We have recently seen some amazing credit card offers this summer and they just keep getting better. Discover has just launched a new offer starting today. They are now offering a version of the Discover Open Road Card with a $150 Restaurant.com Gift Certificate. You might remember the other version of this offer that came with a $75 Restaurant.com gift certificate. This new offer that is available starting on the July 1st that it will be running through July 24th. You can check out all the details below:

• Free $150 Restaurant.com Gift Certificate with first purchase
• 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months, then the variable APR of 11.99% – 20.99%
• 5% Cashback Bonus on up to $300 in gas, hotel, theme park, and movie theater purchases now through September
• Plus, 2% automatically at any gas station and any restaurant all year long
• Ranked #1 in customer loyalty
• 24/7 access to a U.S.

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The CapOne Venture Rewards card has grown to be our favorite card over the last few months, based exclusively on its travel rewards benefits. And now its gotten even better by bumping up the signing bonus from 10,000 to 25,000 miles (or $250 for those keeping score at home), redeemable toward your travel purchases.

One big reason is because the Venture is now the only card on the Visa/MasterCard network that offers a straightforward 2% back on all purchases, from the first dollar spent. So its an awesome alternative to the once-great Schwab Visa that is no longer offered.  There are no spending minimums to meet, and the only catch is that the 2% back is only redeemable toward travel. No Hassle Miles can be redeemed for cash, but at a reduced 1% reward rate.

For travel rewards, this is hard to beat, because you arent restricted to a single airlines frequent flyer program, or a single hotels loyalty rewards.

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Are ethically minded consumers missing out on the best rates? We compare these products with the market leaders.

CREDIT CARDS

Barclaycard offers the Breathe credit card which donates 0.5pc of the amount you spend to projects that tackle climate change – such as Pure, the Clean Planet Trust. This card charges 16pc APR, but provides interest-free balance transfers for 10 months, with a 3pc handling fee.

Another option is the Co-operative’s The Think credit card which allows customers to protect a third of an acre of Indonesian rainforest for 100 years when they make their first spend on the card. The Think credit card comes with a 12.9 APR, but for every £100 spent the Co-op will donate 25p to the RSPB’s Indonesian Rainforest Project.

Verdict: The fact that the table-topping Platinum Simplicity Visa from Barclaycard charges just 7.9pc APR goes to show that protecting the environment can cost you more than you might think. Read more…

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Half of Britons are worried about becoming victims of card fraud but many are failing to take simple precautions to protect themselves, a survey has shown.

Of those questioned, 48pc said they were worried about losing money as a result of having their card stolen or cloned, with 59pc of people saying they thought the crime was on the increase, according to payment systems group ACI Worldwide.

Nearly two-thirds stated that they were more worried about being the victim of fraud because of the current tough economic climate, with 36pc saying they now had less money and could not afford to lose any.

But despite this, 9pc of people interviewed admitted that they kept their Pin number with their credit or debit card, making it easy for someone to use their card if it was lost or stolen.

Andy Morris of ACI Worldwide said: “When it comes to fraud, prevention is obviously better than a cure.

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On the same day that the Federal Reserve will issue its final ruling on the Durbin Amendment, an appeals court dealt another setback to a legal challenge by TCF National Bank. TCF sued the Fed in October alleging that interchange regulation amounted to a 4th Amendment violation. Its case rested on the argument that it rationally expected to earn income from debit swipe fees, and the cap proposed by the Fed amounted to unreasonable search and seizure.

In the first of what promises to be many appeals, a federal court ruled that a judge rightly denied an injunction to prevent the regulations from taking effect. The three-judge panel of the 8^th Circuit Court of Appeals said that since TCF is well within its rights to recoup swipe fee losses by assessing fees on its customers, the regulation could not be construed as a price control.

TCF had argued that it stood to lose over $6 million a month in interchange revenue if the regulations take effect.

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