, the head of LowCards.com. These new fees could hit even those disciplined cardholders who pay off their balances in full every month....

WSJ mentions LowCards.com

Bank Launch New Check, Card Fees

Issuers also are likely to water down rewards programs and introduce fees for inactive accounts." There are so many things that issuers can do that the Card Act doesn't touch," said Bill Hardekopf, chief executive officer of LowCards.com, a Web site that tracks the industry.

USA Today mentions LowCards.com

Got A Gift Card ? Now's a great time to start spending them

If a general-purpose card is lost or stolen, you can cancel the card and request a replacement, although you'll probably have to pay a fee, according to LowCards.com, a consumer website.

The New York Times quotes LowCards.com CEO

A Squeeze on Customers Ahead of New Rules

...That means fewer applicants will be approved for new credit cards, and those who are accepted will increasingly be charged annual fees or variable interest rates, rather than fixed rates. Currently, about 20 percent of credit cards charge annual fees, a percentage that is rising, said Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards.com. Current cardholders, too, will be affected...

WSJ Quotes CEO of LowCards.com

Report Looks at Practices of Credit Card Issuers

..."Actions like these are rarely singular events," said Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards.com, an online credit-card information resource. "One issuer takes a new step and the others likely follow."...

Bloomberg quotes LowCards.com CEO

JPMorgan Raises Stakes in Card Wars With 100,000-Mile Offer

...“That’s probably the best introductory offer that I’m aware of,” Bill Hardekopf, chief executive officer of LowCards.com, said about the Chase promotion. Hardekopf’s Birmingham, Alabama-based firm evaluates about 1,000 credit cards. He hasn’t seen complete terms from JPMorgan, which may dilute the value of the offer, Hardekopf said. ....

The Wall Street Journal mentions LowCards.com

Credit Cards: Break Up, or Make Up?

.... The turmoil makes it a good time to take a look at which credit cards are worth keeping. "A credit-card partnership is not like a marriage. It doesn't have to last a lifetime," says Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of Lowcards.com, a credit-card information Web site based in Birmingham, Ala. ...

U.S. News and World Report mentions LowCards.com

3 Myths About Credit Card Fees for Businesses

..But credit card experts argue that this account does not reflect reality. "I don't think there's necessarily a correlation between the interchange fee and the number of mailings you get," says Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com. Since the recession began, "the number of mailings has been down significantly, and the interchange fee hasn't been down at all," he says.

Kiplinger asks LowCards.com for Advice

ASK KIM : Kiss 0% Goodbye

For example, 0% balance-transfer offers are harder to come by -- especially if you don't have an excellent credit score -- and the introductory-rate period is generally shrinking from 12 months to six, says Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards.com. And expect to pay higher transfer fees for the privilege of shifting your balance to a card with a low- or no-interest rate. Some card companies have raised their transfer fees to 3% or 4% of the amount transferred and eliminated the caps on those fees. Previously, issuers often set a maximum transfer fee of $75, for example. Card companies have also been increasing their annual fees, reducing credit limits, raising rates and dropping customers who carry high balances.

SmartMoney quotes LowCards.com CEO

How to Make Peace With Your Credit Cards

...Consumers struggling to manage debt aren’t the only ones who’ve been hurt by the recent downturn. Credit-card companies have been hurt, too, triggering some of those higher fees and shorter credit lines.

“When the economy turned, not only did it impact [banks’] stock prices -- their financial situation -- but also their customers all started to suffer, so there were defaults, and there were late payments,” says Bill Hardekopf, the CEO of LowCards.com, a credit-card comparison site. “What credit-card issuers started to do was cut their financial risk,” Hardekopf says.

USA Today mentions LowCards.com

Consumers getting more information about credit cards

...Advocates say the new rules are a good first step but don't go far enough in protecting consumers. For instance, even though issuers now must give 45 days notice of "any significant change," account closures and credit line reductions don't count as major changes.

