How Much Do Parents Spend on Their Kids' Extracurricular Activities? The Motley Fool In fact, 80% of parents think that their children's extracurricular activities could someday lead to income for their kid, according to a new report from CompareCards.com. Read More on The Motley Fool

Kids’ Extracurriculars Are Bankrupting Parents Fatherly CompareCards.com surveyed 700 parents with young kids who participate in activities outside of school and found that 62 percent of them had gone into debt at some point to fund those extracurriculars, with one in three parents still paying off some of that debt. Read More on Fatherly

Kids' extracurriculars put parents in debt Bizwomen Eight out of 10 parents think their child’s extracurricular activities could lead to income in the future, according to a survey conducted by CompareCards.com, and the more parents spend, the more likely they are to believe it. Read More on Bizwomen

Parents are going into debt over their kids’ extracurricular activities MarketWatch CompareCards.com surveyed more than 700 parents with young children who participate in sports, hobbies and other passion projects outside of class. Read More on MarketWatch

Don't Go Into Debt for Your Kid's Extracurriculars Lifehacker According to CompareCards.com, 62% of American parents have picked up debt in order to let their children practice soccer or ballet. Nine percent of those parents owe more than $5,000, and nearly a third owe more than $3,000. Read More on Lifehacker

Survey: Parents believe investing in these will make their children wealthy Ladders A new report from CompareCards.com revealed that 81% of parents believe there is a beneficial correlation between the amount of money they spend on extracurricular activities for their children, and the degree it will pay off later. Forty-six percent of parents spend more than a grand a year on their kids’ nonscholastic activity, and 27% spend more than $2,000. Read More on Ladders

Want a lower credit card interest rate? Ask KOMO News Some of the terms of your credit card agreement aren't necessarily locked in stone. For example, you can ask the credit card company for a higher limit or to lower the interest rate. There's no guarantee they'll do it, but a recent survey by comparecards.com shows, it's worth the call. Read More on KOMO News

5 things you didn’t realize you could ask for that can save you lots of money CNBC Nearly 90% of people who asked for a late fee to be waived were successful, according to a report from CompareCards, a credit comparison site. Read More on CNBC

Profitt Report: Looking for a travel rewards credit card? Do your homework WSMH To make a credit card work for you, you first need to be good with paying off your balances. Any points or rewards you earned don't add up if you're paying interest every month. However, if you can work the system and you travel frequently, a travel rewards card might make sense says Matt Schulz of CompareCards.com. Read More on WSMH

Consumer Watch: Increasing your credit score fast Fox25 “It is the second most important part of your credit score behind your payment history or how often you pay on time,“ says Matt Schulz, CompareCards.com Chief Industry Analyst. Read More on Fox25

Lower credit card rates, waived fees & extended limits there for the asking, survey shows The Oklahoman According to an online survey of 1,284 cardholders early last month by Qualtrics for CompareCards by LendingTree, 81% of those who requested reduced interest rates in the past year were successful. The average was about six percentage points. Read More on The Oklahoman

8 In 10 Americans Want More Credit Card Protection MoneyTips As the CARD Act passes the ten-year milestone, CompareCards.com decided to survey over 1,000 consumers to evaluate the CARD Act and gather opinions on credit card regulation. Read More on MoneyTips

Here’s one easy way to pay less to your credit card company CNBC In the past year — a time when interest rates were rising — 81% of cardholders who asked for a lower rate got it, and most got a reduction of between 5 and 6 percentage points, according to research from CompareCards.com. Read More on CNBC

What You Should Know About Credit Card Hardship Programs U.S. News & World Report Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at personal finance site CompareCards by Lending Tree and a former U.S. News contributor, says, "These hardship programs aren't supposed to last forever, but can be useful for a little while so you can get back on your feet after a difficult situation." Read More on U.S. News & World Report

Your Money: Cash is king with millennials, but delays adulting Reuters They can also pretty easily get a secured credit card, which are offered by most major carriers, said Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst for CompareCards.com, a division of LendingTree Inc. These cards function akin to pre-paid debit cards. You put down a deposit that functions as your credit limit, but you do not have to reload after each billing cycle. Read More on Reuters

