The credit card industry has taken a lot of flak lately. That comes as no surprise for just about everyone. After all, the credit industry is well known for their shady practices such as hidden fees and encouraging consumers to charge themselves into extreme debt so as to collect more fees from the resulting fees and interest rate hikes.

Consumer’s have slowly become disillusioned by credit card companies and, recently, according to a study from Auriemma Consulting Group, 47% of consumers are saying that they trust credit card companies much less than they used to just a day ago. That is a considerable threat to the customer base of credit card companies which is why some of the major credit card companies are introducing credit cards which are more “consumer friendly”.

These credit cards are not really the cheapest credit cards around in terms of rates and fees. However, they do bring some interesting offerings to consumers. Here are two of those consumer friendly credit cards.

Bank of America is courting consumers who want to see simplified credit card terms with their BankAmericard Basic Visa. The card features a very simplified set of terms. The card carries no annual fees or reward programs. It only has one variable interest rate which is applicable to purchases, balance transfers and cash advances. Bank of America has also guaranteed that the index of the interest rate, the prime rate plus 14%, will not be changed as long as the card holder keeps up with his or her payments. Unfortunately, the prime rate is probably going to go up later in the year which means the card will see an increase in interest rates soon enough.

For cardholders who consistently keep up with their credit card payments, a good alternative may be the Citi Forward Visa. The credit card offers card holders a lower interest rate and better rewards points if they are able to pay their credit card bills on time and they do not go over their credit limit. The card offers 0% interest rate on balance transfers and purchases for 7 months. After that, it will carry a variable rate interest which is the prime rate plus 10.99%. If a card holder keeps up with his or her credit card payments and stays below the credit limit for three months, the interest rate of the card will be lowered by .25%. The interest rate deduction is limited up to 2% over the card’s lifetime. Credit card holders also get a bonus of 100 rewards points every month that they manage their credit card debts wisely.

If you are dissatisfied with the service of a restaurant, which has cut back on its staff, firing staff, including the head chef while jacking up its prices, you can always decide not to go back.

But that’s not the case with credit card consumers who have been on the losing end. Sure, you can just close that credit card account. But at what price? That is, hurting your credit score. If this happens, getting a mortgage, a car loan or even a new credit card would be costlier.

Previously, the better way to solve this problem was merely to pay off the balance and just stop using the card. While the account is open, the credit score is unaffected. However, this would carry a cost. With the new restrictions introduced by the time credit card reforms take effect on Feb. 22, issuers will look for ways to generate revenue. Some would add annual fees while others would bring back inactivity fees once cardholders fail to use their cards for a specified period of time.

In this regard, the credit score gets affected if you don’t pay such fees. When you close the account, however, the effect on the credit score varies and this depends on your credit card profile, experts say.

Before closing that account, here are the things you should consider:

First, you should know your total available credit. When you close a credit card account, this could possibly hurt your score due to what is called as the credit utilization ratio. This ratio is determined based on the outstanding debt amount as a percentage of your available credit. As such, if you close your account, this will decrease your available credit, thereby resulting in a higher utilization rate.

Second, you should know your present credit score. Consumers with high scores can afford to lose a few points. These range from 300 to 850. So if your present score is about 820 to 830, losing those miniscule points as you close your account will not affect your ability to get a loan.

Lastly, you should take your borrowing plans into consideration. If you have a lower score, say in the mid-700s, it will be wise not to apply for a loan once you decide to close your account. But if you are planning to refinance your mortgage or plan to purchase a new car, the wisest move is not to close your credit card account until your loan has been approved. This is because lenders are more focused on credit scores than ever. To get loan approvals, you would want a credit score in the high 700s or the low 800s.

Small-business owners who use a company credit card to procure equipment or finance daily operations will not experience any advantages from the upcoming implementation of the Credit Card Act, unless they charge these expenses to personal consumer cards.

This new law, passed May last year and set to take effect on February 22, shields consumer credit cards from arbitrary rate hikes, over-the-limit charges, and unilateral alterations to agreed terms. However, these reforms are not applicable to business cards that are used by small business owners, who may be forced to ditch those cards and get a consumer card instead.

