This week's top 10 credit card blog posts

Great roundup. Thanks for the mention!

Thanks for the link, I'm glad you enjoyed the article!

Welcome back! I'm sure you'd rather still be in Europe than writing weekly round-ups :) Thanks for the mention!

#1 was a really good article. Learned some things I didn't know. Real lively discussion in the comments section from that one.

It is time for Americans to stand up and say no to high credit card interest
The Govt plan is too late we bailed out the Banks with our money and no one bailed us out .

Credit Card users have the power to stop paying all at once for one month and then we will get results, Credit card interest should not be higher than Bank interest.

CREDIT CARD PAYMENT WALKOUT FOR FEBRUARY PASS IT ALONG

You should really do a post on the visa black card. The card provides unbelievable rewards. Now, I know that only 1% of us are approved for this credit card but do we really believe that?

thank you so much for providing us these links.they are very informative and helpful to me.

awesome useful links! BOOKMARKED!

nice info thankyou

Thank you for the links. I've bookmarked this page.

My ladyship thank you for your valuable sources.

Do Credit Cards Cause Cancer?

There is a never-ending debate over how much of a good thing in our lives causes cancer. Such things like cell phones, plastic bottles, red meat, fish, and even the air we breathe all are reportedly linked one way or another to cancer-causing agents. So is there any reason to doubt the fact that another cancer causing agent is lurking between the folds of our wallets? What’s the likelihood that credit cards can actually increase the risk of cancer? If you're one of the almost 1 Billion credit/debit card holders in America, then perhaps at least 1 out of 7 of you should use your card with caution.
Research has suggested that undue stress can lessen the immune system for persons who are more at risk for cancerous conditions. The New York Times published an article in November of 2005 that quoted Ms. Koenig, National Breast Cancer Organization, as saying that her organization gets 40,000 calls a year on its hot line. Over and over, she says, women ask, did stress cause their cancer by weakening their immune system and allowing a tumor to grow?
"It's a widespread belief," Ms. Koenig said. And it is not restricted to women with breast cancer. The New York Times article went on to say that Jim Kiefert of Olympia, Wash., is absolutely convinced that stress led to his prostate cancer. It was diagnosed in 1989, when he was 50. Mr. Kiefert was a school superintendent, and he was in the midst of difficult negotiations with teachers over their contracts. "I was stressed out," he says. "I know stress caused my cancer."
The question of whether there is a link between stress and cancer continues to puzzle researchers as well as patients. Study after study has asked whether people who developed cancer had more stress in the years before the diagnosis, and conversely, whether people who experienced extreme stress were more likely to develop cancer.
What has emerged is a tenuous connection between stress, the immune system and cancer, with a surprising new insight that is changing the direction of research: it now appears that cancer cells make proteins that actually tell the immune system to let them alone and even to help them grow.
This past year we have experienced a devastating financial tsunami ripping through Wall Street, tearing at the core of our economical stability, and dragging many an American’s good name under in the form of toxic loans and unemployment. Economic recovery, costing well over a Trillion dollars by the time all is said and done, will take years. Meanwhile everyone has their handout for money thinking that our government can just print more and make the problem go away.
Credit card companies now want to become banks so they can qualify for federal handout funding. But here is where the devil is in the details. Visa and MasterCard represent over 88% of the credit cards in Americans wallets. (Source: Nilson Report, May 2008) Companies like these estimate their annual profits based on percentages of Americans who will pay their bills and who won’t pay their bills. It’s been the unquenchable thirst by these companies to increase the number of credit cards in each Americans wallet thereby contributing to the failing of our financial underpinnings. In the good years, credit card companies even issued cards to dogs and cats, unknowingly of course. But no one really cared that the screening process failed to weed out unqualified applicants. Credit card companies took the position that if you are standing upright on two legs (not 4) that you have the right to own a credit card.
There are more than 292 million credit cards in use in the United States (Source: General Accounting Office, April 2006) It is estimated that over half of Americans who have established credit own at least 2 credit cards. The average American keeps at least 4 active credit cards. And here's the scary part, 1 out of 7 Americans keep at least 10 credit cards.
The average American with a credit file is responsible for $16,635 in debt, excluding mortgages, according to Experian. (Source: U.S. News and World Report, "The End of Credit Card Consumerism," August 2008) Learn more about Americans credit card habits and the companies that issue them at www.creditcards.com.
Is there any doubt then that at least 1 out of 7 Americans are seriously stressed out about their financial situation? Credit card companies should be required to print a warning on the back of each credit card stating that the improper use of this card can cause serious illness or financial instability. Does any of this remind you of the tobacco industry 30 years ago, where big tobacco companies expressed grave concern about the health of Americans, but denied having any ownership of the cause of the problem?
Credit, like cigarettes, is an addiction to many people. There is a serious need to educate people about the right way to establish credit and the consequences for abusing the credit offered to them. Credit card companies should also discontinue using predatory practices that prey upon poor and disadvantaged Americans by sending unsolicited blank checks in the mail. This just dangles the tempting thought of going deeper in debt a little too close to those who can’t afford the solution. Delinquencies in unpaid credit card balances were highest in Nevada (1.74 percent), followed closely by Mississippi (1.53 percent) and Florida (1.51 percent) where the average earned income is among the lowest. (Source: TransUnion, June 2008)
As for whether or not stress causes cancer, the question is still open for scientists to examine. But I suggest that the medical industry ready itself in the future to deal with a rise in the risk of cancer among those who are experiencing undue stress today. The consequences of this credit crisis will likely last for years to come. So it’s not simply irony when Wall Street refers to an Americans credit problem as “toxic” as this meaning may be more physical than we think.