What the Credit CARD Act of 2009 Means for You U.S. News & World Report A survey completed last month for CompareCards.com showed that 47 percent of Americans said they had never heard of the CARD Act. And only 7 percent thought it had a "highly positive" impact on consumers. Read More on U.S. News & World Report

Stretch Your Dollar: Changes that might affect the way your credit score is calculated WTNH "Crummy credit is really expensive and some of these changes give people the opportunity to boost their credit score and that could potentially save them a lot of money," said Matthew Schulz, Financial Expert, CompareCards.com. Read More on WTNH

How to protect yourself from skimming at the gas pump Fox Business When filling up your car with gas, you may end up leaving the station with more than just a full tank. CompareCards.com says credit and debit card skimming is a growing threat to consumers at the gas pump. Read More on Fox Business

When you should close a credit card and how to do it right Fox 5 NY Half of millennials say they've had their current credit card longer than their current romantic relationship. Matt Schulz, the chief industry analyst with CompareCards, says that isn't a good thing. Read More on Fox 5 NY

Stretch Your Dollar: Preparing for an emergency bank outage WTNH So, what should you do when all online systems are down, and you need cash now? Experts at CompareCards.com recommend taking these three steps to prepare for a bank outage. Read More on WTNH

How to Close a Credit Card the Right Way U.S. News & World Report Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at personal finance site CompareCards.com by LendingTree, says, "When it comes to your credit, you're generally better off leaving a credit card open and not using it rather than closing it," particularly if you have few positive credit score factors. Read More on U.S. News & World Report

How young people can build their credit CNBC If you're not approved for a credit card, you can apply for a secured card, in which you put down a deposit that becomes your credit line, said Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at Comparecards.com. "Be sure that the card's issuer will report your payment history to the credit bureaus so you can start building your history," Schulz said. Read More on CNBC

Who have you lived with longer? Your spouse or your credit card? WTOP A survey by LendingTree’s CompareCards found that more than one in four cardholders never plan to change their primary credit card, and that lower-income consumers were more likely than higher-income consumers to say so. Read More on WTOP

The 10 U.S. Cities With the Highest Credit Card Balances MoneyTalksNews A recent CompareCards.com study found that credit card balances increased by an average of 3.6 percent from September 2017 to September 2018 in the nation’s 50 biggest metropolitan areas. And the average credit card balance by city was as high as $7,649. Read More on MoneyTalksNews

Survey: Many parents regret letting children use credit cards NBC12 A new survey from CompareCards shows that dads are far more likely to give up their card, but they’re also three times more likely to regret that choice compared to moms. Read More on NBC12

Forget the calories — eating out can fatten your credit card rewards CNBC And these cards make most sense if you already eat out with some frequency, said Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at Comparecards.com. "The last thing anyone should ever do is overspend just to get credit card rewards," he said. Read More on CNBC

The Credit Card Act was passed ten years ago to protect consumers, is it working? Yahoo Finance The law passed ten years ago forced lenders to be more transparent about fees and rates. Matt Schulz - CompareCards Chief Industry Analyst - discusses. Read More on Yahoo Finance

There's a new way to instantly boost your credit score NBC News “The goal is to bring in as many data points as possible to help the lenders make smart decisions,” said Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at CompareCards.com. Read More on NBC News

Almost 2 In 5 Don't Know How Credit Is Scored MoneyTips A new survey by CompareCards.com finds that 37% of Americans have no idea how their credit score is calculated. Read More on MoneyTips

Here's one financial resolution people plan to keep in 2019 CNBC A new study from CompareCards.com shows that Americans are confident they will be able to pay off their monthly credit card bills a lot more often in 2019. Read More on CNBC

1 in 3 Americans Went Overboard on Holiday Shopping Last Year The Motley Fool During the 2018 holidays, 31% of U.S. adults spent more than expected, according to CompareCards, and that number rose to 44% among parents with children under the age of 18. Read More on The Motley Fool

The best and worst ways to borrow money during the federal shutdown CNBC "The truth is that a credit card cash advance can be among the best of a bunch of bad options when times get really tough, and a situation like the government shutdown can certainly be one of those times," said Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at CompareCards.com. Read More on CNBC

How are credit scores determined? KOMO News Nearly 40 percent of the adults in this country have no idea how credit scores are determined, according to a recent survey by CompareCards. Read More on KOMO News