But the big drawback, according to experts, is that such action, which makes entrepreneurs settle for consumer cards to take advantage of the new restrictions, would damage the business owner’s personal credit scores.

Small business credit cards have long been recommended as the best option for entrepreneurs to settle business and personal expenses and separate them for purposes of completing tax and credit reports. This however, puts the entrepreneur in a quandary. If they sacrifice their small business cards for a consumer card, they risk damage to their personal credit scores. If they continue using their small business cards, they also run the risk of increased rates and sudden term changes.

According to a National Small Business Association survey, around 41 percent of business owners use a credit card to pay for company expenses and capital needs. This is due to their difficulty in getting bank loans or lines of credit.

Due to the new restrictions card companies face with regard to consumer cards, the NSBA is worried that creditors would jack up rates to compensate for the revenue loss as a result of the law’s enactment. Credit card companies, however, rejected that claim.

They claim that their cards directed at consumers and businesses have no correlation and that rates and pricing are dependent on market conditions and a cardholder’s borrowing behavior.

Despite the predicament, there are entrepreneurs who are opting to stick it out with the business credit card since for them a miniscule fee that may be charged for an inadvertent late payment would be less of an issue than difficulties that would arise in sorting personal and business purchases.

These constitute about 75 percent of all entrepreneurs who use their business cards for their companies, the experts further note. This is because they don’t have problems paying their card bills and as a result are not affected by the changing interest rates. The remaining 25 percent, they say, would opt to shift to consumer cards because it will allow better financial flexibility.

Federal regulators have finally issued consumer credit protection rules that will primarily impact mortgage applicants and home buyers.

These new regulations from the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Reserve were actually a result of Congressional action six years ago when it passed the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act. This Act, signed by former president George W. Bush on Dec. 4, 2003, addressed concerns that excessive, unnecessary rates burdened borrowers.

Apart from mandating free credit reports, this law had also directed both federal agencies to initiate policies that would alert consumers on credit scores yielding prohibitive interest rates before applying for loans and mortgages.

Six years after the act was signed into law, the FTC and the Fed laid out rules to protect mortgage and loan applicants from unnecessarily high charges on interest rates. These overcharges could result from incorrect or obsolete data from the applicant’s credit bureau files.

Under these rules, lenders should inform borrowers on the existence of derogatory data on their credit file that could lead to higher rates or payment terms based on risk-based pricing. Such pricing, which is linked to one’s credit score, is common in credit cards, mortgages, and loans offered to consumers. This means the higher the credit score, the lower the quoted rates. The lower a credit score, the higher rates a loan applicant gets.

These rules are particularly helpful to applicants when credit bureau files contain erroneous data—such as delayed or missed payments—that could adversely affect the credit score. They could immediately request for amendments.

Previously, applicants would only know about a derogatory file when an application is rejected. During this time, they could only check for errors after receiving adverse action notices.

However, through the years, lenders rarely turn down loan applicants with lower credit scores. These companies only raise interest rates to cover the risk. This became the death knell for the whole subprime mortgage industry wherein applicants with low credit scores had been charged excessive rates that led an overwhelming majority of them to default.

Some sectors have voiced out their displeasure over the apparent foot-dragging in the implementation of these rules, which could have averted the subprime mortgage crisis that caused wide-scale economic downturn.

The FTC and the Fed were not able to produce draft proposals until May 2008. Since then, it took agencies a total of nineteen months to issue final rules. Even with this announcement on Dec. 22, 2009, these regulations could only take effect after a year.

FTC and Fed officials noted, however, that the 2003 law had so many intricacies and requirements that they had to carefully draft implementing rules and regulations.

Advanta Corp., a well-known issuer of credit cards to small businesses, on Monday announced it is planning to liquidate company assets as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing.

According to a company statement, Advanta said it expects no assets will be left for common or preferred shareholders during liquidation. It did not comment on its impact to the company’s future.

The company further said it plans to achieve the best value for creditors under its Chapter 11 plan, which also includes establishment of a trust that will retain certain assents unfit for liquidation.

