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Sep 01, 2004 -- Cash back cards are great for some folks

If you pay your credit card balances in full, these are the best of times for you. On the other hand, if you only pay the minimum, these are not good times for you. Basically, the industry is splitting into three different business models. The first group is geared toward people who charge a lot and pay balances in full. The second group has maxed out their credit cards, can only pay the minimums and has outrageous interest rates on the cards. The third group pays more than the minimum, but can seem to pay off the cards. The industry used to abhor those people who paid balances in full because they didn’t make any money off of them. But now they are the favored group because they are making a lot of money off the charges they make through “merchant’s fees.” It’s led to an amenities war between cards from which you will benefit. The hottest amenity is the cash back rewards card. American Express has just introduced a new one that is, right now, only available to Costco members. It’s called the “True Earnings” card and you get 1 percent on anything you buy, 3 percent on dining and 2 percent back on any travel-related expenses. The target market for this is business people who travel a lot. Amex was worried how much this would cost the company, so decision makers capped the amount you can charge at $100,000 a year. That may sounds like a lot, but people who own businesses charge a lot on these cards. Another Costco/American Express card is the “Cash Reward,” which offers 1.5 percent on all expenses. Check out a full list of rebate cards at cardweb.com.

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