As with everything else, when it comes to credit unions there are both pros and cons. While there may be others, the folks at Bankrate.com have broken down some of those pros and cons to help you if you are contemplating on getting a credit card from a credit union. This can be found in an article entitled, "Should you get a credit union credit card?", and the highlights include the following:

Pros of switching to credit unions for credit cards:

• Lower fees and interest rates
• Many credit union cards don’t charge a balance transfer fee
• Protection against negative changes
   

Cons of switching to credit unions for credit cards:

• Difficulty in getting a card
• Banks also offer low rates
• Limited selection for those with "bad credit"
• Little to no rewards
• Shorter customer service hours
   

So is a credit union credit card right for you? Well, only you can make that decision. In my opinion it could be very worthwhile to carry both a credit card from a larger institutions and a credit union. This will allow you to not only have a card to use if you choose to move from one or the other later down the line, but it also gives you the ability to utilize the lower interest card in everyday purchases or in case an emergency arises.

When you look at the RevolutionCard you will notice that is very different to the credit card you may have in your pocketbook. Having no cardholder name, signature or account number displayed on the card, this card offers secure payments in which transactions are authorized by using a PIN number, in the same way debit cards are generally used. When it comes to making purchases online or by phone, cardholders are able to use a one time pin number of their choosing. This allows the cardholder the ability to make safer purchases by not giving out their primary number. When it comes to rewards, cardholders receive the same rewards that they do with other credit card issuers and more. With the RevolutionCard cardholders get exclusive offers, discounts on many purchases, and even have access to loyalty programs offered directly from retailers.

Do you have a RevolutionCard? If so, I would love to know how you feel about it.

Thanks to a company named Oberthur Technologies, consumers can look forward to a contactless card that lights up when you make a payment. This new card called the "Smart Lumiere" was designed to notify the cardholder that a transaction has taking place while they swipe it. As of the question on which color the light will be, the answer is completely up to the bank that issues the card.

While some people will argue that this new feature is only for aesthetics, the creators believe it has value that far outweighs the "cool factor" associated with it. They believe that cardholders will benefit from the visual cue that is given as a transaction has taken place, showing that not only are contactless cards a quicker way to make payments but it is also more secure.

Very soon new Sears’ credit cardholders can look for a little something extra that they probably have never received in the past from anywhere else. Trying to shake up the retail world Sears recently announced that they will be offering their cardholders unique products. Two of these products include a Sears Platinum MasterCard, which is connected to a Sears Choice Rewards program; and "Credit Score Access" which gives the consumer the ability to access their credit scores. At this time Sears will be the first major retailer to offer its cardholders access to their credit score at no extra cost.

According to the President of Sears Financial Services, the reason for these new products is because consumers need more when it comes to their financial needs. Also they believe that with the recent changes to the credit card industry, they must be able to give the cardholder more retail value to be chosen as the card of choice.

With credit card issuers, "affluent" consumers are those people earning at least $100,000 a year or above. These consumers typically are not affected as much by economic downturns and have statically shown to continue making purchases of higher priced goods whether times are good or bad. So far in 2009, researchers have seen the overall spending on luxury goods and services rise dramatically from the second quarter to the third quarter. This is a trend that is expected to continue not only throughout the forth quarter but into 2010.

While issuers such as Chase (Sapphire Card) and Barclays (Visa Black Card) have offers geared specifically for wealthy consumers, it seems that American Express has control of the market. This is largely due to the fact that they are the largest credit card company by purchases, and offer numerous charge cards that seem to be the type of card preferred by these consumers.

According to an article entitled, "Credit Card Interest Rates Jump to 29.99%" this increase is just the beginning of what some cardholders may see in the future. This is because this interest rate increase was on variable rate credit cards linked to the prime rate. At the moment the prime rate is at historically low levels, but once these begin to raise so will the cardholder’s interest rates; well above thirty percent.

It seems that this change is only one of many that consumers are calling questionable. Earlier this month, many cardholders found out the hard way that their co-branded credit card was no longer active. When this happened Citi Bank closed the accounts of multiple consumers who received the cancellation notice only after their card was declined at the register. 

According to Bank of America’s 2009 third quarter financial reports, they are losing millions within certain parts of its credit card portfolio. It seems that within its global card services unit, their credit card purchases declined dramatically just over fourteen percent from sixty-three billion to fifty-three billion. Their results also showed its charge off rates doubled from just over six percent to twelve from the same time period last year.

One spot that is showing some increases is its debit card purchases. It grew slightly over three percent from fifty-three billion to just over fifty-four billion. This growth for many is no surprise as debit cards are turning into the payment option for many consumers and should continue to grow moving forward.

According to Bank of America these annual fees with be associated with a limited number of its credit cards consumers and range between twenty nine and ninety nine dollars. Also a representative stated that the accounts that will be charged annual fees will be based on "risk and profitability". In short, those cardholders that generally pay off their cards in full each month and always pay on time will probably be those to receive an annual fee.

This notice of annual fees comes at a time when they vowed to stop increasing interest rates until next year. For those that do not carry a balance, an increase in their interest rate was not a big deal, but now that these same cardholders will be paying just to have the card in their wallet, I see many cardholders going elsewhere.

They are known as the following:

• Slate with BluePrint
• Chase Sapphire with Ultimate Rewards
• Chase Freedom Credit Card
• Ink with Ultimate Rewards
• Ink Plus with Ultimate Rewards
• Ink Cash Business Card
• Ink Bold with Ultimate Rewards

Why the new cards, and why now? For all intents and purposes many credit card companies are becoming more aggressive when it comes to acquiring cardholders. At the moment, many Americans that are currently shopping for credit cards have good credit. These cardholders are simply looking for another card because they are not happy about recent changes made to their terms.

Chase seems to be giving both consumers and businesses options ranging from money management tools to rewards. Only time will tell if these offers will become as prominent as Chase expects them to be.

In many case credit card issuers took quick action trying to find ways to offset any loses they percieved would occur due to the CARD Act being signed into law. In other cases many credit card issuers have decided to come out with new card offers in hopes to lure new consumers to use their cards over their competitors. We have already seen multiple financial applications and zero percent balance transfer credit card offers make headlines in recent news and I believe there are many more to come.

Many experts believe that now is the perfect time for issuers to gain market share and consumers that are dissatisfied with their current card issuers. For many card issuers, these dissatisfied customers that are being targeted have good credit which are considered very valuable, especially in a thriving economy.