Its banking subsidiary, the Utah-based Advanta Bank, also disclosed ongoing talks with regulators to return deposits to customers. The bank, however, was not included in the Chapter 11 filing. According to a statement released in November, Advanta said, “The Chapter 11 proceeding will not have any impact on outstanding credit card balances and customer payment obligations will continue on normal schedules.”

Advanta filed its Chapter 11 case in November last year, a month after closing its credit card operations, before the US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. The court has schedules hearings on February 4 on the company’s bank accounts and payroll.

“The economic debacle over the last two years devastated Advanta’s small business customers and Advanta itself,” the company’s chairman and CEO Dennis Alter said in a statement.

Advanta’s credit card business was directed at small businesses, which uses the service as a way to bankroll capital. These credit cards have been a popular mode of financing for small business owners.

Through mid-2009, around a third of small businesses had credit lines slashed. This led to a weakening in Advanta’s niche position, and eventually its bankruptcy.

Advanta’s shutdown is considered one of the most dramatic closures in the credit card industry, which had been hit with huge default and delinquency rates. Overall, Advanta is considered a small player with outstanding card loans amounting to $5 billion compared to big players, such as JP Morgan Chase, which posted $176 billion in March last year.

Its small business niche led to its vulnerability to the recession, with delinquent accounts rising to about 16% of its first quarter outstanding loans. Other small business card issuers, such as American Express, only had half of Advanta’s default rate.

Advanta stopped issuing new credit cards in May. Since then, the company merely collected outstanding balances from its 360,000 accounts, totaling $2.7 billion, and paid creditors and noteholders.

The company started in 1951 as a business granting personal loans to teachers. It had since shifted to offering credit cards to small businesses.

The month of February saw the activation of a large part of the Credit CARD Act, the new set of government legislation made to protect consumers from the abusive practices of credit card companies. Since its signing last May of 2009 up to now, the act has been a controversial issue in the credit card industry. Credit card companies have been adamant that the regulations in the act would restrict credit availability among consumers. Now that the bulk of the act is finally active, consumers are finding out that credit card companies have done their best to stay true to their previous warnings.

To be clear, credit is still available – only that it has become much more expensive than before. A lot of consumers are finding that out right now and many of them have been caught by surprise by it. Possibly, many are also getting into financial trouble because of these new developments, Unfortunately for consumers, the unpleasant surprises being brought on by the side effects of the new credit card legislation are numerous and, at times, very deceptive.

All of this does not mean that the Credit CARD Act is a failure. Far from it. Consumers however have to be on their toes at the moment to keep from getting caught in the many changes that credit card companies are making to adapt to the new legislations. For instance, while credit card companies cannot raise the interest rates on existing balances under the new law (with a few exceptions), the credit card companies may increase the minimum amount due per month. Thus, paying off credit card balances completely every month becomes even more important for consumers.

Interest rate hikes are also severely limited with the new credit card legislations and credit card companies have to inform card holders far in advance of any rate hikes. They also have to give them the opportunity to opt out of such term changes. However, should card holders opt out, their credit card account will be closed and they will have to pay any balances within a five year period. In such a case, card holders with large balances will end up with high monthly payments, once again underlining the fact that paying off debts quickly is a major advantage for credit card holders.

When consumers just are not able to pay off their debt balances fully every month, they should at least aim for paying well above the minimum amount due. Paying only the minimum amount due extends the life of the debt and adds more fees as well, making the debt more expensive. The new law also forces credit card companies to apply payments over the minimum due amount to the balance with the highest rate first, unlike in the past when it was the opposite. This ensures that credit card holders pay off the more expensive debts first, easing the impact of the interest rate fees somewhat.

The bulk of the Credit CARD Act has finally gone live, though, credit card companies being what they are, that does not mean things are going to get easier for credit card holders here on out. In fact, the new credit card legislation seems to be introducing quite a lot of headaches for consumers with its consumer protection regulations.

One of the biggest issues that the new credit card legislation is addressing is the problem of arbitrary interest rate hikes. In the past, credit card companies had the power to introduce rate hikes whenever they want to. With the new law, they are prohibited from raising the interest rates of new credit card accounts for 12 months. To get around that, credit card companies simply hiked their APRs before the date of activation of the Credit CARD Act. Thus, at the moment, the average advertised annual percentage rate of credit cards is at 13.46%. Consider that, just six months ago, that figure was at 12.11% and, one year ago, the rate was at 11.51%.

