How You Can Profit from Credit Cards : Using Credit to Improve Your Financial Life and Bottom Line

Who would not be interested in getting an interest-free loan for 12 months for any type of purchase just for taking a few minutes to complete a credit card balance transfer offer? Or a free round-trip airline ticket twice a year just for making purchases on a rebate card? Or lowering their insurance premiums by hundreds of dollars a year just by raising their credit score? Obviously, just about every consumer is interested in saving money and getting freebies! Hence, the universal appeal of this book cannot be overstated. Today, the average American household has 12.7 credit cards. Banks maximize their profits by "nickel and dimeing" and outsmarting their cardholders: that's why credit cards are their most profitable product. Banks spend billions enticing consumers with rebates, freebies, low-introductory rate offers, and airline miles. Learn how to take full advantage of these offers, without paying for them through brutally high interest rates, fees, and penalties! Arnold offers specific advice targeted to young consumers who are being aggressively targeted by credit card marketers; retirees facing credit discrimination; Americans recovering from bankruptcy or other debt problems; and even consumers with great credit. You'll learn the techniques he has personally used to escape credit card debt, "creatively finance" his wedding, car, and home purchases, and earn thousands in credit card "perks" every year.

Curtis E. Arnold, a well-known consumer educator and advocate, is the founder of CardRatings.com, an award-winning website that has been providing objective, current information about credit cards free of charge since 1998. His website has made it easy for millions of cardholders to find more attractive credit cards and lower their card debt.

 

Some 1,000 unique credit card offerings are rated by both experts and cardholders on CardRatings.com, and new reviews are added daily. Cards are categorized for people with no credit or poor, fair, good, or excellent credit–and by whether they offer a low-interest rate, cash back, miles, or other rewards. CardRatings.com also provides a free forum (containing over 115,000 posts)–where Curtis interacts regularly with participants–to discuss credit issues such as sharing ideas on how to make the most of credit cards, get out of debt, and solve credit issues. Sharing detailed information with consumers has three important additional benefits from Curtis’s point of view: It encourages stronger competition among card issuers, helps create a more consumer-friendly credit card industry, and keeps CardRatings.com in touch with the needs of cardholders.

 

Curtis knows firsthand the devastating effects of credit card debt. By the time he was finished with his graduate studies at the University of Texas at Dallas, his credit card debt reached $45,000. The stress it created in his life was “unbelievable,” as Curtis puts it, and has a lot to do with why he wrote this book. His goal is to spare you the experience of what he went through and to show you the best ways to benefit from your credit cards.

 

Over the years, Curtis and CardRatings.com have received an enormous amount of national publicity and praise, thanks to interviews Curtis has given to The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, Money Magazine, NPR (National Public Radio), CNN, ABC News Radio, AARP, Dow Jones Newswire, Bottom Line/Personal, PBS, SmartMoney Magazine, Reader’s Digest, MSN Money, MSNBC TV, The Associated Press, CNBC, TIME Magazine, and more.

 

Since its founding, Curtis has expanded CardRatings. com’s role and online offerings. For example, the site now provides all the data (card terms and conditions) for the credit card and ATM/debit survey published by the New York State Banking Department, the oldest bank regulatory agency in the nation. The site also includes credit card news and advice on everything from getting a line of credit to getting a copy of your credit report to getting a better rate or rebate. It’s also a good place to turn if you’re looking for business or student cards.

 

Arkansas Business, a weekly journal, selected Curtis as a “Top 40 Under 40” business leader in 2005, recognizing him as an intriguing business and political leader who bears watching. He was selected as a National Council of La Raza panelist in 2006 to discuss Hispanic credit card issues, and he was a guest speaker in 2007 at The Responsible Credit Roundtable, which provides a forum for leaders of the credit card industry and nonprofit organizations to devise, test, and implement ways to improve communication and account practices to build value for both companies and customers.

 

Curtis has a particular passion for educating students about credit. He serves on the Advisory Board for the Center for Consumer Financial Services at Rochester Institute of Technology, which provides national leadership and research on student credit issues. Curtis also regularly speaks on college campuses about the ins and outs of credit. Finally, he currently serves as co-chair of the Arkansas chapter of the Jump$tart Coalition for Financial Literacy, which seeks to educate students about personal finance issues.

 

Curtis participates in other consumer advocacy groups with various missions. For example, he contributes on a weekly basis to CreditBloggers.com, a blog where leading financial experts discuss credit, loan, debt, and identity theft topics. Curtis is also a member of Arkansans Against Abusive Payday Lending, a coalition of Arkansans dedicated to combating abusive payday-lending practices. Finally, he’s a member of the Financial Literacy Education Consortium, a community of professionals concerned with “best practices” in the delivery of financial education to their constituents.

 

Before founding CardRatings.com, Curtis worked in various capacities in the financial industry, for example, at Advancial Federal Credit Union, Regions Bank, and Metropolitan National Bank. In addition, Curtis gained some valuable “eBusiness” experience by working for Intelemedia Communications in the high-tech corridor of North Dallas.

 

Curtis enjoys being involved in community organizations in the Little Rock area, where he has served on the Board of Directors for Arkansas Festival Ballet. He has been a member of Toastmaster’s International, the West Little Rock Rotary Club, Techpreneur, a nonprofit organization that encourages technological entrepreneurship, and the Little Rock Bop Club. Curtis is also an active member of The Summit Church in North Little Rock.

 

Last but not least, Curtis cherishes his family life. His wife Nancy serves as the accounting supervisor for CardRatings.com. Curtis and Nancy currently reside in North Little Rock, Arkansas with their five children– Dallas, Erin, Hunter, Avery, and Claire.