Credit Cards News & Info

Restraint isn't what most lenders have in mind for college students. A study released last year by student loan lender Nellie Mae found that 54% of freshmen have a credit card. By the time they are sophomores, 92% of co-eds are packing plastic.

Evidently, the kids are using them, too. According to Nellie Mae, undergraduates carry an average credit card balance of $2,327, with 21% burdened by balances between $3,000 and $7,000.

Lenders use the lure of single-digit interest rates as a tool to get you to sign up for their cards. Used wisely, they actually make credit cards a tool for getting out of debt. By transferring a balance from a higher-interest rate loan to a low-interest rate card, you can effectively shave hundreds or thousands of dollars from your loan.

Find a low rate that lasts. The best offers are ones where the rate applies for the life of the transferred balance. But those are rare. So look for one that lasts for a reasonable period of time. Six months is a good starting point.

Looking for information and news on credit cards. Check out the information below.

Credit Cards Become Problems For Teens
Tue Aug 12, 4:58 PM ET Add Local - KPRC Click2Houston.com to My Yahoo!

It's becoming easier than ever for a teenager to get a credit card, which can turn into a financial disaster, News2Houston reported Tuesday. But there are ways parents can manage their teenagers and their credit cards, according to financial experts.

A survey showed that one in five people under the age of 20 use credit cards. Teenagers are a targeted demographic in the consumer world since the average teenager spends approximately $104 a week.

Cassandra Seybold was flooded with credit card applications when she turned 18.

" (I got) the student credit card with the $3,000 limit. You don't have to worry about the certain fees until there it is," Seybold said.

Counselors at Houston's Consumer Credit Counseling Service suggest that parents work with their teenagers to sort out the avalanche of card offers.

" You need to explain to a young adult all the basics of the grace period, the annual percentage rate, what happens if you don't make your payment on time," said Rudy Cavazos, with the Consumer Credit Counseling Service. "A huge amount of debt or misusing credit can definitely hurt you in the future obtaining jobs, obtaining insurance, obtaining a house, anything like that."

Statistics show that the fastest growing age group for bankruptcies is people under the age of 25.Teenagers spent more than $172 billion in 2001.

For more information, visit www.cccsintl.org or call (713) 923-2227.