Mastercard cracks down on retailers who turn free trials into paid subscriptions — without warning customers MarketWatch ‘Millions of Americans have signed up for a free trial, forgotten about it and then gotten billed for it.’ —Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at personal-finance website CompareCards Read More on MarketWatch

The No. 1 way to avoid financial disaster, according to this New York bankruptcy judge MarketWatch Credit cards are a major cause of bankruptcy, according to a 2018 study by CompareCards.com. Some 42% of credit-card debtors say they have problems making ends meet, followed by car repairs (29%) and medical bills (27%). Eating out and shopping tied at 22%. Read More on MarketWatch

Profitt Report: Almost four in ten Americans don't know how their credit score works Fox66 It’s hard to escape it: you need a credit score to get a mortgage, an auto loan or rent an apartment. However, nearly four in ten adults say they have no idea how their credit score works according to CompareCards. Read More on Fox66

Mastercard to disallow automatic billing after free trial ends Cards International Matt Schulz, Chief Industry Analyst at CompareCards, said: “Millions of Americans have signed up for a free trial, forgotten about it and ended up getting billed for the service when the trial ends. It’s an annoying, frustrating experience, but this move by MasterCard seems like it might make that much less common in the future. Read More on Cards International

What Does Your Credit Score Really Mean, and How Can You Improve It? Men's Health According to a recent survey by CompareCards, 37 percent of Americans said they have no idea how their credit score is determined. This confusion seems also to increase by income bracket, as 58 percent of those making $100,000 or more also confessed credit score ignorance. But when given a list of contributing factors to one’s credit score, most Americans (78 percent) selected the best answers, meaning that instead of lacking knowledge, many of us just lack confidence. Read More on Men's Health

Should College Students Have Credit Cards? U.S. News & World Report "When you're just getting started, it's really important to know yourself or, if you're a parent, know your kid and understand whether they are someone who is likely to handle this credit limit without going on a spending spree," Schulz says. "Are they somebody who is able to make payments every month without forgetting or being late? It's really important to understand who you are and what you want from the card before you apply." Read More on U.S. News & World Report

Losing debt a top priority for many in 2019 Fox 7 A new study shows losing debt is more important than losing weight to people in 2019. Matt Schulz, Chief Industry Analyst at CompareCards, explains. Read More on Fox 7

2 Out Of 5 Balance Transfer Cardholders Don't Pay Off Their Balance In Time MoneyTips A new study by CompareCards.com finds that too many Americans are taking the latter path. The CompareCards 2018 Balance Transfer Credit Card Report shows that 2 in 5 Americans that have had a balance transfer card failed to pay off the full transferred balance before the introductory period expired. Read More on MoneyTips

New tricks for raising your credit score are on their way CNBC Financial pros warn consumers to be careful. “Just because somebody will lend you money doesn’t mean you should take it,” says industry expert Matt Schulz. Read More on CNBC

How much information are you willing to share for a better credit score? Check out Ultra FICO Pittsburgh Post-Gazette att Schulz, chief industry analyst at CompareCards.com in Charlotte, N.C., said lenders and credit scoring companies have for a long time been trying to figure a way to create a credit score for people who have never had a loan before. Unless a consumer has a car loan, a student loan, a credit card or a mortgage, that person will not have a FICO score. “There are plenty of people out there who are good risks but banks have no way of knowing that if they never borrowed before,” Mr. Schulz said. Read More on Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The best and worst ways to borrow money during the federal shutdown CNBC “The truth is that a credit card cash advance can be among the best of a bunch of bad options when times get really tough, and a situation like the government shutdown can certainly be one of those times,” said Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at CompareCards.com. Read More on CNBC

Tackling debt in the new year Fox 7 Matt Schulz with CompareCards.com talks about key findings in the recent 2018 Balance Transfer Credit Card Report. Read More on Fox 7

How to get the most out of a balance transfer credit card ConsumerAffairs CompareCards has studied the terms and conditions of more than 160 balance transfer cards and found that there are still plenty of zero percent introductory rate options. But it’s important to read the fine print and use the cards to your full advantage. Read More on ConsumerAffairs

