Cash-Back Credit Cards

A subprime credit card is a product tailored to the risk profiles of individuasl with low credit scores or no credit history. Subprime credit cards typically have much higher interest rates compared to those offered to individuals with higher credit scores and also often charge annual fees and have lower credit lines.

Deadbeat was a slang term used by the credit card industry in the 1980’s and 1990’s to describe cardholders who paid their balance in full each month and did not incur interest charges on outstanding balances and thus were considered freeloaders. In subsequent years card issuers came to realize that this type of customer actually presented a profit opportunity since they had very low default rates and generated significant revenue through merchant swipe fees, especially when using rewards credit cards.

Credit card encryption involves security measures with cards, payment terminals and data transmission to prevent theft of card or personal information on credit and debit cards. Encryption involves the process that scrambles or encrypts data before being transmitted for settlement and subsequently decrypted with a key by card networks and banks once transmitted and received by the end party.

Zero percent refers to the interest rate during an initial promotional period following the opening of a credit card account. Promotional introductory periods offering zero percent interest often span 12 - 18 months but can vary depending on market conditions. Zero percent interest can apply to new purchases, balance transfers or both.

Plain vanilla credit cards, also known as no-frills credit cards, are cards that offer no rewards of any kind on spending or any promotional introductory rates on purchases or balance transfers. Congress mandated that all major card issuers make plain vanilla cards available as part of their product offerings as part of the Credit Card Act of 2009.