To make up for the inevitable losses that the new credit card regulations will cause, credit card companies have also turned to fees. Thus, consumers are now facing more fees at higher levels among virtually all credit card products. Annual fees, on the wane during the past few years, have made a come back and are ubiquitous nowadays. Balance transfer fees have increased considerably, some by as high as 2% from the previous rates. Credit card companies have even introduced inactivity fees – fees that are charged to credit card holders if they don’t use their credit cards or if they don’t reach a certain usage quote for a certain period of time.

Consumers hunting for credit cards may also notice that fixed rate credit cards are on the wane. A large number of those with existing credit card accounts that used to have fixed interest rates have also been moved to variable rate credit cards. That is largely due to the new regulation which restricts APR increases only for fixed rate credit cards, not for variable rate ones. Thus, most credit card holders are now carrying interest rates tied to the prime rate. At the moment, this has little impact as the government is keeping a tight reign on the prime rate. Once it lets it go however – which it plans to do soon – that rate is going to go up and the rates of variable rate credit cards will also go up with it.

Charge cards are making a comeback as American Express (AmEx) re-introduces them as an option for consumers who want to pay with plastic without losing control of their credit debt. Currently, AmEx is the main issuer of charge cards.

Unlike credit cards, charge cards require holders to fully pay off their credit balances every month. Thus, there is no risk of incurring interest penalties which is why charge cards carry no interest rates. Charge cards therefore present a perfect opportunity for AmEx to exploit the discontent of consumers disillusioned by credit card debt. As intriguing as charge cards are, they are not for everyone.

Not just anyone can qualify for a charge card. AmEx has stayed mum on their approval standards for charge cards, but it is safe to say that consumers will need an impressive credit standing to qualify. Thus, those who are still trying to pull up their credit scores will have to give charge cards a pass.

Charge card holders will also have to pay annual fees. AmEx charge cards carry annual fees starting at $25 and going up to $450. The amount of the fee depends on perks that the card holder decides upon. The company’s Zync card carries the lowest fee which is $25. Zync cards are targeted to consumers between 20 and 30 years old. Zync card additional perks will be an extra $20.

Whether the annual fees of charge cards are worth it or not depends greatly on how a consumer spends. Ideally, consumers should see if their spending habits allow them to earn enough reward points to balance out its annual fee.

Another concern is the impact that charge cards will have on credit scores. In terms of credit history, charge cards are treated as revolving credit, same as credit cards. However, there is a possible problem with credit utilization reporting. Credit utilization reports is the ratio of how much available credit a consumer has and how much debt he carries. It makes up for 30% of a consumer’s score.

The problem is that charge cards do not publish their spending limits. An old scoring model solves the problem by using the highest balance that the card has seen and using that amount as the limit. Consumers who charge generally the same amount every month would seem to be utilizing 100% of their credit. This practice is, however, not the rule among credit reporting organizations. Notably, FICO, the company which makes the most commonly used credit scores, said that charge card utilization is not a factor in their new scoring models.

It is quite common for Americans to run out of cash even before their next payday comes. This makes payday advance loan shops popular, pushing their number up to 22,000 all over the United States. While payday loans could provide some financial solution, experts say they are not good for one’s financial health. Consumers are instead advised to keep some of their money on a savings account so they will have something to shelter them when the rainy days come.

According to the Community Financial Services Association, thousands of Americans go to payday loan shops each week, racking up a total of $40 billion in short term credit. These loans could be helpful at times, but they are quite costly. Experts calculate that their annual interest rate percentage could go as high as 400 percent. If consumers compute the interest using their principal and their previously paid interest, they could be paying thousands of interest rate percentage each year.

In more solid terms, a consumer who borrows $300 on a payday loan could be paying $250 in interest rates and other fees in just three moths. On the other hand, if a consumer incurs a $300 debt in a credit card that carries an interest rate of 19.9 percent, he will be paying $15 in interest over the same period. However, financial planners make it clear to consumers that they do not suggest racking up credit card debts that can be quite difficult to pay. Instead, they advise consumers to plan their spending carefully and to find ways to save.

