American Express cobranded hotel or airline credit card will be charged a fee to reinstate rewards lost because of a late payment. American Express recently announced that late payments would cause cardholders to lose any rewards accumulated during that month.
If you want to get your rewards back, you'll have to pay a $29 reinstatement fee, according to ABC News. Of course, you'll still have to pay a late payment fee of up to $38. Your interest rate could increase too, because of the late payment. Starting February 22, 2010, you can only be charged the penalty rate when you're more than 60 days late on your credit card payment.
Weekly Credit and Debt News Roundup:
- Salvation Army bell ringers in North Carolina will be accepted credit card donations. I suspect that bell ringers all over the nation will be taking credit cards. MyFox8.com Read more...
Some extremists would tell you to avoid credit card debt by avoiding credit cards completely. Of course, credit cards can be good for you, helping to build your credit score when you use them the right way. So counting out credit cards completely isn't the best solution for avoiding credit card debt. Instead, there are some other things you can do to avoid the debt trap. For example, paying your balance in full every month will keep your credit card debt at $0. Here are 10 Ways You Can Avoid Credit Card Debt.
More Articles on Managing Credit Card Debt:
If you want to pay off your credit card balance at a lower interest rate and your card issuer won't give you one, a balance transfer might be a good option. But, just because the interest rate on the new card is lower doesn't mean you'll actually save money with the balance transfer.
When you're calculating the savings of a balance transfer, you have to also think about the balance transfer fee and any difference in annual fees with the two credit cards. What's the Cost of a Balance Transfer? will help you figure out whether it's better to leave your balance where it is or move it to a new credit card.
More Reading:
Here's this week's top credit and debt news stories:
- Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary advises reader to pay off a $11,000 IRS bill before focusing on the $12,000 credit card debt. She says IRS interest compounds on a daily basis and makes you owe more quicker. -Washington Post
- Credit card companies raise fees and rates to help offset credit card delinquencies and defaults, which continue to rise. -CardRatings.com
- CreditKarma.com raises $2.5 million dollars to continue providing free credit scores to consumers. Visit CreditKarma.com to get a free copy of your (TransUnion) credit score. There's no credit card required and you score is always free. -Reuters
- Small businesses work to get small business credit cards included in the new credit card legislation, but their chances at getting protection look slim. -New York Times' You're the Boss
- If you're getting attractive credit card offers now, take advantage of them because the best credit card deals could be disappearing soon. -Wall Street Journal
- Last week's credit card news.
