Are you obsessed with your credit score? Do you check it every month to see if it’s gone up or down? If you are looking only at your credit score and not at your entire credit report, you’re missing the point. More

There’s a new kind of plastic in town. Prepaid debit cards are becoming increasingly more common on college campuses and elsewhere as credit card companies look for ways to add new customers without extending credit to risky consumers with no credit history or past credit problems. Prepaid debit cards solve that problem for card issuers, but they give consumers few benefits at all. More

Credit card companies love it when you pay them late. They can charge you fees of up to $39 and even double your interest rate for up to a year. But paying your credit card late isn’t just expensive, it will hurt your credit score and influence your future ability to get credit. Fortunately, however, your credit score may not go down every time you pay late. Here’s why. More

The new Delta Reserve Credit Card by American Express gives Delta SkyMiles frequent flyers a whole new world of credit card benefits. More

For small business owners, the tight credit market can mean more than delaying the purchase of a new car or home—it can make or break your business. Banks are shrinking business lines of credit and saying “no” to new business loans—even for borrowers with impeccable credit loans. In these tough times, business credit cards can offer business owners, entrepreneurs, and even freelancers or professionals who travel for work the large credit lines and low rates they need. More

CNN reports that consumer borrower fell in August for the first time since 1998. More

Congress voted last month to pass the so-called Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights. The law would change some arguably deceptive credit card industry tactics in favor of consumers. For example, credit cards could no longer raise interest rates just because you make a late payment on another loan or credit card, and they would have to stop applying payments to balances with the lowest APR first. We think this bill is great–although this Wall Street Journal article raises an interesting argument against the Cardholders’ Bill of Rights. More

ArriveFinancial.com is pleased to announce a new blog carnival: The Carnival of Consumer Credit. The first edition of this carnival will be published here at Arrive Financial on Monday, October 20, 2008. More

Think the mess on Wall Street hasn’t hit home yet? Think again. For millions of consumers, today’s economic crisis means fewer credit card approvals, lower credit lines, and higher balances. More

Get a $25 cash sign-up bonus when you apply for the Costco True Earnings reward credit card from American Express and make your first purchase. More