Specialists emphasize the importance of having a budget plan that will account for all the income and expenses during a specific period. They advise consumers to plan expenses in every category and to make sure they do not spend more. They also advise consumers to put a portion of their weekly budget into a savings account.

Consumers who do not have a savings account yet are advised to make one with their local bank. Savings accounts do not have high returns unlike stock market investments, but are ideal for keeping extra income safe.

Experts explained that if consumers keep a lot of cash in their house, it is quite likely that they would not be able to keep themselves from spending every cent of it. Aside from making sure that they put something into their savings account, experts likewise tell consumers to avoid payday loan rollovers. This happens when a person borrows the same loan over again instead of repaying it. Three rollovers on a $100 loan could cost $60, the Federal Trade Commission estimates.

American consumers, fed up with their credit cards, have been moving to debit cards in the past few months. This drop in popularity of credit cards has primarily been caused by recent changes credit card companies have been making in their credit card terms to get ahead of the new credit legislation. The result: interest rate hikes, higher fees, new fees and paired down credit. The credit industry has become very consumer-unfriendly, it seems.

Consumers are also very wary with credit cards especially since a lot of them got bit by credit card debt. The biggest concern is the threat of high interest rates which can make credit card debt balloon even with only one missed payment cycle. Debit cards do not have this risk which is why they are getting attention from consumers.

Debit card use among American consumers shot up last year, overtaking credit cards. Consumers considered them to be safer because they did not carry the threat of interest rates. However, consumers soon found out that debit cards carried their own traps as well. A major concern with debit cards is that they are not covered by this new credit legislation which promises extensive consumer protection. This is exactly why card issuers are pushing debit cards instead of credit cards these days.

Debit cards also have overdraft protection. This means that debit card holders can overcharge their cards accidentally and get hit with large overdraft fees. Aside from that, debit cards have lesser fraud protection than credit cards and also offer fewer rewards as well.

Consumers, however, have a third choice. They can go for the new charge card which, at the moment, is mainly being issued by American Express.

Charge cards are quite different from debit and credit cards. The main distinction of charge cards is that card holders are required to pay off balances fully every month. The card also carries no interest rate and has no set spending limits. It is an intriguing proposition for consumers, especially those who are looking for a way to control their credit debt while still maintaining a bit of credit flexibility. However, consumers need to realize that charge cards carry their own headaches as well.

For starters, applying for a charge card at the moment is not very easy. Consumers with low to moderate credit ratings will have to give charge cards a pass. Charge cards also carry annual fees which can range anywhere from $25 to $450. The fee already includes rewards program membership and consumers can pick the perks they want on their charge card which, of course brings the annual fees up.

The job of credit bureaus is to come up with credit reports of consumers, with the intention of making these as accurate as possible. However, there are times when people working for these credit bureaus make mistakes here and there – mistakes that can be costly on credit scores of consumers. It is because of this that the federal government developed FCRA or the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Implemented on April 25, 1971, the purpose of this act is to protect credit cardholders against development and plotting of inaccurate, obsolete, and even misleading information on their credit reports. This way, the equitable and responsible operation of these organizations would be ensured.

As a cardholder, take initiative in knowing your rights, especially since there just might come a time when your report would contain inaccurate information. Just like there is an art to complaining, there is also an art to dealing with these inaccuracies and the first step is to know your rights and the procedures involved towards clearing negative remarks on your report. By understanding your rights as a cardholder, you can use the law to your benefit, effectively wiping off late payments, judgments, charge-offs, collection accounts, and even bankruptcy.

The first thing to do then is ask for copies of credit reports from all major credit bureaus. If you do not know the contact information of your local bureau, then look it up in the yellow pages or even online. If you were denied credit within 60 days prior, then it would be easier for you to get a free copy of this report. All you have to do is attach a copy of the denial letter you received with your request for a credit report. However, if you have not been denied credit within this period, then you might have to pay for a credit report.

You can also review it in person by making an appointment with the bureau. What you are asking for is not out of bounds in any way because this is well within your right and means. There is a charge for physical perusal of your credit report, though this can be minimal compared to the benefit of reviewing your report in person.

