Americans: Rewards credit card recommendations?

[Loki]

And inventories wouldn't show that ?

The government is going to look at inventories? It's well-known that most small and medium-sized businesses keep one set of books for the government and another for themselves.

Hazir: re: inventories, the government doesn't have anywhere near as good sense of store inventories since we don't have VAT reporting. Loki's probably right in some cases (esp. small non-chain businesses), though I'd prefer to imagine that it's because they've done the math for their average transaction size and found out that the costs of CC interchange fees is higher than cash management for their particular case.

The transaction fee for using a credit is 3% at best. Meanwhile, "cash discounts" seem to be eerily similar to the prevailing sales tax. Of course the store makes even more money because it not only doesn't pay the sales tax but also the tax on income.

wiggin, if you're thinking of ways to improve chances of getting that mortgage, credit card history won't be as important as your savings and employment history. Plus finding a bank whose own history of fiduciary responsibility is just as good as yours! ie, a community bank or credit union that holds and services the loans they originate, doesn't sell 90% of their loans to other banks, etc. If you're associated with a university or medical center, those almost always have "preferred" relationships with certain lenders.

Since you and your wife are both highly educated and gainfully employed in specialized hot fields, you're any mortgage lender's wet dream. You actually have the upper hand in this market (where housing and lending is all FUBAR), and the Banks need you more than you need them. Especially if you have 20% cash down.

The issue isn't being able to get the loan but rather the interest rate on that loan, and for that, credit scores matter...a lot.