It is important to remember that when you apply for a credit card, you aren’t just signing on for a brief financial fling. You’re making a long-term commitment to a relationship with your new credit card company. Yes, it’s possible to go into that agreement expecting to drop the credit card company with a balance transfer after your introductory offer expires, but that might not be a great idea. To explore why, let’s look at credit cards from the perspective of more personal relationships.
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For consumers searching out a new mortgage or credit card, now’s a good time to shop. A recent survey amongst loan officers with Australia’s major and regional banks found an expectation that loan standards would tighten as 2010 progresses.

The survey, conducted in December by investment bank UBS, shows that credit underwriting standards are likely to be tightened in the first six months of the year, particularly for home loans, consumer loans, and small to medium-sized businesses. Loan standards for large corporations are not expected to change.
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In the past here, we’ve generally recommended against using a credit card for cash advances. It’s for good reason — a combination of a cash advance fee and being hit with what is usually the highest interest rate on a card, with no interest free days. There are exceptions to every rule however, and that’s what we’ll cover here. When might a cash advance not be such a bad idea?

Here are three situations when it might be worth taking out that cash advance:
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The recently released minutes from the February meeting of the Reserve Bank of Australia indicate there’s little likelihood of continued rate hikes, giving mortgage and credit card holders a chance to catch their breath.

Analysis of the February minutes show the RBA members are satisfied with the current cash rate of 3.75%, referring to it as “no longer exceptionally accommodative,” but rather “somewhat below average,” and that future rate rises will be debated each month based upon current economic data. This signals an easing of the tightening bias borrowers endured in late 2009, with three consecutive rate hikes of 25 basis points each prior to Christmas. read more..

When comparing credit cards, two of the most advertised elements are the interest rate and the annual fee. Interest rates are obviously important if you plan to finance purchases or transfer balances, but what about the annual fee? How much does it really matter? Would an annual fee make or break your decision about a certain credit card?

Just like interest rates are important to some people (those who finance large ticket items over time) and not for others (those who pay off their balance in full each month during their interest free days), the same is true of annual fees. Let’s look at some situations when an annual fee is potentially very important, and when the annual fee might not matter at all.

Compare the latest no annual fee credit card offers

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