Should you have any disputes regarding inaccuracies, make sure to file such in a formal manner. Your local bureau should then respond within a reasonable time, usually a period of 30 days. If the bureau does not respond within that period, send another letter to follow up your request. Make sure to tell them you will resort to legal action if they still refuse to comply. If you still do not hear from them, then ask for legal assistance from your lawyer.

If you are one of thousands who are currently employed, do not fret just yet. There is still hope for the unemployed, especially when it comes to utilizing cash and credits the most. Do not beat yourself up, no matter how tempting this might be. There are a lot of people going through the same rough patch that you are currently facing, and this does not mean there is no hope for everyone during this tough time.

Now that this unfortunate event of recession has hit you, try to look at the savings you have established over time, as well as your available credit lines. These are two tools that will help you get through this rough patch. By using an effective combination of cash and credit, you can come up with an action plan that should include finding a new job, as well as a budget that works for you while you are in the process of securing that new job.

Most of the time, prospective employers pull up credit reports of their applicants – this is a huge part of today’s employment procedures already. To maximize your chances of landing that new job, make sure to come up with the best possible credit standing that you can have.

One thing to do is to steer clear of cash advances. This is just the easy way out because there are additional costs entailed just to spend the money that you are advancing. More importantly, this cost could be higher than when you just use your credit card to pay for whatever amount. Cash advances always come at an extra charge and more often than not, they would have higher interest rates as well. This would just further degrade your credit limit.

Another thing to do is to outline priorities when it comes to using your card. Remember that you still do not have a steady means of income so you need to make some changes here. Back then, you might have used your card to pay for larger purchases – the kind that is quite heavy to pay just at one time. This, however, should no longer be your priority.

Do not rely on unemployment benefits or the severance package that you received from your old company. These funds would not last and there are even cases when funds would not last as long as the period of unemployment. Thus, make sure to use credit just for basics, as well as for job-hunting expenses. Learn to control expenses and stick to the allotted budget consistently. Follow these tips and you will surely extend your financial means even up until you get that new and more stable job.

New federal regulations have been adopted to protect money market funds against upheavals from the financial market.

The Securities and Exchange Commission laid down salient policies to make money market investments more liquid, enhance credit quality of portfolios, promote transparency, and review portfolios against market risks and vulnerabilities.

These new SEC directives were rooted from the September 2008 fall of Reserve Primary Fund when its net asset value plunged to below $1 per share. This became the first-ever retail money market fund loss.

Reserve’s feebleness, which became evident amid its credit exposure in the defunct Lehman Bros., reflected the woes of the entire money market business and became the SEC’s clarion call to examine such funds and see how they operate.

New regulations mandate funds to keep a small percentage of assets in highly liquid securities that are easily convertible to cash and redeemed by shareholders. In this case, taxable money market funds must maintain at least 10 percent of its assets in cash, treasury securities or other highly liquid securities that are cash convertible within one day.

Money market funds must also maintain 30 percent of its assets in cash, treasury or other government securities that are set to mature in less than 60 days, for conversion to cash in one week.

The rules also state that the money market funds can only hold on to five percent of ‘illiquid’ securities, or those that cannot be sold within the week at its carrying value.

Limits have been likewise set for funds to own lower-quality securities. Funds can no longer own more than three percent of its assets in Second-Tier securities. They are also not allowed to have more than 0.5 percent of its assets in Second-Tier securities issued by a single entity. These Second-Tier securities should also mature in 45 days.

New restrictions have also been imposed on a specific portfolio’s average maturity in order to prevent unnecessary exposure in unforeseen interest rate fluctuations. As such, a portfolio’s maximum weighted average is now cut down to 60 days from 90 days. Because of this, funds cannot pour investments into long-term floating rate securities.

New regulations now require funds to disclose “mark-to-market” net asset value each month on a delay of 60 days. Such “shadow” NAV’s are currently disclosed every six months with a lag of 60 days.

Stress tests are also mandated to ensure the fund’s capacity to keep a stable NAV per share and disclose holdings in its website.

The SEC also allowed funds to freeze subscriber redemptions as the NAV goes below $1 per share and order portfolio liquidation. Previously, funds had to request the SEC to freeze redemptions.

