It's not a matter that you're penalized if you're five minutes late with a payment and your interest rate doubles or triples. It involves delinquencies serious enough to show up on your credit report. It means the consumer is exhibiting riskier credit behavior.

It depends on the consumer's situation.

What's on the increase is kids getting on mailing lists.

The first step is to find out what your credit score is and be aware of how attractive you are to a lender. That gives you an idea of how a lender views you.

Banks are doing back flips to attract customers away from their competitors and to hang on to their existing customers. Freebies are seen as an effective way to get a prospective customer's attention.

The fees can vary depending on the agreement the merchants have with the retailer.

Most issuers have already taken steps to ensure compliance. It's like when your boss strongly suggests that you come to work on time. It always behooves the industry to pay attention to the federal regulators.

What they're doing now is more targeted marketing. One is cash incentives - some say it's the next wave after free checking - and the targeted marketing is a trend we've noticed for several years now.