A beginner’s guide to credit card rewards CNBC Banks compete for business by offering perks when you sign up for their cards and then swipe them — a dynamic that’s been heating up lately. “It’s a very, very good time to shop for credit card rewards,” said Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at Comparecards.com. Read More on CNBC

Misplace your credit card? Lock it online or with your smart phone Columbus Dispatch Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst for CompareCards.com, said the lock-unlock option is meant to give consumers more control over their accounts. Read More on Columbus Dispatch

How the Fed’s move impacts you Associated Press A quarter-point hike by the Fed can show up as soon as one or two billing cycles later on a variable rate credit card, said Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at CompareCards.com. The vast majority of U.S. credit cards today are variable-rate cards, meaning their annual percentage rate charged to users can jump anytime. The average annual percentage rate on credit cards is around 17 percent right now, according to CompareCards.com. Read More on Associated Press

Americans could pay $2.4 billion more on their credit-card debt after Fed rate hike MarketWatch What that means for consumers: Their credit-card bill is going up, too. Consumers with credit-card debt will likely pay an additional $2.4 billion in interest payments annually as a result of the Fed’s decision, according to an analysis from the credit-card website CompareCards.com. To determine that number, analysts at the site looked how much those carrying a balance pay in interest, based on the current average annual percentage rate (APR). Read More on MarketWatch

Here’s how that Fed rate hike will impact you CNBC “The best way to protect yourself from rising rates is to make interest rates a moot point by paying off your balance — that should be your goal,” said Matt Schulz, the chief industry analyst at CompareCards. Read More on CNBC

Borrowers See Rates Rise Unevenly Ahead of Fed’s Move The Wall Street Journal “Generally speaking, when the Fed raises rates, you’ll see the interest rate on your credit card go up in the next billing cycle or two,” said Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at CompareCards.com. Read More on The Wall Street Journal

You may soon be able to use your cellphone bill to boost your credit score CNBC And having a better score doesn’t mean you should start recklessly borrowing money. “There’s no question that just because somebody will lend you money doesn’t mean you should take it,” says Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at CompareCards. Read More on CNBC

Balance Transfer Cards: Denting Debt Terry Savage According to a new Balance Transfer Credit Card Report from CompareCards.com, 41 percent of Americans have used a balance transfer card in the past, but four in 10 have failed to pay off the balance during the reduced or free introductory period. Read More on Terry Savage

Wealthier Americans are most likely to get a balance-transfer credit card — but many are using them all wrong MarketWatch More than two-thirds of consumers with an annual household income of $100,000 or higher have used a balance-transfer card at least one — and nearly half of these consumers have opened one of these cards multiple times, according to a recent report from CompareCards. Read More on MarketWatch

Survey: Consumers less confident about paying off credit card bills ConsumerAffairs CompareCards reports its Credit Card Confidence Index dipped in December showing consumers are less confident they can pay off their credit card bills in full. That doesn’t necessarily mean that consumers won’t keep spending, but worries about carrying a balance -- or increasing one -- could rein in purchases. Read More on ConsumerAffairs

7 Stats About Christmas Spending That Will Knock Your Stockings Off Swirled Save even more by signing up for the right credit card before making all of your holiday purchases. According to Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at CompareCards by LendingTree. Read More on Swirled

This Week In Credit Card News Forbes Only 59% of cardholders have paid off their balance transfers before the end of the introductory period, according to a new survey from CompareCards. Balance transfer cards remain a popular choice for Americans with 41% say they have had a balance transfer card in the past. Read More on Forbes

How to make sure a balance-transfer card will help you pay down your debt CNBC More than 40 percent of consumers who take advantage of these deals don’t get the balance paid off during the special-rate period, according to a new study from CompareCards.com. Read More on CNBC

Customers unable to make the most of balance transfer cards Cards International A new report by CompareCards has revealed that despite introductory offers, users of 0% balance transfer cards are unable to make the most out of the product. Read More on Cards International

3 Common Holiday Spending Mistakes — and How to Avoid Them Southern Living Regardless of your personal shopping budget, everybody can benefit from a refresher course on how to spend smartly over the holidays. Below, we tapped Matt Schulz, Chief Industry Analyst at CompareCards, a comprehensive credit card comparison website from the folks at LendingTree, for three common mistakes people make over the Christmas season. Read More on Southern Living

