Meta Payment Systems (MPS) has recently introduced the iAdvance Line of Credit.  For all purposes; the advance is similar to a payday loan.  The difference is, consumers gain access to the small loans through a prepaid credit card.  iAdvance deposits money on the prepaid credit card and the consumer can then use it to pay for whatever they choose.

The idea is that the advance helps Americans who are not able to get conventional bank loans.  There is no credit check for a consumer looking to borrow money through iAdvance and it takes about two minutes to enroll, with the advance completed in a few seconds via telephone or internet.  Funds are made available immediately on the prepaid card.

Most non-bank loan products do not report the activity to credit bureaus, and therefore do nothing to assist a customer with establishing or rebuilding their credit.  iAdvance will report the activity and payment history, which can help strengthen consumer credit reports (if they pay the advance back on time).

“iAdvance offers a credit alternative that prevents underserved consumers from falling into a debt treadmill by borrowing from non-bank lenders,” says Trent Sorbe, Senior Vice President of Credit at MPS.

Did you travel overseas between February of 1996 and November of 2006? If so, and you used your credit cards while traveling, it’s possible that a recent class-action suit will provide you with at least $25.

Major credit cards, including MasterCard, Bank of America, Visa and others- have settled in a class action suit that lasted over a decade, for $336 million. The card companies didn’t disclose the foreign-currency transaction fees that were charged to customers.

If you traveled up to three times overseas and spent less than $2,500 on your credit cards, you can submit an online form to get your $25 at: http://www.ccfsettlement.com

If you spent more than that, and have receipts to document your expenses (like business travelers often do!) you can submit appropriate paperwork and receive up to 3% of the total outlay of your expenses.

You have until May 30th to fill out the paperwork and file for your money back. Visit the site mentioned above for submission information.

In the last quarter of 2007, the number of direct mail offers sent out by credit card issuers dropped 14% to 1.286 billion from nearly 1.502 billion in the same quarter of 2006, according to Mail Monitor, a direct mail monitoring service from Synovate.

Among issuers who sent out fewer mail offers were those focused primarily upon the subprime credit card market, such as Washington Mutual and HSBC, whose mailings decreased by 73% and 34%, respectively. Citi and Discover, issuers who were impacted by the subprime mortgage crisis, each also cut their mailings in half. These moves represent an effort to reduce exposure to further bad debt, according to Andrew Davidson, Vice President of Competitive Tracking Services for Synovate’s Financial Services Group.

In the meantime, other issuers have moved in to fill the void. Chase in particular has stepped up its direct mailings, increasing them by 62% in the latest quarter, so that now every one in four credit card mail offers sent out is by Chase. American Express, which also targets only prime customers, increased its mailings by 27%.

In addition, examination of direct mail offers show that issuers are tightening their terms. According to Davidson, 57% of households with incomes under $35,000 received an offer in Q4 2007, compared to 67% in Q4 2006. And despite the fact that the prime rate dropped by a point during the quarter, the single/go-to APR on variable rate offers increased to 13.96% versus 13.48% in Q4 2006.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher’s Credit Card Deals Blog.

Credit Card Offers Dry Up For Subprime Customers