Poonkulali Thangavelu

Former Senior Writer, Credit cards

EXPERTISE

Consumer law
Monetary policy
Debt management
Mortgages
Managing investments

EDUCATION

Master of Arts (Journalism) from University of Mississippi, Oxford
Master of Business Administration from BIM, Trichy, India
Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India

Making good financial decisions enables people to get more out of life, and I’m happy to contribute to that endeavor.
— Poonkulali Thangavelu

Poonkulali Thangavelu is a senior writer at Bankrate, addressing credit card-related consumer protection and debt management issues. She believes that making good financial decisions enables people to get more out of life and is happy to contribute to others’ financial education. She uses credit cards extensively and sees them as a good financial resource to draw on — if used wisely.

Poonka has extensive journalism experience covering personal finance and business topics. She draws on her financial education and expertise and likes to simplify the subject matter to enable readers to make good decisions. While covering the mortgage market for National Mortgage News, she curated and edited a newsletter targeting the home-equity lending niche of the mortgage industry. In this role, she cautioned that home prices were getting out of hand in the period leading up to the 2006 housing market crash.

She’s contributed to multiple business and consumer-oriented outlets, and her work has been picked up by various national publishers such as the San Francisco Gate, Chicago Tribune and McGraw Hill, along with syndication on Fidelity, MSN, Nasdaq, Yahoo! and others. Her career includes a stint doing consumer market research for global advertising agency Ogilvy as well as experience as an equity analyst and writer.

Find Poonkulali beyond Bankrate

Poonkulali wants you to know

It’s great to earn credit card rewards, but don’t go overboard with your spending in order to hit a welcome bonus or bonus category cap. I like the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express since it offers cash back on groceries, which I buy a few times each month anyway. The cash back rewards even offset the annual fee, so I find it worthwhile.

Poonkulali's recommended readings

Making good financial decisions enables people to get more out of life, and I’m happy to contribute to that endeavor.
— Poonkulali Thangavelu

Poonkulali's latest articles

What the CFPB’s proposed $8 credit card late fee cap could mean for cardholders

The CFPB’s recent proposal to cap late fees, and what it could mean for you.

5 min read Feb 22, 2023
New X1+ card expands on the X1 experience, but for an annual fee

Marketed as a “smart card,” the X1+ credit card brings additional features and rewards for the travel savvy.

2 min read Jan 26, 2023
Can a bank cancel my dead parent’s credit card if I have power of attorney?

A card issuer will shut down a credit card account when the primary cardholder dies.

3 min read Jan 23, 2023
My card issuer charged me for “card present” transaction fraud

Can “card present” fraud take place without an actual card?

4 min read Dec 21, 2022
Can a credit card charge a late fee on a late fee?

Late fees get charged interest once they’re part of your balance.

3 min read Sep 30, 2022
Fed rate cheat sheet: What all those terms really mean

What the Fed news really means: a demystification of Fed terms.

6 min read Sep 21, 2022
Top reasons your issuer might close your credit card account

Card issuers may cancel a card for a few reasons. Here’s what you should know.

3 min read Sep 02, 2022
Credit bureaus report incorrect information about identity theft

If you have been a victim of identity theft and had accounts opened in your name, the FCRA allows you to ask credit bureaus to stop reporting on these illegal accounts.

3 min read Jun 06, 2022