Beware: These moves can leave a dent in your credit score CNBC Ten percent of your score is about the variety of your debt, said Matt Schulz, credit expert at CompareCards.com. “If you’ve had a car loan, a personal loan, a credit card and a mortgage and handled them all well, you’re probably going to have a higher score than someone who has just had a credit card — all other things being equal,” Schulz said. Read More on CNBC

The 10 cities in the US where credit card balances are increasing the most CNBC A new report from CompareCards.com finds that Americans are increasingly reliant on credit cards. Across 50 major U.S. cities, credit card balances grew 3.6 percent on average over the past year, according to the report, which cites data from My LendingTree. In some cities, average balances grew more than 10 percent. Read More on CNBC

Marriott's Starwood database hacked Reuters Marriott International said on Friday hackers accessed about 500 million records in its Starwood Hotels reservation system in an attack that began four years ago. Read More on Reuters

Austin swipes highest increase in credit card debt in U.S. CultureMap Austin The study, released by credit card platform CompareCards, found that the average credit card balance in the 50 largest metros went up by 3.6 percent from September 2017 to September 2018. In that time, the average credit card balance in the Austin area shot up 12.3 percent — from $6,165 to $6,924. Read More on CultureMap Austin

3 In 10 Kids Have Used Parents' Credit Or Debit Cards Without Permission MoneyTips A new survey by CompareCards.com finds that 29% of Americans with children below the age of eighteen have had a child use their credit or debit card without permission. Meanwhile, 52% of respondents gave their child permission to use their credit cards or debit cards – with 36% allowing three or more purchases. Of that 52% of respondents, 48% regretted their decision. Read More on MoneyTips

5 Credit Card Benefits You May Not Know About Consumer Reports "Even though you can't get as much benefit from it now as you once could, in terms of dollar value, it's still a great option,” says Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at CompareCards.com. Read More on Consumer Reports

Store credit cards: How to get the most out of them during the holidays USA Today Three-fourths of Americans have at least one store credit card in their wallet, according to a recent survey from CompareCards.com. But nearly half of them regret it. Read More on USA Today

Is a store credit card worth it? NBC News A recent study by CompareCards looked at credit cards from 50 of the nation’s largest retailers. Read More on NBC News

How to come out ahead with rewards cards CNBC If you’re in the market for a new credit card, be honest with yourself about how you plan to use the card and what you want to get from it, advised Matt Schulz, the chief industry analyst at CompareCards. Read More on CNBC

Before You Apply For That Store Credit Card... MoneyTips “If you see ‘no interest’ and ‘if paid in full’ in the same sentence, that should be a red flag,” says Brian Karimzad, a researcher at CompareCards.com. That wording would indicate that the card’s zero-interest period is conditional, not guaranteed. Read More on MoneyTips

Best way to avoid store credit card remorse: Don't get one Newsday When it comes to store credit cards, the pain can go and on. In a new CompareCards.com survey, 75% of those polled have had a store credit and 50% of them regretted it. Read More on Newsday

Half of Americans with this credit card regretted getting one MarketWatch The average annual percentage rate (APR) for a store card is 24.97%, according to CompareCards. Read More on MarketWatch

New Credit Score System Might Make It Easier to Get A Mortgage Forbes The sweet spot for UltraFICO is consumers in the 500 to 600 traditional FICO range and those who don’t have any credit score at all. Consumers with good to great credit? It’s not going to have much of an impact, according to Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at CompareCards. Read More on Forbes

Set boundaries for kids and credit cards Tribune Content Agency Data compiled by CompareCards service revealed that more than half of parents with children under age 18 have let their kids borrow the plastic, and nearly half of those respondents regretted doing so. Read More on Tribune Content Agency

Companies need to let you know about data breaches — eventually Yahoo Finance A survey compiled by CompareCards found that over the last 12 months consumers have been more proactive in protecting their personal information, with 65 per cent of consumers reporting to have looked at their online bank and credit card statements more often, and 50 per cent of respondents said they set up alerts to notify on statement charges. Read More on Yahoo Finance

Should you let your child use your credit card? ConsumerAffairs A survey by CompareCards, a subsidiary of LendingTree, found 52 percent of parents have allowed their children under 18 to use their credit cards to make online purchases. Not surprisingly, 48 percent of the parents who did that now say they regret doing it. Read More on ConsumerAffairs

