This post comes from Jason Steele at MSN Money partner Credit.com.

At a recent conference devoted to travel and credit card rewards, executives from Chase, Barclaycard, US Bank, Capital One and American Express were on hand to share their views on the future of credit cards — and there was a broad consensus on where the industry is going in the next few years.

Here are four of the biggest credit card trends on the horizon that emerged from the discussion:

1. Banks are leveraging Big Data. When you think about it, credit card issuers don’t just collect money, they also collect massive amounts of data. They know who you are, how much money you make, and where you spend it.

The next step is for them to provide offers that are directly relevant to customers. Think of the way that your grocery store uses a loyalty program to track your spending and offer you coupons at checkout, but then imagine that model extended across multiple merchants. That is what is implied by Big Data.

 

2. Card issuers will capitalize on mobile devices. Closely tied to their push to capitalize on their data, banks see a future where they can present these offers to their customers in real time. By combining location information and spending data, banks can present customers offers that they can act on when away from their computers.

 

About to graduate and worrying about your debt load? You've got reason for concern. More than half of all student loan accounts are currently deferred, according to a study from the TransUnion credit bureau.

 

In other words: Half of college grads aren't earning enough to make loan payments.

 

That's not the only scary stat. The average student debt load has gone up 30% in the past five years, and 33% of the nearly $966 billion in outstanding loans is owed by the riskiest candidates.

 

This post comes from Angela Colley at partner site MainStreet.

Generation Y — those born between 1981 and 1995 — carry less debt than the national average. But that isn’t necessarily a good thing.

Most of Gen Y’s members hold “bad debts” — like credit card debt and other loan products that don’t build assets. No one can conclusively answer why. Maybe it’s the job market. Maybe impulse buying and a digitalized consumer-driven society are to blame. Whatever it is, experts are wary those debt woes aren’t going to get better anytime soon.

While more than 60% of Gen X’s debt is good debt, such as student loans and mortgages, Gen Y is heading in a different path — 48.4% of Gen Y debt comes from non-asset building loans — bad debt — according to a recent study of over 20,000 users by the financial reward site, Saveup.com.

 

This post is by Smart Spending editor Julie Tilsner.

Whoops. Sunday is Mother's Day. And here you forgot to make reservations at her favorite restaurant. What now? Think fast!

Something more creative than flowers, but less cliched than breakfast in bed. Something quick. A gift card?

For Mom? 

 

This post comes from Myscha Theriault at partner site Money Talks News. 

'Tis the season for parent- and school-sponsored Project Graduation parties to start taking place around the country. Not every community is a wealthy one, and the costs for chem-free events can easily spiral out of control if the planning committee isn't careful.

Follow these tips for a fun and frugal event teens will remember for years.

Favors

This is an easy area to not only overspend, but to purchase items graduates will have difficulty putting to use. Miniature photo frames and coffee mugs tend to make their way to the junk drawer quickly.

Consider key chain flash drives for party favors that are both functional and frugal. College-bound graduates will be able to use them for assignment storage, while military and vocational students will make use of them for mobile missions and job search efforts. Besides, what teen doesn't love a new key ring?

 

This post comes from Louis DeNicola at partner site Cheapism.com.
 

This post comes from Angela Colley at partner site Money Talks News.

Getting pulled over is a funny thing. No matter how old you are, you still feel like a teenager behind the wheel when those blue lights come on.

But after you get a ticket and the squad car is pulling away, you have two very adult thoughts: "I wonder how much this is going to cost?" and "Oh no! What is this going to do to my insurance rates?"