Re: AMEX, it's my understanding that the offer is going out to card holders considered to be "high risk" -- perhaps paying the absolute minimum consistently is included in their determination; I'm not sure.

I wanted to post about credit cards in general, as someone who tries to pay attention and almost always reads the inserts that come with bills and the fine print.

First, I believe that paying the minimum is in fact used when calculating credit scores -- it was noted as a category on a report I just saw. So whenever possible, it seems like a good idea to pay above the minimum, even if it's just a few dollars. Remember, one of the things that's important if you want to get credit in the future is to maintain and/or increase your creidt score when possible.

A LOT of credit cards are lowering the amount of credit available and yes, in some cases it's even ABOVE what you might currently owe on a card. Pretty scary both financially and also because I believe the ratio of the balance to available credit is also a credit score factor. Watch your bills/cards carefully and if you see this has happened, it doesn't hurt to call up the company to discuss it.

Another thing that's happening a lot is that the APR is increasing. There's usually no special notice -- you have to look at the bill. This has happened with 3 of my cards so far and each time I called the company. BTW, I think there is ALWAYS an "opt out" -- usually in an accompanying disclosure but it might be on the bill. The terms of the opt out I've encountered so far are different. I'll use 3 personal examples below but I'm telling you that it ALWAYS pays to call. You just never know. Here are 3 examples I've encountered so far with credit cards where I got notice that the APR was increasing.

Credit card #1: The company told me if I opted out and decided to decline the new terms, the current APR would continue until the expiration date on the card, at which time the account would terminate. They told me that this would mean I couldn't use the card but I could continue paying off the outstanding balance at the same APR. I was a little suspicious about the being allowed to pay off the outstanding balance after the account was closed at the current rate -- wondered if the minimum payments would increase and if/how it would affect my credit score. BUT I have a low balance on that card so I didn't ask more questions. I opted out, knowing that the balance would definitely be paid off in full before the card expired.

Credit card #2: Ironically, this card was issued by the same bank as credit card #1 but the outcome was completely different. When I called asking about the opt out, they explained the same scenario. However, the representative told me that I had been such a good customer for so long that he was WAIVING everything. Not only would the APR not increase; he actually LOWERED my APR!

Credit card #3: The opt-out option on this card meant that the account would be closed in MAY but that I could still pay off the balance at the current rate. This is a card I want to keep for right now but I didn't opt out. I do intend to check back with the company in a few months to see if they can better the rate.

Now is the time more than ever to look at your bills carefully and read the inserts! And for your regular bills like cable, phone, etc., I encourage you to call regularly to see if they can better the rate. There are often special packages available that they do NOT advertise and with the competitive nature of some of them, they would rather do something for you than lose you as a customer.

My cable/intenet bill is enormous and I'm going to contact them this week. If they don't better my rate, I might be making a change.