That means consumers may not know their credit has been cut, even though that could be hurting their credit score or their ability to finance purchases, says Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com, a card comparison site. One important factor in the credit score is a ratio that measures borrowers' debt to available credit. If available credit drops, this ratio rises, possibly making the consumer appear riskier....

Bloomberg mentions LowCards.com

AmEx Will Cancel Rewards Points on Some Late Accounts

..."This opens a door to adding new fees to the reward program and holding reward points hostage,” Bill Hardekopf, chief executive officer of industry newsletter LowCards.com, said in an e-mail. “If this works, others could follow and find additional ways to introduce new fees for rewards.”...

LowCards.com CEO quoted in USA Today

Earlier notice on rate hikes gives credit card users options

...Before deciding whether to opt out or stay in, get out a calculator and figure out how much the new interest rate will affect your monthly payments. If you're trying to make ends meet and face a big increase in your monthly payments, you should seriously consider opting out, says Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards.com.

Once you've paid off your balance, you can focus on rebuilding your credit score, Watts says. If you're having trouble making your monthly payments, "deal with that situation first," he says. "You can always improve your credit score over time after you take care of current priorities."

USA TODAY interviews LowCards.com CEO

Consumers hit again as some banks raise credit rates, fees

....Yet some critics say that issuers are taking advantage of a loophole in the law to bolster their financial conditions. Increases in credit card rates have been "widespread" as issuers try to make up for falling revenue because of higher loan losses and pending restrictions, says Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards.com, an information site....

Washington Post quotes LowCards.com CEO

Fewer Credit Card Offers in the Mail, But More Fees

"Consumers must pay attention to the offers they receive to see if the card has an annual fee," said Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards.com and co-author of The Credit Card Guidebook. "In addition, consumers need to look at the notices you receive in the mail or in your bill to see if your issuer has added, or even increased, an annual fee."

US News and World Report quotes LowCards.com CEO Bill Hardekopf

Your Bank Is a TARP Bank: Do You Need to Worry?

....Many banks, most noticeably through their credit cards, are raising interest rates and fees. Some consumer advocates have questioned if institutions that received taxpayer funds are treating customers unfairly. But most experts say that most banks are raising rates and fees. "You are just as likely to have your interest rate affected whether that bank received bailout money or not. Banks are looking for one thing: Are you a great credit risk? If you are, you are going to receive an increase in your annual percentage rate and decrease in your credit limit
almost immediately," says Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards.com, a consumer resource for credit card information. In some cases, he adds, it doesn't even matter if the customer has become a greater credit risk—the bank may still decide to increase interest rates or cut credit limits.....

USA TODAY quotes Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com

Credit card reform swipes easy plastic from college students

... Parents who co-sign for a child's credit card will be on the hook for any charges the child can't pay. But in the past, many parents have ended up paying their child's credit card bills anyway, "because they don't want Junior to have a terrible credit score," says Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards.com.

"If Junior has to come to Mom and Dad and say, 'Will you co-sign?' then Mom and Dad can have a talk with Junior about credit cards," Hardekopf says.

Hardekopf says he co-signed a credit card with a very low limit for each of his three children while they were still in high school. Every month, he sat down with them and reviewed the bills. Two of his children have since graduated from college, he says, "And they have a much higher credit score than their friends."

CNNMoney uses example from LowCards.com for article

Don't jump at that credit card offer

......Your "effective APR" is unique, different from everybody else's. Here's an example of how to calculate your "effective APR" from Bill Hardekopf at lowcards.com.
Our hypothetical guy -- let's call him Tony -- applied for a credit card with 0% APR for one year.
He spent $1,000 on the card and decided to make only the minimum payments for that first year.

Later, he took out a $2,000 cash advance -- not realizing there was a cash advance fee -- and that cash advances are at a much higher rate than purchases.

Then Tony missed a couple payments, which triggered two late fee charges.

