The current influx of credit card offers arriving in your mailbox brings good news, believe it or not. Its one of the signs that the economy may be improving. According to a study recently conducted by Mintel Comperemedia, 1.4 billion credit card offers were mailed out in the last quarter of 2010. Thats up from 551 million for the same quarter of 2009. If you pick the right credit card deal, you could get a fresh start on paying off credit card debt.

Credit card deals on the upswing

A barrage of offers means credit card companies have loosened their hold on consumer credit and actually want more credit card business. In essence, the financial institutions are competing with each other for your business. Offers boast no balance transfer fees, no foreigh transaction fees and low introductory interest rates. In fact, the introductory rates on low interest credit cards may last for as long as 15 months with the Discover More card or 21 months with the Citi Diamond Preferred card.

If youre trying to work your way out of credit card debt, you can take advantage of one of these mail offers to restructure.

Here are three useful tips:

  1. Look for a credit card with no balance transfer fees like the Capitol One Platinum Prestige card or Slate from Chase
  2. Choose a card with a high limit so you can transfer several balances from your old credit cards to the new one
  3. Use a new offer as leverage to negotiate better interest rates from your current credit card companies; tell them that youll close your accounts if they dont match their competitors rate

Credit cards & lifestyle improvements

Many new offers are for credit cards that reward you with cash back or travel perks. If you typically pay off your balance each month, the high interest rates on these credit cards wont matter to you. Those who carry a balance on their credit cards should avoid them, however.

Credit card solicitations are being sent to people who have credit card debt as well as to those who dont. If youve had your credit lines decreased or accounts closed due to lack of payment in the past two or three years, this may not be the time for you to open a new credit card account. Dont run up more debt just because you find a credit card application in the mail.

Just like before the economic downturn, youll find plenty of junk credit card deals in your mailbox. Evaluate all of them carefully. With careful scrutiny, you just might come across some of the gems.

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