Banks and credit card companies started shutting down (or temporarily suspending) their credit card affiliate programs in mid-November 2008 in response to the severe shortage of capital available and to reduce the risk posed by online customer acquisition channels that have historically produced less-than-liquid leads.

Credit card affiliate programs that have been suspended to date include:

• American Express Consumer Cards
• Capital One Travel & Gas
• Chase
• Citibank
• Household Bank
• HSBC
• Orchard Bank

With reductions in consumer lending forecast to escalate to the tune of 2 trillion dollars, affiliate marketers who promoted those credit cards will have to work harder to make up for those lost big buck commissions, as more program suspensions are anticipated.

If you’ve been affected by credit card program closures, it’s time to broaden your scope within the finance niche and entice visitors back to your site with helpful tips and tools that will help them improve their financial standing and weather the economic storm.

Here is a list of alternative products and services that should prove particularly lucrative to credit and finance affiliates.

1. Credit Score Reports

   A person’s credit score determines whether or not they can borrow money or buy products and services. It also affects the interest rates for which they qualify. Most people however do not know their credit score and in many cases the report contains inaccurate data that unfairly drops their credit score. Help your visitors learn their credit score by sending them to companies such as Equifax, which provides line-by-line comparisons of credit histories with all 3 credit reporting agencies – Equifax, TransUnion and Experian.

   Equifax Score Watch takes credit score reporting to the next level with continuous score monitoring and notification when a change in FICO® score impacts the interest rate consumers are likely to receive.

2. Credit Monitoring

   Considering how ‘twitchy’ the banks are now with lending and raising credit card interest rates at the drop of a hat, it behooves consumers to stay on top of their credit scores, especially if their credit rating is good. Point them to Equifax Credit Watch, a comprehensive credit file monitoring system that provides automated alerts of key changes to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion credit reports. Wireless alerts are available and alerts are customizable.

3. Credit Repair

   Improving a credit score helps consumers save money by allowing them refinance their debt and qualify for credit cards at lower rates. You can help your visitors dispute and change the information (misinformation) listed on their credit reports by pointing them to reputable companies that offer credit repair services. One such company is Lexington Law. Payouts start at $45 per completed application and trackable 800 numbers ensure that affiliates are properly credited with all refered sales.

4. Debt Consolidation and Personal Loans

   Debt consolidation is a strategy used by consumers to reduce both the number and amount of their monthly bill payments, by making payments to one lender. LowerMyBills.com is one provider that assists comsumers with debt consolidation.

5. Mortage Rate Comparisons and Refinancing

   The federal housing bill that went into effect on October 1st, 2008 injected $300 billion to give some relief to homeowners to insure refinance mortgages, specifically for those who are struggling with their current mortgage terms.

   A mortgage is typically a person’s biggest lifetime expense, so lopping off even a fraction of a percentage point on a mortgage loan represents savings of tens of thousands of dollars over the lifetime of the term.

   Mortgage rate comparisons are fast and free at LowerMyBills.com and their commissions start at:

   • $6 per Home Refinance Application
   • $6 per Debt Consolidation Application
   • $3 per Home Equity Application
   • $2 per Home Purchase Application
   • $10 per Debt Management Application

   Note: As mortgage loans and home equity loan affiliate programs too are being terminated in increasing numbers, you might consider posting a link to a Mortgage Calculator to direct mortgage loans consumers to the merchant where they might find other offerings of interest.

6. Personal Finance Education

   Considering that the current economic crisis is due in large part to personal finance ignorance and mismanagement on the part of consumers (who apparently thought that living beyond their means was an acceptable and never-ending option), it’s time to educate the consuming masses to become responsible financial planners and managers.

   An Amazon search for ‘personal finance‘ returns 34,778 Results, but under Related Searches you’ll see a name you will instantly recognize if you pay attention to money talk in the media – Suze Orman.

   Her advice is sound, practical and cheap. Her book, “Suze Orman’s 2009 Action Plan” sells for only $5.49 on Amazon. Granted, you won’t make a killing on commissions at that price, but with her solid branding on CNN and Oprah, chances are that you’ll sell a LOT of them with a strong recommendation.

7. Tax Services

   Help your visitors pay less taxes and get back every penny they deserve from the tax man with QuickTax which offers their “Maximum Refund Guarantee”.

   • 15% of Sale on paid desktop products (download/CD) and paid online editions.
   • Average order value report at $40 on Desktop Products and $15 for Online Editions

   FileLater.com, an authorized IRS e-file provider offers easy, online IRS income tax extensions for those who need more time to finish their income taxes. Users can get up to 6 more months to finish their taxes. FileLater pays 20% commission on a sale and reports a 14%+ conversion rate with an average sale price of about $25.00.

8. Identity Theft Protection

   As money gets tighter, identity theft will likely increase. Identity (or ID) theft occurs when a thief obtains Social Security, driver’s license or credit card numbers and uses them for personal gain. Numbers are obtained by dumpster diving, stolen mail, computer viruses, phishing and other scams and are used to perpetrate check, credit card and other types of fraud.

   LifeLock provides a proactive identity theft service, specializing in the prevention of identity theft rather than the reporting of it. Founded in 2005, Lifelock is the industry leader in identity theft protect. Program pays $37 on monthly service sales and the same on annual plans.

