This card has some special perks, namely:
- Cardholders choose their personalized card design.
- Various Internet account related services.
- Up to $500,000 in travel accident insurance.
- Fraud and security protection services.
- Auto rental insurance.
- Discounts on products and services at participating merchants and retailers.

More details:

The United States’ biggest credit card issuer (by purchases) also said that write-offs for uncollectible loans were down 7.8% year-over-year, versus 8.4% in September. Total loans that are at least 30 days past due stood flat at 4.1%. American Express forecasts that spending trends will improve in the fourth quarter of 2009 over the third quarter, when total card spending was down 11% y-o-y.

Visa Inc. was boosted to “Outperform” from “Neutral” at Credit Suisse Group, which said that the stock was attractive at current price levels. Visa’s top competitor, MasterCard, also received an upgrade to “Outperform” from “Neutral” at Credit Suisse Group, and Barclays PLC raised its Earnings estimate on the company to US$ 10.90 a share from US$ 10.85 a share.

Visa added 1.04% to US$ 73.70 while Mastercard gained 0.74% to close at US$216.00 at close of trading yesterday.

* FREE activation with NO annual or monthly fees!

* Instant Guaranteed Approval* – no credit check, no security deposit

* Free Direct Deposit – easy access to your funds

* Free Online Bill pay – no more mailing costly money orders.

* Free Money Transfers to other Facecard members – no more spending money on wire transfers.

* Ability to use anywhere MasterCard debit cards are accepted, including ATMs.

* Receive Prewards, which are like coupons, put directly on your card.

Increases in these “early-stage” delinquencies usually signals concern for greater losses in the future. As the unemployment rate is expected to continue trending up, the near term doesn’t look very positive for credit card issuers, as the rate of default tends to follow suit.

Visa, as the world’s largest electronic payments network, also benefited from a consumer switch-away from cash and cheques towards debt, credit and charge cards. Visa’s share price jumped 0.64% yesterday to close at US$67.21.

Just over a week ago, it announced that it would be laying off half of its workforce across all departments, after posting three-straight quarterly losses. Advanta is set to release its second quarter results this week.

Starting this month, Discover Financial Services began charging a new 2% fee for foreign transactions, while more credit-card customers at Bank of America will get hit with foreign-transaction fees next month (June 2009). Late last year, American Express raised its transaction fees to 2.7% from 2%.

For many years, banks have charged customers a fee for using their cards overseas IF the purchases were made in a foreign currency. Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. charge a 1% fee for converting foreign currencies into U.S. dollars – a fee that most banks pass along, along with their own markups which typically range from 1% to 2%.

What banks do not currently (as of May 12, 2009) charge foreign transaction fees? Call your own bank / credit card company and ask customer service directly, but two large banks that don’t currently charge this fee are Capital One and Charles Schwab. But for how long though? Keep a close eye on your credit card statements and communications.