Guide
Benefits of Credit Cards
Credit cards can offer payment convenience, consumer protections, rewards, short-term flexibility and credit-building benefits when their costs and borrowing risks are kept under control.
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MarketReview author profile
Ken Stephens
Editor-in-Chief
ActiveKen Stephens has spent decades following financial markets from both sides of the screen: as an individual investor and through work connected with the investment-banking industry. That breadth informs the way he approaches MarketReview’s coverage of investing, trading and the institutions that influence asset prices.
He is less interested in repeating the market’s conventional wisdom than in examining what supports it. When a familiar explanation is offered for a rally, a sell-off or a shift in policy, Ken looks for the assumptions underneath it, the evidence that confirms or weakens it and the risks that may be overlooked. His writing often connects the choices facing individual investors with the larger forces at work in financial institutions and markets.
As Editor-in-Chief, Ken sets editorial priorities and helps shape how MarketReview explains complex financial subjects. He also contributes directly to articles on investment strategy, market analysis and trading, with an emphasis on clear reasoning, honest uncertainty and conclusions that can withstand closer scrutiny.
Areas of coverage
- Investing
- Trading
- Financial markets
- Market analysis
- Federal Reserve
- Commodities
- ETFs
Published work
Latest work by Ken Stephens
News, analysis and evergreen financial guides credited to this author.
Guide
Life Insurance
Life insurance can help protect people who depend on you financially by providing a death benefit when you die. This page explains how life insurance works, when coverage…
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Guide
Central Banks
Central banks influence interest rates, credit, money, financial stability and payments, but their power works through the banking system and financial markets rather than by directly controlling the economy.
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Guide
Investment Banks
Investment banks help companies, governments and institutional clients raise capital, execute major transactions and connect with securities markets, while often sitting inside larger financial groups with trading, lending and asset-management businesses.
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Guide
Retail Banks
Retail banks provide the deposit, payment, lending and other financial services households use every day, while managing the funding, liquidity and risks behind those services.
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Guide
The History of Banking
Banking evolved from ancient systems of deposits and credit into regulated institutions that move payments, extend credit and support modern financial systems.
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Guide
Retail/Secured/Prepaid Credit Cards
Retail, secured and prepaid cards serve different purposes, so understanding how each works can help you compare costs, credit effects and protections before choosing one.
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Guide
Visa Credit Cards
Visa is the payment network behind many credit cards, while the issuing bank sets the account's rates, fees, rewards, credit limit, and borrowing terms.
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Guide
MasterCard Credit Cards
Mastercard is the payment network behind many credit cards, but the bank that issues your card controls the credit line, pricing, rewards and most account decisions.
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