9. Bankruptcy Filing Kits

   The American Bankruptcy Institute recently reported that consumer bankruptcies in the U.S. rose by nearly 33 percent in 2008 with 1.1 million new filings in 2008 compared with 801,840 in 2007. Credit Axis (note: merchant has been deactivated on CJ) offers a do-it-yourself bankruptcy filing kit as part of its $35.95 U.S. one-time membership fee that also includes a:

   • Bad Credit Lender List;
   • Credit Repair Kit;
   • Government Grant Resource and Application Guidance;
   • When and Where Government and Police Autions Resource.

   The Credit Axis program pays $15.00 on a sale.

In summary, don’t give up and shut down your credit card blog when NCSReporting or CardOffers.com keep nagging you to stop advertising those now defunct programs on your site. Update your offers and present your audience with financial products that are relevant to their needs in today’s economy.

This may come as a shock to some, but if you really want to get rich, the first thing you need to learn is how to spend money – or NOT spend it – as the case may be.

And what with national consumer debt and bankruptcy numbers reaching all time highs in the U.S. in 2008, it’s apparent that there’s more than just a little foolish spending going on.

Although some responsibility for the current mayhem can be placed squarely on government officials and lack of regulation, this article is about taking personal responsibility for our financial well-being… and taking it seriously.

In the years that I’ve been helping aspiring netpreneurs build their online businesses, I’ve been shocked over and over again to witness how people waste money – and worse, manage to throw good money after bad.

There was the woman who spent more than 100K (the bulk of her and her husband’s retirement savings) trying to market her book. She bought every course, attended every conference, paid tens of thousands for mentoring and after years of persuing her dream, she still had nothing to show in return. The sad truth of her story was that she spent her money on instruction that she didn’t put to use and would have been better off hiring a publicist.

I’ve had to talk many people out of buying some of the products I recommend. For example, it simply doesn’t make sense to buy a PLR content package for your non-existent website, especially when you’re living in your car and can’t do business using the library’s Internet connection. (Yes, I really did have that conversation.)

Then there are those who spend money frivolously either through blithe disregard to, or lack of awareness for, their precarious financial situation. For example, does it make sense to spend hundreds of dollars to have your windows washed when you can do it yourself and you’re already hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and only one job loss away from financial ruin?

Likewise, if you’re in that situation, wouldn’t it make more sense to spend time, rather than money, learning how to install your own blog?

If you’ve had issues with over-spending, eg. can’t pay your credit card bills on a monthly basis, here are a few essential questions to ask yourself before you buy anything.

1. Can I afford this product? If it’s a toss-up between paying the rent and buying the product, the answer to this question should definitely be ‘no’. However, if all your essentials are covered, and spending that money won’t cause even the tiniest bit of regret later, proceed to the next question.
2. Do I really need this product? Obviously, if you want to start your own .com website, you need a domain name and hosting. On the other hand, you probably don’t really need to spend 5 grand on the domain name aftermarket to get that ‘perfect’ domain name. Take time to ask yourself whether you are acting on the basis of wants or real need.
3. Will I use this product? Doing market research is essential to ascertain profit potential in a specific niche and Wordtracker is a fantastic research tool. But if you’re only planning to start one site in the next 6 months, you’re not going to get a lot of benefit by purchasing a year-long subscription.
4. Can I buy it (or achieve the same results) cheaper or for free? To get traffic to your website, you’ll have to learn how to market it online. However, buying an $800 a month subscription to learn SEO techniques may not be the most effective use of your money. Evaluate and compare a number of different marketing courses. Spend time (not money) researching free sites (like this one) for marketing tips and strategies. Put them to use and make some money. When you’ve made enough to pay for a course to enhance your skills, buy the one that gives you the most bang for your buck.
5. Can I wait to buy this product? While you’re picking up a Arthritis PLR pack for your site, you see the scrapbooking PLR pack and think that’ll be perfect for the next site you have planned. Resist the urge. Unless you know for sure that you’re going to start that site and can get a discount for buying in quantity, buy only what you need when you need it.
6. Will this product save me time or money? If you’ve mastered the art of creating successful PPC campaigns and are well on your way to becoming the next big PPC affiliate, a tool like SpeedPPC is an excellent time-saving tool. However, if you’re just starting out and have never manually tweaked an Adwords campaign to produce real income; that high-end tool could cost you time, money and hair.
7. Will this product help me financially? If you’re already doing business online, this question might well be answered by the PPC campaign tool example above, because time is money — and saving time and money means making money. However, if you’re just starting out, you need products that help you build your knowledge, one step at a time and in an appropriate order. For example, you probably don’t need The Super Affiliate Handbook if you’re planning to become a virtual assistant — unless you want to be MY virtual assistant.

Ask yourself those questions whenever you plan to make a purchase (online business related or not) and I guarantee that you won’t regret wasting money on products you don’t need or want… ever again.

If you’ve been looking for a way to cut down on the amount of money you spend and make your savings account grow, then Slash Your Spending is one ebook you must read!

Even if your paycheck is small and your expenses are high, this in-depth eBook will teach you how to save thousands of dollars per year. Get it now!