The fees charged to merchants for accepting credit card purchases may soon be limited in one state, which might be good news for consumers and small businesses alike.

New Hampshire lawmakers are currently considering a bill that would limit what banks can charge for processing credit card purchases to just 1 percent of a transactions value, according to a report from the Nashua Telegraph. Currently, merchants pay an average of about 1.75 percent of a purchase price but fees range anywhere from 0.67 percent to 4.76 percent, a price the merchant typically doesnt learn until after theyve been charged by banks.

This limit would be applied in addition to the new federal cap on debit swipe fees for major banks, the report said. Read more…

Consumers who have been trying to deal with their outstanding credit card debt responsibly may now be more likely to turn to mobile solutions to handle their accounts.

The number of consumers who are using their smartphones to access credit card account information grew significantly between December 2010 and June 2011, according to a report from the digital information tracking company comScore. In all, nearly 18.4 million consumers used a mobile browser to access credit card information, up 23 percent from the previous periods total of more than 14.9 million.

But the greater growth was seen in the number of consumers using smartphone applications to access these details, the report said. The number of credit card app users rose 43 percent to more than 6 million, up from nearly 4.2 million at the end of 2010.

Many experts agree that mobile phones are the future of the credit card industry, as consumers will be able to not only check their account data on these devices, but also use them to make purchases. Read more…

Many people are unaware of the option to open an additional account with the bank that has their credit card accounts. The majority of banking customers opt to open saving and checking accounts with their local banks. It is often preferable to bank with an institution that has a brick and mortar building as it is more appealing to have in person transactions whenever necessary. However opening an account with the bank that has your credit card account can often prove advantageous.

Benefits to opening second accounts

There are many benefits to opening a second account with the bank that holds your credit card account. One of the primary benefits includes the option to direct deposit funds into this account for easier payment. We all know how difficult it can be to make on time credit card payments that are above the minimum required. Having funds directly deposited into an account that is associated with your credit card can greatly assist you when your bill becomes due.

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The Baltimore Orioles® team logo can now be featured on the Major League Baseball™ Extra Bases™ Credit Card issued by Bank of America.  (www.oriolescreditcard.com).   This rewards credit card is scoring big with avid baseball fans and credit card consumers across the country.  Like many department stores, colleges and airlines have done for decades, Major League Baseball™ teams are now being displayed on consumer credit cards.  These sports oriented rewards credit cards — a great way for fans to express their undying team loyalty –  are proving to be a home run in the credit card industry. Read more…