Just how tight is the credit market these days? Quite. Credit experts now estimate it will take a credit score of between 750 and 770 to qualify for most loans—even auto loans! Just a year ago, borrowers with credit scores in the high 500s and low 600s could easily drive off the lot in a new car with an auto loan at a decent interest rate. That day is gone. [...]

Do you, by choice, not carry (or use) a credit card at all? I would like to hear from people who have made the decision to go credit card-free. How long have you been without plastic? Why did you kiss credit cards goodbye? How has living credit card-free working? Has it created any problems? [...]

The federal funds rate is just 1%—as low as it has been in fifty years. Theoretically, credit card interest rates should be at all-time lows, too. Trouble is, major credit card issuers, battling soaring delinquencies and charge offs, are raising, not lowering, rates. Pay your credit card over time? The difference between 8% and 15% interest will add up. Here are two credit cards with a couple of the lowest regular credit card APRs I’ve seen—6.5% and 8%. [...]

Exciting news for people with excellent credit—Advanta just released a version of its popular Kiva Business Credit Card for non-business owning professionals (i.e., everybody). [...]

Consumers are feeling the pinch of a credit card crisis as card issuers raise rates and restrict credit, reports the New York Times.

It’s no news to me. Even readers with excellent credit are telling me Bank of America is raising APRs and American Express is slashing credit lines by 50% or more. Learn why the credit card crisis is upon us, what it is, and what you can do about it. [...]

In today’s article Survive the Credit Card Crisis I talk about how credit card companies are approving fewer and fewer credit card applications. It is still possible, however, for consumers with decent credit to get new credit cards with good terms—you just need to know which cards offer your best chance of approval. [...]

Update: Since writing this post, both LendingClub and Prosper are registered with the SEC and running fully for both borrowers and lenders.

Two years ago I wrote several articles about peer-to-peer lender Prosper and the debt consolidation loan I secured through the site.

But this year Prosper and competing lender Lending Club have been forced to temporarily suspend their lending operations as they pursue registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

While LendingClub reopened its site last week, Prosper just recently shut down and may remain down for several months. What does this mean for lenders, borrowers like me, and the future of peer-to-peer loans? [...]

I use an American Express charge card—not a debit card, credit card, or cash—for 95 percent of my purchases. Why?

Because American Express charge cards provide all the benefits of a credit card—convenience, rewards, fraud and purchase protection, etc.—with one vital difference: The balance-in-full is due at the end of every month, meaning I will never rack up a balance I can’t repay. [...]

Leticia asks: I received a letter from a credit card company saying that since I have not used their credit card for over a year they will be closing my account. I have had the card for over five years and kept in good standing, but have used other accounts with lower rates. Will this lower my credit score? [...]

What’s a credit or debit card without bumpy account numbers? We’ll soon find out. Visa has announced that unembossed cards are now available in the U.S. following successful testing. The raised account name and numbers on existing credit and debit cards are only necessary for old-school machines that take an imprint of the credit card rather than read the card’s magnetic strip. And when is the last time you saw one of those?