It also triggered a default rate -- and his card rate was raised to 29.9%.

He eventually paid off the entire card and closed the account.

So Tony was tempted by the 0% introductory offer, but it cost him dearly.

Let's add up the total costs to the card:

$75 interest on purchases
$379 interest on cash advances
$60 cash advance fee
$78 late charge fee

So he spends $592 on all these extra costs, which makes his "effective APR" 19.7% on a card that was supposed to be 0% APR.

Be aware of:

Introductory rates
Payment schedules
Cash advance fees
Late fees
Default rates

You really have to sit down and crunch the numbers to determine what is the best card for you. Remember, some of these expenses are easily managed. Make your payments on time, keep an eye on your rate schedule and avoid cash advances whenever possible.

NBC TODAY Show reccomends LowCards.com

Money 911: Can credit card debt be inherited?

....To find a card that's right for you, log on to Web sites like ..... lowcards.com and start comparing.....

LowCards.com mentioned in Wall Street Journal

Credit-Card Shocks Anger More Borrowers

...Capital One also increased rates to new customers on 15 different cards in February. The Platinum Prestige card jumped to 11.9% from 7.15%. Its No-Hassle card leapt to 13.9% from 8.15% to new customers, according to Lowcards.com.....

"These are not charitable organizations," said Bill Hardekopf of Lowcards.com. "If they're hurting on one end they're going to make up for it on the other."

But, he added, customers don't have to put up with it. They can opt out, which mostly means they lose charging privileges and have to pay off outstanding debt.......

LowCards.com CEO Bill Hardekopf Interviewed in Chicago Tribune

Facing a credit card rate hike? Here's how to talk it down

If your credit card company has hiked your rate and you can't pay it off immediately, one option is to call the issuer and ask for a lower rate, particularly if you've been a longtime customer."Say, 'I've been a customer for X amount of time, and I'm looking at competitive offers,' " said Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards.com, a credit card Web site. " 'I'd like you to roll it back to X rate.' "Credit card companies don't want to lose customers because "the acquisition cost is too high," he said......

LowCards CEO quoted on Bloomberg

Bank of America to Raise Fee on Credit-Card Transfers

....Balance transfers, once free, have carried a 3 percent charge for years, with some lenders periodically waiving the fee to attract customers, said Bill Hardekopf, chief executive officer of LowCards.com, a Birmingham, Alabama research firm.
Consumer Protection

Lenders typically charge a minimum fee of $10 with no maximum, he said. Most banks don’t disclose revenue from balance transfers. Card issuers on average earn 39 percent of revenue from fees, with the rest coming from interest payments, Hardekopf said....

LowCards CEO Bill Hardekopf guest author in US News & World Report

The Reason Behind Capital One's Rate Increase

by Bill Hardkopf, CEO of LowCards.com

Last month, Capital One raised some eyebrows by significantly increasing their rates on new customers on the majority of their credit cards. The advertised annual percentage rate on these 15 cards increased from an average of 12.45 percent to 17.24 percent. One could ask, "What's left in your wallet?"

But Capital One is not alone. Many issuers are increasing the rates to new customers on selected cards.......

LA Times calls LowCards.com "A one-stop source for credit card comparisons"

A one-stop source for credit card comparisons

"If you're shopping for a credit card, it's nice to have some choices. Lowcards.com has more than 1,000 of them...."

USA Today quotes CEO of LowCards.com

Credit card reform gets another look

...In December, the Federal Reserve and other regulators released a rule reforming some of the most controversial practices, such as raising rates on existing debt. But that doesn't take effect until mid-2010. Advocates say that's too late for struggling consumers. "We're all going through an economic crisis right now, and we need reforms that will help consumers now," says Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com. ....

LowCards mentioned by Kiplinger / Washington Post

Clean Up Your Credit

...Today, a score of 740 or 750 will get you an account but might not qualify you for the lowest interest rates, says Bill Hardekopf, of LowCards.com .....