Net inflows for long-term mutual funds were reported for the 45th week, or close to a year, on the sustained strength of bond funds as more money entered stock funds, the Investment Company Institute revealed in its latest figures.

Inflows for these long-term mutual funds were estimated at $13.18 billion in the week ending January 20. The whole 45-week streak now totals about $454 billion.  The inflows started during March last year when equity markets slumped. But even as money kept on flowing into stock funds, the bigger share of investments actually went to bond funds last year.

Inflows of $3.95 billion went into stock funds last week, dropping from $5.77 billion in the previous week. Despite a recent trend of outflows, equities saw two straight weeks of inflows, with $1.27 billion reported last week. Foreign funds, meanwhile, added $2.68 billion.

Bond funds received $7.96 billion last week, climbing slightly from $7.36 billion the week before, ICI said. In addition, taxable funds took in $6.73 billion while municipal funds got $1.23 billion. Yields from taxable and municipal funds stayed at an all-time low of 0.02 percent for the third straight week.

On the other hand, investors were upbeat on hybrid funds, putting in $1.27 billion, which is up from $7.36 billion the previous week. Hybrid funds are those that invest in a combination of stocks and fixed-income assets.

However, money market fund assets plunged $13.75 billion last week amid outflows from the government and prime funds, iMoneyNet said.

Taxable money market funds’ seven-day yields were held at a record low of 0.03 percent. This yield had been declining amid Fed moves to keep federal-fund rates to near zero. The Fed further affirmed this last Wednesday saying it will keep these rates low until high unemployment remains a hurdle in the US economic recovery.

Total assets of money-market funds reflected this overall trend, plummeting to $3.191 trillion as of Tuesday.

Taxable money market funds slid to $2.8 trillion, a fall of $11.11 billion from the previous week, after institutional investors took out $5.33 billion and individual investors withdrew $5.78 billion. Prime fund assets dropped $4.22 billion while government funds had outflows of $6.89 billion, iMoneyNet added.

Outflows were likewise posted on tax-free funds–a total of $2.65 billion—amid seven-day yields at 0.02 percent and 30-day yields at 0.03 percent.

Some economists, however, are forecasting a Fed interest rate increase later this year. This could help ease the burden for fund companies currently waiving fees just to maintain investments.

The credit industry is abuzz with the upcoming activation of the Credit CARD Act. Going live this month, the Credit CARD Act actually got signed into law last year, in May. The law is meant to protect credit card holders from credit card company unfair practices. Unfortunately, credit card companies are not going to give up easily on the resulting financial losses resulting from such protection. Also, the Credit CARD Act itself is rife with loopholes which threatens to take away what slim advantage credit card holders gain from it.

One example of this is credit card protections applicable only to fixed rate credit cards, not to variable rate ones. The law prohibits interest rate hikes on new credit cards and makes it mandatory for credit card companies to give advance notice to card holders when their credit card terms are changed. However, these rules are only applicable to fixed rate credit cards. Variable rate credit cards are not eligible to these protections and credit card companies have taken advantage of this and have moved many of their fixed rate credit cards to variable rate ones. Credit card holders who are lucky enough to find a fixed rate credit card would do well to stick with them. The bad news is that fixed rate credit cards are becoming rare and what cards there are will usually carry very restrictive terms.

Credit card holders ought to be careful with the rewards programs that credit card companies are offering nowadays. With the loss in revenue that credit card companies are seeing caused primarily by the new rules in the Credit CARD Act, they are now looking for ways to generate additional revenues. One of the most likely avenues that they will explore will be in their rewards program fees. Credit card holders should scrutinize very well their credit card rewards programs to make sure that they do not pose any financial risks.

Consumers who want to get rid of credit cards in light of any new credit card term changes that they do not agree with should consider their choice carefully. Without a doubt, it is a good idea to get rid of credit cards that have become risks instead of assets, but consumers must consider the resulting drop in their credit scores which may pose a bigger problem down the road. Still, credit scores are really of utmost concern if the consumer is planning to apply for a new loan or wants to renegotiate the terms of any debts that they have. For consumers who do not have to worry about either, getting rid of their unwanted credit cards is probably the best move to make.