How do you pick a new credit card?

Here's an easy one for you: do you pick a credit card based on the color of the plastic, the design of the logo, or the credit terms, bank of issuance, and flexibility of payment options?

I'll bet that, like me, you answered the latter, not the former. That's why I just don't get why credit card companies send out mailings where they tout the designs, pretty pictures, customizable plastic or even color choices of the credit card as if it's some fashion accessory.

It's baffling. Given the rate of bankruptcies in this country and the number of people who are terribly overextended with credit due to simply having more credit cards than they can handle, aren't the banks and credit companies just compounding the problem by pretending that the only criteria that we need worry about is the color of the card?

I've said this before, but I just find it amazing that major credit issuers like Chase Manhattan and Citibank complain about the rate of default on credit card debt, help get the bankruptcy laws changed, and then send out mailings suggesting that choosing between a "lion" and a "panda" is really the only important issue surrounding your next credit card.

Think I'm joking?

Just this weekend I received...

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