New Type of Credit Score Aims to Widen Pool of Borrowers The New York Times “This is all about giving banks a bigger pond to fish in for customers,” Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at CompareCards.com, said in a statement on the scoring option. Read More on The New York Times

Your child could be running up your credit card bill. You can fix that CNBC A new survey from CompareCards found that 29 percent of parents have had their children under age 18 use their credit or debit cards without their permission. Read More on CNBC

Half of parents who trust their kids with this money move regret doing it Moneyish More than half of Americans with kids under 18 have let their kids borrow their credit or debit card to buy something online, according to research released this week by CompareCards.com. Often that doesn’t go well: Nearly half (48%) of them regret doing it. Read More on Moneyish

The 4 Worst Retail Credit Cards for This Holiday Season MoneyTalksNews The average annual percentage rate (APR) for retail credit cards is 24.97 percent, according to a recent CompareCards.com analysis. Meanwhile, the average APR Americans pay on their credit cards is 16.46 percent. Read More on MoneyTalksNews

New FICO score will help more people get access to credit, banking pros say NBC News “There’s long been a real interest among the banks to find a way to assign a credit score to folks who have never taken out a loan, so there’s a lot of work that’s being put into finding some way to predict the creditworthiness of folks who have very little credit,” said Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at CompareCards. Read More on NBC News

The Danger of Store Credit Cards Cheddar Should you sign up for the store credit cards the cashiers are always pushing? According to CompareCards.com, you may want to think twice before saying yes. Store cards may save you on one purchase but could cost you in interest rates. The average annual percentage rate among the 50 companies in the report was almost 25 percent. Read More on Cheddar

FICO credit scores may jump, yet consumers should be wary. Here’s why CNBC A separate report by CompareCards recently reviewed credit cards from 50 of the nation’s largest retailers and found the average store card APR is now nearly 25 percent and can be as high as 30 percent. Read More on CNBC

New FICO credit score will include info from checking, savings accounts San Francisco Chronicle The new score also could help mainstream lenders compete with startups such as Petal, a credit card issuer that looks, again with permission, at an applicant’s bank account information, said Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst with Comparecards.com. He added that banks “have been doing this internally for years,” meaning that if a checking account customer wants credit, the bank will look at the customer’s checking account history. Read More on San Francisco Chronicle

Data breaches prompt consumers to protect themselves CTV News A new survey by CompareCards indicates that in the last 12 months, consumers have taken some kind of action to protect themselves. Read More on CTV News

Why women notoriously have more credit card debt than men Fox Business What’s more, women may be at the losing end of this trend. According to new study, more than one in four female cardholders (26%) say they are “not at all” confident in being able to pay their bills in full this month, nearly double the percentage of men at 14%. Read More on Fox Business

Survey: 20% of Americans do not feel they can pay their credit card balances in full Ladders Research has found that 12% of Americans say they’d prefer a new iPhone over a better credit score, but recently updated information from CompareCards.com shows that 20% of Americans don’t think they can pay their credit card balances in full this month. Read More on Ladders

American Express plans major changes to its popular Gold Card MarketWatch The latest updates American Express announced for the Gold Card also appear to be an effort to make it more competitive with Chase’s JPM, -0.44% Sapphire credit cards, said Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at CompareCards.com. Read More on MarketWatch

Facebook says 50 million user accounts affected by security breach Fox News Matt Schulz, Chief Industry Analyst at CompareCards, said the breach is another reminder to keep accounts secure. “This breach can be yet another wake-up call for people to take their online security seriously," Schulz said in comments obtained by Fox News. "We think nothing of visiting Facebook and Instagram 10 times a day, but we feel like we don’t have enough time to take basic safety steps for our online identity.” Read More on Fox News

Here's how the Fed rate hike will impact you CNBC Shop around for a better rate or snag a zero-interest balance transfer offer to insulate yourself from further rate hikes. Just be sure to check the fees and terms, cautioned Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at CompareCards. Those offers aren't as generous as they used to be. Read More on CNBC

