Credit Cards

If you think that your heavy spending won't catch up to your hefty paycheck, think again. Credit card debt is growing as the tightened economy forces consumers to pay with plastic more often, and it's not just affecting workers with low salaries.

Evading a government probe into its practices, payment processor Visa will no longer require merchants to obtain PIN passwords -- four-digit personal identification numbers -- from debit card users who are making small purchases.

Information from more than 50,000 credit card accounts -- and perhaps as many as 200,000 accounts -- was taken from online shoppers at Wards.com, now run by a direct mail company. While the catalog company reported the breach to credit card processors and authorities, cardholders were left in the dark.

From airlines to credit cards, companies have made billions a little at a time by nickel-and-diming customers with hidden (and sometimes strange) fees. See the steps you can take that will help keep these charges from piling up.

A federal lawsuit against Atlanta-based CompuCredit accuses the card issuer of cutting credit lines when customers used their cards at bars, massage parlors, and even to pay for marriage counseling. The company's lawyer calls the practice "commonplace across the industry."

Most people know by now to consider cash back and other rewards when considering which credit cards to keep in their wallets. But how can you tell which are the best overall? See a collection of the most rewarding cash back and gas cards, as well as seven ways to get the most out of the benefits they offer.