I recently received word that the Discover More Card is offering a $50 cash back signup bonus (for a limited time). Once you receive your card, just make $500 in purchases (within the first 3 months) and you’ll get your bonus.

This card is amongst the best cash back reward credit cards. In addition to the signup bonus, other attractive features of this card include:

• 0% balance transfer (for up to 12 months)
• 0% APR on purchases (for up to 6 months)
• Up to 5% cash back rewards
• No annual fee

Note: There’s also a $100 signup bonus from Discover Business.

This is just a quick note to let you know that we’ve posted an updated list of frequent flyer credit cards with free bonus miles. There are 12 cards in all, offering up to 25,000 bonus miles on various airlines just for signing up. And once you have the card, you’ll keep earning miles with every purchase.

Click through and check it out: Credit Card Miles.

Zero percent balance transfers are a popular option for debt reduction or as a source of funds for 0% credit card arbitrage. Unfortunately, it’s getting harder and harder to find 0% credit card offers without a balance transfer fee.

Unfortunately, virtually all cards with a 12-15 month 0% balance transfer promo now charge a transfer fee. After a bit of digging, however, I came up with the following list of seven credit cards with a six month 0% balance transfer offer and no balance transfer fee.

No fee 0% balance transfer offers

1. Citi Driver’s Edge Card for College Students*
2. Bank of America PetRewards Platinum Plus Visa
3. Pulaski Bank Visa Card
4. Pulaski Bank Gold Visa Card
5. IberiaBank Visa Classic Card
6. IberiaBank Visa Gold Cash Back Rewards Card
7. IberiaBank Visa Platinum Rewards Card

*3% transfer fee with a $5 minimum, but it’s waived with this offer.

If you’re looking for a longer term offer, be sure to check out this list of 0% balance transfer credit card offers that are good for 12 to 15 months.

Last night, my wife and I were watching a re-run of “Two and a Half Men.” In this particular episode, Alan (who’s a somewhat neurotic divorcee) was asking his playboy brother Charlie for details on how to hire a prostitute. Their exchange was both hilarious and a perfect match for a site called Credit Addict…

Alan: “Can I pay with a credit card?”

Charlie (incredulous): “Where are you planning on swiping it?”

Alan: “Okay, okay… I was just hoping to get the credit card miles.”

Heh. Yes, I’m easily amused.

This isn’t strictly credit card-related, but it’s a pretty good deal that I though was worth mentioning. Amazon.com is currently offering a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime. If you’re not familiar with Amazon Prime, it’s their shipping program that provides you with free two-day delivery of just about anything that would otherwise qualify for their Super Saver shipping, but with no minimum purchase amount, as well as dirt cheap ($3.99) overnight shipping.

Yes, you can get most of this stuff shipped to you for free if: (1) you’re patient, and (2) willing to group your purchases together to exceed the $25 minimum for Super Saver shipping. That being said, we’ve been members of Amazon Prime for over a year now, and I can honestly say that it’s been well worth it to us in terms of convenience and time saved. This has been especially true as gas prices have moved higher and we’ve shifted more and more of our purchases online.

Just a quick word of caution… The membership auto-renews into the annual (paid) version at the end of the month, so be sure to go in and tell them that you want to cancel if you decide you don’t want to keep it.

According to news reports, federal authorities have cracked a ring of computer hackers that were able to breach network security systems and steal 41 million credit and debit card numbers from at least nine major retailers. Eleven people, including 3 US citizens, as well as individuals from Estonia, the Ukraine, Belarus, and China have been indicted.

Apparently the hackers used a “wardriving” approach where they simply cruised through retail areas looking for vulnerable wireless networks. They then hacked in, installed sniffer software, and skimmed the credit and debit card numbers directly as transactions were processed. The information was housed on servers in the Ukraine and Latvia, and either sold or used directly by the thieves.

It’s nice to know that stores are looking out for us and going to great lengths to protect our financial data, isn’t it?

This is just one more reason that you should be keeping a close eye on your credit report and either placing a fraud alert on your credit record or freezing your credit if you see anything suspicious.