Men More Likely Than Women to Finish Their Holiday Shopping Early and Start Late, Study Finds Fortune According to a study done by CompareCards, a website owned by LendingTree for researching and applying for credit cards, men are three times likelier than women to have finished their holiday shopping prior to Labor Day. At the same time, men are twice as likely to start late, as 7% said they will start shopping after December 15 and only 3% of women said the same. Read More on Fortune

An Early Look at Holiday Spending The Motley Fool We're less than 100 days until Christmas. That may be hard to believe as it's still summer-like in much of the country and many stores have just begun to put out their Halloween merchandise. Despite that, 1 in 7 (14%) shoppers have already finished or nearly finished their holiday shopping, according to a new survey of just-over 1,000 U.S. credit card holders commissioned by CompareCards. That suggests that those shoppers are either really prepared or a lot of people on their shopping lists are getting coffee shop gift cards. Read More on The Motley Fool

1 in 5 millennials say they've been scammed at the pump in the past year CNBC "Gas stations are the lowest-hanging fruit for bad guys when it comes to skimming," Schulz says. In fact, 15 percent of Americans who purchased gas in the last month believe they've been a victim of skimming at the pump, according to a new survey of 1,000 people from CompareCards. Read More on CNBC

Americans paid over $100 billion in credit-card interest in 2017—and they’ll pay even more this year MarketWatch When the Fed raises rates, which it in June, credit-card debt gets more expensive, because banks often pass on those higher rates to customers. Consumers with credit-card debt will likely pay an additional $2.2 billion this year in interest payments because of the last rate hike, the credit-card website CompareCards found. Read More on MarketWatch

Chase and Southwest have a new travel credit card, but is it a good deal? MarketWatch Still, these types of travel credit cards can be limiting for travelers who don’t want to fly with just one airline, said Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at CompareCards.com. Read More on MarketWatch

These Secret Changes Could Impact All Of Our Finances Forbes Credit cards can be the biggest asset or the biggest liability in your wallet, depending on the decisions you make. Many rewards cards users—40%—carry a balance, according to a study by CompareCards.com. Read More on Forbes

Don’t ever do this with your credit card MarketWatch Nearly 40% of cardholders with a rewards credit card carry a balance, according to a recent survey from the credit-card website CompareCards.com. Read More on MarketWatch

Chase axes perk from its Sapphire Reserve card—why your issuer could do the same MarketWatch Many cardholders don’t even know which perks and protections their cards offer, according to a survey from the credit-card website CompareCards.com. Read More on MarketWatch

The average credit card charges over four different fees ConsumerAffairs An analysis of 200 popular credit cards by CompareCards, part of LendingTree, has found every credit card charges at least one fee, with the average card assessing 4.35 different kinds of fees. Read More on ConsumerAffairs

Most people choose not to attend destination weddings CBS News A destination wedding costs the typical guest a whopping $1,421 on average, including travel, gifts and personal items required to attend, according to a survey by CompareCards.com. Read More on CBS News

What Does It Cost to Attend a Destination Wedding? The Motley Fool The average destination wedding costs each attendee an average of $1,422, according to a recent survey of 1,000 wedding guests by CompareCards.com. The average outlay rises to $2,514 when the event takes place outside the United States. Read More on The Motley Fool

How Much Does It Cost to Go to a Destination Wedding? Inside Weddings CompareCards, a website that allows users to view different credit card offers in one place, surveyed 1,000 Americans to learn about the financial impact destination weddings have on both guests and the hosting couples. Read More on Inside Weddings

A Wedding Invitation Should Come With a Price Tag Quartz If the betrothed opt for a destination wedding—as so many couples do these days—the average guest spend is $1,421 in the US and $2,514 if the wedding is abroad, according to a survey from credit card company CompareCards. Read More on Quartz

Average credit card rate now exceeds 15 percent ConsumerAffairs But a bright spot in the CompareCards.com analysis shows consumers paid off a big chunk of their credit card balances, perhaps applying some of their tax refunds to their debt. Read More on ConsumerAffairs

How to lower your credit card rate with a single call WFTS According to CompareCards.com, only one in four credit card holders bothers to ask for a lower APR, and of those that called and make the request 64 percent did see a reduction in their rate Read More on WFTS

