LowCards in the Press

USA TODAY recommends LowCards.com

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:33:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:57:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:04:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:10:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:59:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:55:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:41:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:51:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:45:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:43:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:29:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:26:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:31:00 +0000

'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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:13:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:19:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:54:00 +0000

Forbes mentions LowCards.com

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:07:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 16:01:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:17:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:48:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:02:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:29:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:16:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:00:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (john) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:59:00 +0000

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.