Credit Cards: The Best of Both Worlds - For What It's Worth - Comcast.net Finance

Credit cards are in the news these days nearly as often as Miley Cyrus. It seems as if every time you turn around, there's another report of suspicious practices by card issuers or new regulations from the government.

This latest installment in the semi-regular For What It's Worth series on credit cards explores recent developments. Find out how banks themselves are offering to lend strapped cardholders a hand, learn five ways to use plastic wisely and hear how President Obama plans to speak to the credit-card bullies and save the day.

Too Smart for Strangers

Would you accept nutrition advice from McDonalds? Lessons on responsible gambling from your bookie?

How about receiving credit counseling from Visa or MasterCard? The new "Help With My Credit" campaign -- from a coalition of financial firms that also includes Bank of America, Citigroup, Discover and Capital One -- invites you to do just that, through its web site (HelpWithMyCredit.org) and toll-free telephone number (866 941-1030).

As Gail Liberman and Alan Lavine report at Marketwatch, the jury is still out on this new program. Sure, it's a step in the right direction. But the conflict of interest here is quite clear.

This comes off much like movie studios instituting their own ratings system to keep the government from stepping in and doing it for them. So as my mom would say of any such advice where the source's motives are questionable at best... "Take it from where it comes."

Rock, Paper, Scissors, Plastic

As I've mentioned in this space before, credit cards aren't all bad. In fact, there are several reasons that these accounts should be part of everyone's financial game plan.

But don't take just my word for it. In an article published today at The Wall Street Journal Online, Ruth Mantell outlines five ways to use plastic wisely.

In addition to the often-mentioned appeal of rebates and reward points, Mantell shines some light on one benefit of carrying plastic that gets scant publicity: using your cards as a backstop for true emergencies/necessities. Especially in these times of ever-tightening cash flow where many American families are living paycheck-to-paycheck with little or no disposable income, having someplace to turn for paying medical bills, buying college textbooks or replacing a water heater is a nice "luxury" many of us take for granted.

So the next time you find yourself cursing the day you opened that American Express card, think of what a hassle it'd be to make an online purchase or check into a hotel without it.

Abbondanza!

In a whirlwind first 100 days of his presidency, Barrack Obama is speeding through a formidable economic to-do list. The president is throwing an awful lot of spaghetti against the wall in hopes that some of it will stick.

Curb runaway Wall Street salaries... check. Fix the U.S. housing market... check. Save the Big Three automakers... check. So as President Obama sits back and waits to see which of these tasks really will merit a check mark when all is said and done, he's already setting his sights on the next financial target: credit cards.

On NBC's "Meet the Press" yesterday, White House economic adviser Larry Summers said the president is...

"...going to be very focused, in a very near term, on a whole set of issues having to do with credit card abuses, having to do with the way people have been deceived into paying extraordinarily high rates that they wouldn't have paid if they knew what they were getting themselves into."

What will this mean for you? If you're an executive at a major bank or payment network, look out. Be prepared to find new ways to manage your business' exposure to risk. But if you're an average American struggling to dig your way out of debt, whatever legislation eventually emerges from Congress certainly can't hurt.

Either way, though, stay tuned. Just like Miley Cyrus, for better or worse, credit-card news will be a media fixture for some time to come.

What do you think of all the turbulence in the credit-card industry of late? Are you using your plastic more than ever? Let us know.

Message Edited by Anthony_Catalano on 04-20-2009 03:47 PM