Generally there are 5 types of credit cards in the market. Find the best card for your lifestyle from secured to low-interest to reward to student and to business.

Secured Credit Cards

Best for: Someone with no credit history or have ruined their credit profiles.

Pros: A secured card is report to the three credit bureaus, so using one/two responsibly can be a smart way to establish or repair your credit profile. (Tip: put in large amount of deposit and use as little as 50% of that credit line.)

Cons: The secured part means you put down a deposit, usually between $300 and $2500, with your application. Many secured cards have all kinds of fees (including annual fees). Read the fine print very carefully.

Zero or Low Interest Rate Cards

Best for: Someone is short of cash and planned to pay down credit debit quickly.

Pros: The lower rate can save you a bundle on your current interest costs. Usually you can find the low rates from balance transfer cards. If you are planning to carry balance all the time, you’d better check out some credit unions.

Cons: Introductory balance transfer rate usually lasts for only 6 to 12 months, and then reverts to something higher, typically around 13 percent to 20 percent. Only one mistake will make your rate up to normal immediately. You’d better manage your balance transfer cards wisely.

Rewards Credit Cards

Best for: People who make the majority of their purchases on a credit card and pay off the balance each month.

Pros: These cards usually offer cash back, miles or rewards points toward purchasing select merchandises. Some rewards cards, for example, currently offer as high as 5 percent cash back on select purchases with no annual fee. (Blue Cash from American Express and Citi CashReturns Card)

Cons: As stated in pros, the rewards are always limited toward purchases on certain merchandises. (Tip: use rewards card in a combinational way is the best approach to maximum your rewards.)

College Student Cards

Best for: Obviously, College students.

Pros: These cards are targeted to college students who want to manage their spending responsively. No strict credit rating is required to get approved for college students. You’re not supposed to report annual income. Some cards are even offering great cash back and rewards. (Citi mtvU Card)

Cons: Some credit cards issuers charge higher interest rate for college student cards. (Typically Citi Bank does so.) If you fail to manage your credit cards, you are in a big trouble.

Business Cards

Best for: Small business owners and anyone willing to take advantage of the “hidden report” (AOR planner’s favorite.).

Pros: Small business cards often offer better rewards programs and have higher cash back rates. Some cards may even have no pre-set credit limit. These cards also offer better introductory rates. You can always find great sign-up bonus from business cards. (see this post)

Cons: no. （It’s said that the famous Financial Review from American Express is caused by business cards. If you have a business card for personal use, you are quite likely to get financial review from American Express.

(This post is for those new to credit cards.)

Recently a lot of readers asked a lot about the best combination of credit cards to maximum the return for daily use. OK, hereby I list some great credit cards:

Gas: Discover Open Road (Student Version is also available), SimplyCash Business Card. Both of them will give you 5% cash back at gas stations. The Open Road can also give you 5% cash back for auto maintenance.

Others you may consider: BP Visa Rewards Card, Citi Driver’s Edge Options Platinum Card.

Travel: Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express. Considering the famous Starwood Preferred Guest Program, this card is truly unbeatable. Starpoints can be easily transferred to other points. It’s also offering 10,000 bonus points after first purchase. Business version is available (why use business card? see this post). Citi PremierPass Card—You can match your fly points as thankyou points if you use it a lot!

Cash Back: Citi CashReturns Card. You can get 5% cashback on everything in first 3 months (Right now, Citi offers only 1% cash back!). What can I say? Someone even tried to apply for second one after 3 months. But he failed. It seems their policy doesn’t allow you to have 2 CashReturns cards. You can save a lot, if you use credit card to pay your tuitions, rents, or other fees. For daily use, it will not give you much cash back. But you can consider Chase Freedom Card which will give you 3% cash back on 3 categories automatically every month. Right now, they are offering $50 bonus. And another good news is Chase is trying to promote Chase Freedom and make it as the best popular credit card in US. It’s easy to get!

Student Card: Citi mtvU Card—You can get 5 thankyou points at restaurants, book and music stores (including Amazon.Com). Citi Dividend Platinum Select Card for College Students—Easiest student card to get? It’s quite possible. NO credit history is OK. Discover Student Card—NO credit history? It’s OK.

Business Card: Citi Business Card with ThankYou Network—10,000 thankyou points! Believe me, it’s the easiest business card to get.

You can also check out the following posts: The 15 Most Rewarding Credit Cards, What’s In The Experts’ Wallet?

The title says it and it’s true. “Which is the best credit card for college students?” This the most frequently asked question from my friends. My answer is always “Citi mtvU Platinum Select Visa Card”. The reason is very simple—it’s just the best.

When we are using a credit card, we want to get a certain amount of cashback and some additional benefits. So what are the top categories of expenses in college? Dinning out, textbooks and other entertainments. That’s why this card is so popular among college students. You can get 5 thankyou points for every dollar you spent at restautants, bookstores, video stores and movie theaters. Plus you can also get 5 thankyou points for shopping at Amazon.com—earth’s biggest merchant with a wide selection of books, magazines, music, DVDs, videos, electronics, computers, software, apparel & accessories, shoes, etc. Accumulated thankyou points can be redeemed as gift cards or cash at thankyou.com.

Another interesting feature of this card is you will be awarded for being a good student. You can earn 250~2,000 bonus thankyou points each semester for maintaining a good GPA. (Of course, you have to mail official transcript to them.) Furthermore, you can get 25 bonus points each month for paying the bill on time!

With Citi virtual account numbers intergrated in this card, your onine shopping will be protected.

Overall, this card features:

• 0% APR for 6 months on balance transfers, purchases, and cash advances*
• No balance transfer fee with this offer
• NO Annual Fee
• 10% Discount at MTV Online and MTV NYC Store
• Earn reward tickets for MTVU Spring Break
• Earn reward tickets for MTV VMA Awards
• 1 Thank You point earned for every dollar spent
• 25 Thank You points per month for paying your bill on time
• Earn Thank You Points FAST with this card just by being a good student-250~2,000 Thank You Points for earning good grades

I will apply for this card in the near future. Usually I eat out at restaurants at least 10 times every week. I can’t imagine how much I can save if I use this card. (Currently, I’m using 2% cash back card at restaurants.) Remember, if you apply for this card, they may need you to provide proofs or they will contact your college. Don’t expect to get an instant approval. For those who don’t familiar with ThankYou points, you can visit www.thankyou.com. To apply for this card, please click here.