LowCards.com CEO quoted in The Wall Street Journal

If Your Card Takes a Hit

...First, call up your lender and request a higher limit, says Bill Hardekopf of LowCards.com, a site that helps consumers compare credit cards. A good customer has some leverage and can say, "If you are not able to increase my credit limit, then I may have to go take my business elsewhere," he notes. ....

The Wall Street Journal Quotes LowCards.com CEO

Credit-Card Issuers Get Stingy



...Another change: Though some credit-card issuers still offer 0% balance-transfer rates for 12 months or more, others are hiking the introductory interest rate and shortening the length of time it's offered. "They used to be almost always 12 months. Now they can be as short as three months," says Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards.com in Birmingham, Ala.



And those interest rates? "Some of the introductory rates are no longer 0%, but are anywhere from 2.99%, 3.99%, 4.99%," Mr. Hardekopf says. Some issuers also are limiting how much debt can be transferred, he says. "As the economy gets tighter and tighter, issuers will be looking for more and more ways to increase their profits, and some of the attractive perks we've seen may be in line to fall by the wayside."....

U.S. News & World Report Asks LowCards.com For Advice

Credit Card Rewards in Your Retirement Account

...I asked Bill Hardekopf, the CEO of LowCards.com, to look into the fine print on this card and compare it to other rewards credit cards. “The APR is extremely high on this card. It’s 16.99 percent,” he said. “The cash reward that can be used for your retirement account is a very nice perk. But if you are a credit card consumer who carries a balance a good amount of the time, then what you are going to make on this card on the reward is going to be eaten up by the very high interest rate that you are going to be paying.” The balance transfer rate is also higher than many other cards, Hardekopf found....

Forbes Mentions LowCards.com

Beware Of Gift Card 'Gotchas'

...When Sharper Image filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, $20 million worth of gift cards were rendered temporarily useless, according to Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards.com and author of The Credit Card Guidebook....

Motley Fool Reccomends LowCards.com

Pay Peter, Paul, or Visa?

....You should probably take up Visa (NYSE: V - News) on its 9% offer. Nine percent is always better than 19% when it comes to paying interest. Still, there may be a better deal out there if you care to shop around. (Check out lowcards.com ..... to review current offers.)

Forbes interviews Bill Hardekopf, LowCards.com CEO

Best Credit Cards For The Buck

..."Credit issuers are all banks, and banks themselves are seeing their credit tighten more than ever before," says Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of Lowcards.com, a Birmingham, Ala.-based financial information Web site. "They need to cut their risk factor by either cutting the credit limit on certain people, raising the annual percentage rate (APR) on some cards or not approving risky clients at all."...

Business Week quotes LowCards.com CEO

Credit Card, College Deals for the Creditworthy

...Lenders are more willing to listen to credit card customers like Rosner, thanks to the current market environment. After all, it costs them about $200 per in marketing fees to replace you if they lose your business. “In this tight credit market, if you are a good customer, you have some room to negotiate,” says Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com. “If your rate is too high, call up your issuer, and say you have offers from competitors.” It also pays to persevere. If your request for a lower rate doesn’t work the first time, wait a month and do it again, and then try again the following month, Hardekopf says....

CNN Interviews LowCards.com CEO

10 solutions to a personal credit crisis

Many Americans are struggling to pay their bills and keep up with rising prices, and the debt is mounting. Consumer debt is now at $2.58 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve's consumer credit report released Tuesday.

But how bad is it for you?

The first step is admitting you have a problem, says Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com and author of "The Credit Card Guidebook."

"It's important to make sure that you recognize and admit that you have a debt problem. Then you can face it head on," Hardekopf said.

CEO of LowCards.com on CBS MarketWatch

Another shoe to drop

...."Banks already are starting to minimize their risk and drop their credit limits that they extend to people and especially those at a higher risk," said Bill Hardekopf, a partner at LowCards.com.