Source: The Associated Press

This is an interesting twist in the realm of credit cards… The Kiva BusinessCard from Advanta puts an interesting twist on reward credit cards — they match Kiva contributions dollar for dollar, up to $200 per month as long as you make them with this card. Once the loan is repaid, Advanta gets their contribution back (just as you do with yours).

For those of you that aren’t aware, Kiva is a philanthropic organization that facilitates “microlending” to individuals in developing countries. In essence, they provide a means of connecting small-scale lenders (like you!) with aspiring entrepreneurs in developing countries. After you get your funds back, you are free to hold onto them, or you can re-loan them to someone else.

This card also offers 5% cash back on your Kiva loans and charitable donations (up to $1200 per year) and 1% cash back on everything else (no limit). Other notable features include a 0% balance transfer offer that’s good for 15 months, $0 fraud liability, and no annual fee.

Oh, and one more thing… While it’s technically a business card, anyone can apply.

[Via: pfBlueprint]

I written elsewhere about how and why to freeze your credit record, and I’ve also written about the ins and outs of renting a car. I was thus intrigued when I saw a blurb in a recent issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine about renting a car with frozen credit.

A reader had written in asking if it was possible to rent a car while your credit record is frozen, as he had heard of rental agencies running a credit check before allowing you to rent a car. The answer is a qualified “Yes.” If you rent with a credit card, the rental agency will simply place a hold on your credit limit to assure that it gets paid, and to protect against getting stuck with the bill for overages or damages. No credit check necessary.

That being said, you may be out of luck if you want to rent a card with a debit card. The reason for this is that at least three major rental firms (Hertz, Avis, and Budget) will check your credit at the counter if you present a debit card at check-in. If they can’t access your credit record, you can’t rent a car. While you can thaw your credit, that takes up to three business days and costs upwards of $10 per bureau.

The good news is that Enterprise may let you present other documentation, such as a utility bill or pay stub to prove your credit worthiness. Note, however, the use of the word “may,” and call ahead. Also, Hertz and Avis offer cash identification cardsthat allow you to pay for your car with cash, traveler’s checks or a money order. Unfortunately, you have to apply for the card up to six weeks in advance, and you may have to pay an application fee.

Of course, this can all be avoided by simply using a credit card.

I just ran across an interesting idea for accessing money from 0% credit card offers or maxing out your credit card rewards over at MyMoneyBlog.

In short, the U.S. Mint allows you to buy rolls of $1 coins at face value with free shipping. They come in boxes of 250, and individual orders are limited to two boxes ($500). There doesn’t appear to be any restriction on the number of orders that an individual can replace, but you might want to keep a relatively low profile when doing this so as not to raise any red flags.

Here’s the scoop straight from the Mint:

For circulating $1 coins you want to spend or use in your business operations, we offer the Circulating $1 Coin Direct Ship Rolls. You can buy up to 500 $1 coins at face value and receive free standard shipping and handling.

So you’re effectively just turning your turning your credit line into cash with no overhead cost. Of course, the U.S. Mint has to eat the credit card processing fees, so it’s not exactly a victimless crime (so to speak).

Here’s the link to coins. Unfortunately, they’re currently sold out. But if you’re interested in trying this out, keep an eye out as they’re bound to have more soon. They’re the Mint, after all. Printing money is pretty much all they do.

It seems that 0% credit card offers are all the rage nowadays. In fact, I just received word that Blue from American Express has sweetened their introductory offer of 0% on purchases from 6 months to 12 months. However, in looking at the application page, it appears that they’re actually offering 0% for 15 months.

This card features no annual fee and rewards through the Membership Rewards Express program, which is a points-based program offering 1 point per dollar spent. While this program isn’t nearly as generous as the 5%/1.5% cash back rewards offered by the Blue Cash rewards card, 12-15 months of 0% interest on purchases is a pretty sweet deal.

One strategy with a card like this would be to use it in place of your usual credit cards, but make any payments above the required minimum into a high yield online savings account. That way you’ll be earning a bit of interest on money that you’ve already spent, and you won’t get caught short when the introductory 0% period runs out. Just be sure to make you payments on time and respect your credit limits.