Credit Card Debt Management

I miss the days of the good old rebate. A check that I could deposit straight into my bank account. Nowadays, mail-in rebates (and even some gifts) are doing away with the check or cash option and instead giving gift cards issued by one of the major credit card companies. As gifts, these are an interesting option because it’s essentially cash that can be personalized according to the gift recipient’s interests.

Again, these are essentially like cash — in no way do they function like credit cards, with interest charges and so on. These gift cards can be used anywhere a debit or credit card could be used, including an ATM. So why do they seem so much more complicated? For someone like me, who prefers to deposit rebate checks straight into the bank and act like that money doesn’t even exist, gift cards require a trip to the ATM to draw out cash and then make the bank deposit.

In my recent Visa gift card experience, I didn’t read the fine print on any fees associated with ATM usage, but the fees probably exist. At any rate, I didn’t read the fine print because I spent the money. Right away. On junk I didn’t need. There really is something about holding that card in your hand; it’s like Temptation Island.

At any rate, should you be among the fortunate ones to receive one of these cards, do read the fine print. Terms and conditions can vary greatly between card issuers, and yes, fees can crop up here and there. These might include fees for issuing the card (if you intend to gift it to someone else) and fees for non-use of the card after a certain number of months. These cards do typically have expiration dates, and if you misplace them, there may be no safety net. It just depends on whether your issuer will be generous enough to replace the lost card (for a fee, of course).

If you live in the states of Connecticut, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, you probably don’t need to worry about this as much. There, these gift credit cards probably haven’t caught on with such fierce popularity. In those states, at least one credit card issuer (American Express) has determined legislative regulation makes it too “cost-prohibitive” to issue gift credit cards. Interesting.