How "subject to change" is your credit card? If you find yourself answering with a perplexed "I don’t know," then perhaps it is time to remember the facts about fine print.

No one wants to read fine print. That may even be in the fine print somewhere. The average person simply does not understand all the technical terms and legal jargon that credit card companies throw out there for us to read. Thus, people often end up skipping over the fine print altogether. The problem is that the fine print holds on the extra details, even for the best credit card offers. You need to know what the fine print is there to tell you, even if it can be difficult to comprehend.

How is it that there is a charge for an extremely expensive item on your credit bill when your credit card is in your pocket? Or perhaps you are now getting a completely new bill from a credit card you never applied for. What is going on?

Identity theft is what is going on. Someone out there has stolen your personal information; name, address, credit card number, Social Security Number, and any other pieces of information that will help them to buy things under your name, leaving you to foot the bill. In a world with growing identity theft problems, credit card companies and consumers alike are taking extra measures to help protect their information and keep fraudulent practices at bay.

In typical chicken and the egg fashion, finding a top credit card offer and getting approved for it can be tricky. If you have no credit history, you stand little chance of getting a good credit card offer. However, you need good credit in order to create good credit history – and that requires a credit card. How are you supposed to break this kind of merry-go-round when you find yourself unable to do much about either?