The following notice was recently posted on the Futuretrust.com website:

Notice to Futuretrust® MasterCard® Cardmembers

On March 1, 2010 Destination Maternity Corporation announced the termination of the Futuretrust® MasterCard® Program. We greatly appreciate your membership in the program and we regret any inconvenience that the termination of the program may cause you.

The Futuretrust® MasterCard® is issued by Barclays Bank Delaware. We expect that current cardmembers will be re-issued another card in the near term. Certain additional aspects of the wind-down of the program are currently being evaluated and Futuretrust® program participants will be notified with additional information as soon as possible.

If you have questions, you can contact Barclays Bank Delaware customer service at (866) 793-0789.

The Futuretrust 529 Credit Card is another basic 1% 529 rewards card. The card does share one important negative feature with The Education Plan card: you must have the credit card to benefit from the supplemental merchant rebates offered through Futuretrust network merchants – other credit cards cannot be used.

Other drawbacks of this card are the relatively short 20 day grace period and APR rates that are on the high side compared to the other 529 reward cards. Futuretrust APRs start at 12.74% and range as high as 16.74% depending on credit history.

Summary: Once again, there are several better options available when choosing a college rewards credit card. A special introductory rewards rate of 2% is offered for the first nine months – but only on the first $5,000 worth of purchases.

Like the Savingforcollege credit card, the BabyCenter MasterCard allows earned rewards to be directed to the savings account of your choice: – "a 529 college savings plan, a mutual fund, or a money market account". Although the main pitch is to direct rewards towards college savings, it's made clear that earnings can be used for "anything else you'd like to save for." Rewards are earned at the standard 1% with no annual cap. Baby Center also has an associated Baby Center Savings Program that is a clone of the BabyMint program.

Summary: Very similar to Savingforcollege card. There are better college rewards cards, but if additional flexibility is important you may want to consider this card.

The Savingforcollege Investments Reward Credit Card is not a "529 college savings card" in the strict sense. Rather, the card's main distinguishing feature is that it allows earned rewards to be directed to any type of investment account – "a savings account, a mutual fund, a 529 college savings plan, or even a money market account". Presumably, rewards could be used for retirement savings or other non-college uses. Rewards are earned at the standard rate of 1% with no cap. There is no associated merchant network where additional rebates can be earned; however, the card is affiliated with Savingforcollege.com, an excellent source of information for all types of college savings plans.

Summary: If you’re looking for a college savings 529 reward card, there are better options available. The additional investment flexibility is a nice feature, but there are other general “investment reward” cards against which the Savingforcollege credit card should be compared. This comparison extends beyond the scope of this site.

Understanding the Fidelity credit 529 card is quite simple: Use the card and get 2% of eligible purchases automatically deposited into one of three 529 plans managed by Fidelity Investments. There are no complicated tiered rebate structures to monitor, no brand-specific rebate variations – just a flat 2% on pretty much everything you buy with the card. A few obvious exclusions (e.g. no rebates on ATM advances, balance transfers or credit card fees) do apply, but these are standard with all rebate cards.

The Fidelity 529 Credit Card pays this rebate on up to $75,000 of purchases ($1,500 maximum rebate) made in any 12-month period. Competing 529 reward cards typically pay 1% unless you buy from "partner" merchants in which case the reward levels are higher. The very generous 2% reward level coupled with the high annual rebate cap make this one of the best reward credit cards anywhere.

There are some drawbacks. One, the 12.99% APR is high compared to other 529 credit card offers. This won't be an issue, though, if you're a prudent user and pay the outstanding balance in full each month. (On the plus side, the grace period for paying balances in full without finance charges is a relatively generous 25 days.)

A second, shortcoming is the limited selection of 529 Plans for investing reward dollars. Understandably, you are required to use 529 plans offered through Fidelity Investments – the card sponsor. All three 529 options are regarded well, but more choices would be nice. You should be aware that account management fees may be assessed to your Fidelity 529 account. These fees are waived if you set up automatic contributions to the account (in addition to the rewards).

Summary: Despite these shortcomings, the generous rebate terms of the Fidelity/MBNA 529 College Rewards card make it the best credit card choice for families seeking to maximize college savings.

IMPORTANT UPDATES

• Fidelity 2% 529 Rewards Card R.I.P.
• 2% Fidelity Rewards are Back!

Upromise – Join millions of families who are discovering a whole new way to save for college

The CITI Upromise 529 credit card provides a straightforward 1% reward for most anything you buy with the card up to a yearly cap of $300. Then things get complicated:

• You can get an additional 10% reward for purchases on some 7,000+ grocery and drugstore brand-name items, but only if you buy from stores in the Upromise network and only if you use the stores' loyalty card in addition to the CITI Upromise Card. If the store you shop at has no loyalty card, you must be sure to register the CITI Upromise card as both a credit card and a grocery card on the Upromise website.
• An additional rebate of 2% from CITI is available for gas purchases (made with the credit card) at Exxon or Mobil locations. Neither the 10% grocery rebate or the 2% gas rebate fall under the $300 cap.
• Finally, rewards paid separately by the Upromise program (on the same 7,000+ brand items) are earned on top of the rewards paid by CITI. Importantly, you are not required to have the CITI Upromise credit card to earn these rewards.

There are two problems with the CITI Upromise credit card. First, the simple part of the reward plan (i.e. the basic 1% rebate) is relatively stingy. Why settle for a 1% reward with a $300 annual cap when a competitor offers a 2% reward card with a $1,500 cap? The answer should be that the supplemental rewards (10% groceries, 2% gas) offset the sub-par basic benefit.

But, and this is the second problem, the supplemental rewards structure is too limited and too complicated. Surely there are families' whose shopping and product preferences are such that the CITI Upromise card is the best option but, for most, a 2% rebate on everything will easily outpace a 1% reward plus the hit-or-miss supplemental product rebates offered by CITI. Other drawbacks:

• the grace period for paying balances in full is only 20 days – also stingy and,
• you must use the 529 plans offered through Upromise.

Summary: There are better 529 reward credit cards available. Much to their credit, Upromise does not require you to have the CITI Upromise credit card to participate in the other parts of their program. This allows savvy parents to utilize Upromise in conjunction with other 529 reward cards.

The [tag]BabyMint Credit Card[/tag] With [tag]529 Plan[/tag] provides a 1% reward for most anything you buy with no yearly cap. Additional benefits:

• You can get additional 7% rewards on purchases made from the several hundred (mostly on-line) merchants in the Babymint network.
• Gift certificates purchased from [tag]Babymint[/tag] merchants earn a 5% rebate.
• It is important to note that, as with Upromise, you are not required to have the Babymint credit card to earn these supplemental BabyMint rewards (i.e. other than the 1% reward).

The Babymint card addresses one of the main problems with the [tag]CITI Upromise credit card[/tag] by removing the cap on 1% rewards. With BabyMint you earn 1% rewards on all purchases. The question then becomes: are you better off with 1% on all purchases or 2% on annual purchases up to $75,000 (Fidelity 529 card)?

Bearing in mind that the supplemental Babymint rewards are available regardless of which card you use, the comparison is straightforward: if credit card purchases exceed $150,000, the Babymint card will generate greater rewards than a 2% card having a $1,500 annual cap. (Interestingly, both the 1% BabyMint credit Card and the 2% Fidelity card are issued by MBNA.)

Summary: For most families, a 2% 529 reward card is likely a better deal than the Babymint card. Fortunately,Babymint does not require you to have their credit card to participate in the other parts of the program. This allows savvy parents to utilize Babymint in conjunction with other 529 reward cards.