Bankrate Releases 2010 Look at the Credit Card Industry

Bankrate's 2010 Credit Card Guide provides in-depth look at changes coming with the Credit CARD Act as well as new calculators

News provided by

Bankrate, Inc.

Feb 02, 2010, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- With sweeping reform coming to the credit card industry on February 22nd as a result of the Credit CARD Act, Bankrate Inc.'s 2010 Credit Card Guide is designed to provide consumers with a clear explanation of what to expect along with tools and calculators to determine how to make consumers' credit cards work for them. The full 2010 Credit Card Guide can be viewed at: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/2010-credit-card-guide.aspx.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040122/FLTHLOGO)

Bankrate has also launched a brand new balance transfer calculator, which will take into account all of the variables (including intro APR, final Apr and balance transfer fees) to help determine if a balance transfer is actually worthwhile. A video tutorial of the new calculator can be viewed here.

The 2010 Credit Card Guide features five chapters, including:

Chapter 1: The New World of Credit Cards - Tips for the post-CARD Act era, what to do for a credit card if you're under 21, and 5 ways that the CARD Act will help those among us who regularly carry a balance;
Chapter 2: Rewards Keep Growing - The changing field of credit card rewards is analyzed, including what credit cards might do to entice consumers and tips on how to earn the best rewards from your rewards credit card;
Chapter 3: Take Control of Your Credit Cards - 71-percent of Americans think that credit card companies' terms and conditions aren't clearly stated. This chapter reveals those findings along with the rest of Bankrate's poll on what consumers think of the credit card industry. Also featured are actionable tips on what consumers can do to get out of credit card debt efficiently and how to establish a strong credit history;
Chapter 4: Interactives and Videos - Interactive tools and videos will provide consumers with the key points, including the new era for credit cards and whether closing an account would really hurt your credit score;
Chapter 5: Tools and Resources - All of the best tools to decide everything from which card is best for consumers to determining what your FICO score is;

"The credit card world has been turned upside down since the passage of the Credit CARD Act of 2009. This guide will help consumers understand what has changed, and what hasn't," said Ellen Cannon, managing editor at Bankrate.com. "We're also highlighting different types of rewards programs, since rewards are going to be a new battleground among card issuers."

Consumers were recruited for the 2010 Credit Card Guide's poll via a display advertisement rotating through Bankrate.com and a standalone email sent to Bankrate's Newsletter Subscribers. The survey included 1803 respondents. Statistical calculations demonstrated that a sample size of at least 384 was required to achieve the industry standard 95% confidence level and confidence interval of 5.

About Bankrate, Inc.

The Bankrate network of companies includes Bankrate.com, Interest.com, Mortgage-calc.com, Nationwide Card Services, Savingforcollege.com, Fee Disclosure, InsureMe CreditCardGuide.com and Bankaholic. Each of these businesses helps consumers to make informed decisions about their personal finance matters. The company's flagship brand, Bankrate.com is a destination site of personal finance channels, including banking, investing, taxes, debt management and college finance. Bankrate.com is the leading aggregator of rates and other information on more than 300 financial products, including mortgages, credit cards, new and used auto loans, money market accounts and CDs, checking and ATM fees, home equity loans and online banking fees. Bankrate.com reviews more than 4,800 financial institutions in 575 markets in 50 states. In 2008, Bankrate.com had nearly 72 million unique visitors. Bankrate.com provides financial applications and information to a network of more than 75 partners, including Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO), America Online (NYSE: TWX), The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times (NYSE: NYT). Bankrate.com's information is also distributed through more than 500 newspapers. Bankrate, Inc. was acquired by Apax Partners, one of the world's leading private equity investment group, in September 2009. Apax operates across the United States, Europe and Asia and has more than 30 years of investing experience. For more information on Apax, visit: www.Apax.com.