Plot Your Strategy to Pick the Best Rewards Card Kiplinger If you tend to carry a balance from month to month, the interest you pay is likely to cancel out the rewards you earn. A CompareCards survey found that 39% of rewards credit card holders carry a balance, with an average total balance of more than $2,500. Read More on Kiplinger

20% of People Track Their Miles More Carefully Than Their Money The Motley Fool A recent study from CompareCards showed as many as 20% of rewards card users actually track their credit card miles more carefully than they do their checking account balance. That's one in five cardholders who are keeping more careful track of free miles than their hard-earned cash. Read More on The Motley Fool

This one simple trick could help you dodge a credit card late fee CNBC That’s according to financial website CompareCards.com, which conducted a survey of more than 1,000 Americans with at least one credit card about their interactions with card issuers. “As a customer, you have the ability to ask your card issuer to change the terms of your card pretty much anytime you want, ” the site points out. Read More on CNBC

Don’t fall for this expensive and common misconception about credit cards MarketWatch More than half of all credit cards charge a foreign transaction fee, according to a separate analysis on foreign transaction fees released Tuesday from CompareCards.com Read More on MarketWatch

What You Don't Know About Foreign Transaction Fees Lifehacker A separate report from CompareCards.com found that nearly half of all cards charge the fee. Read More on Lifehacker

On the Spot: Having extra protection from credit cards can be like money in the bank Los Angeles Times But these cards are more than just a pretty face. Many have benefits that you don't think about, maybe because you don't know about them. In fact, according to a recent CompareCards survey, almost half of card holders don't use the benefits. Read More on Los Angeles Times

America's debt load is reaching a tipping point NBC News A new survey from CompareCards.com found that nearly two-thirds of cardholders who contacted the lending institution and asked for a lower APR got one. It appears that many people don’t know they can ask for a better interest rate; only about one in four cardholders said they had ever done so. Read More on NBC News

Survey finds 39 percent of rewards cardholders are paying interest ConsumerAffairs A recent survey by CompareCards.com found that 39 percent of consumers with a rewards card carry a balance. The researchers say the average balance is $2,547. Read More on ConsumerAffairs

Had a Credit or Debit Card Declined? Chances Are, It Was Your Fault The Motley Fool It's estimated that 26 million Americans had at least one credit or debit card declined over the past year, and the most common reasons were insufficient funds in the case of the latter, or having maxed out one's credit limit in the case of the former. All told, 12% of credit and debit card users were stuck in the sort of uncomfortable situation detailed above, according to data from CompareCards.com. Read More on The Motley Fool

12% of Americans Had a Credit Card Declined in 2017 The Motley Fool Having a card denied happens more often than you may think. In fact, a just-released survey from CompareCards.com found that 12% of credit and debit card users had at least one card declined in the past year. That's roughly 26 million people who suffered through having a card turned down, based on the number of Americans who use at least one debit or credit card. Read More on The Motley Fool

When credit card is declined, it’s a symptom of a problem Newsday According to a new survey by CompareCards, 12 percent of credit and debit card users had at least one card declined in the last year. Read More on Newsday

A new nightmare for furloughed workers — preventing damage to their credit scores MarketWatch If affected federal workers do end up having a missed payment documented on their credit report, they should explain what happened, said Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at CompareCards.com. Some banks have even delayed credit reporting for furloughed workers in the past, he said, though there’s no guarantee of that. “It’s worth your time to make a phone call,” he said. Read More on MarketWatch

Credit card rewards expected to improve in 2018 ConsumerAffairs Consumers applying for a credit card in 2018 will have even more attractive options as the industry's competition for customers shows no signs of letting up. Last year saw an increase in rewards and a decline in fees. Thomas Donaldson, Senior Credit Specialist at CompareCards, predicts credit card perks will get even better in the months ahead. "Heading into 2018, the credit card landscape is more competitive than ever as issuers compete for the number one spot in consumer’s wallets," Donaldson told ConsumerAffairs. "When banks compete, consumers win." Read More on ConsumerAffairs

Credit Cards Trends to Watch in 2018 PaymentsJournal The wide array of new rewards, perks and benefits means it is time for people to reassess what credit card they use daily. If people haven’t taken a good look at how they pay recently, there’s a good chance they are leaving rewards or cash-back on the table. Read More on PaymentsJournal