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Americans have slowly started using their credit cards more often again, but many are still relying on cash to make the smaller purchases – such as those for coffee or at the drug store – they need in their everyday lives.

A recent Javelin Strategy and Research study found that 79 percent of respondents had used cash to make a purchase in the previous seven days, compared with 65 percent combined who used either a debit or credit card, according to a report from the Huffington Post. This shift may indicate just how much consumers began to rely on cash to make small purchases during the recession.

However, experts say that even as Americans shift back to using their credit cards more often, cash will likely remain just as popular as it has, because during the recession, consumers who prefer to make purchases with cards simply used debit instead, the report said.

Consumers' credit card use took a serious dip during the recession because many were dealing with significant financial difficulties and looking for ways to reduce debt.

A court case between millions of businesses and the country's largest financial institutions could end up leading to lower prices and therefore potentially less credit card debt for consumers.

The lawsuit, a private antitrust case between about 5 million merchants large and small against financial giants like Visa, MasterCard and 13 of the biggest banks in the country, is over what businesses say are unfairly high interchange fees charged to them every time they accept a credit card transaction, according to a report from CNBC. And the case could have a far-reaching impact when it comes to those large financial institutions. Some analysts say they may settle – and that it could cost them as much as hundreds of billions of dollars to do so – or that it may come down to the judge making a decision that could lead to lower prices.

Some believe that the judge could institute a fee limit on credit card transactions of as little as 0.5 percent of the purchase's total value, down 75 percent from the current average of roughly 2 percent, the report said. That's equal to the limit imposed in Australia, but still well above the fee cap of just 0.3 percent in the European Union.

For banks, the damage of such a fee could be significant for financial institutions, which is why some expect a settlement instead of letting the case begin as scheduled in September 2012, the report said. Some of the nation's largest banks could stand to lose more than $3 billion annually to such a fee cap.

That limit would be imposed in addition to the similar one implemented for debit card transactions in July of last year, the report said. That restriction, imposed by the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act, cuts the amount a payment processor can charge a business for accepting a debit transaction to just 21 cents per purchase instead of the previous average of 44 cents, based on a percentage of the total value of a purchase.

Merchants say they typically have to charge higher prices because of the interchange fees they pay to lenders. But with these limits being imposed, it could lead to lower prices for the same items, which could help consumers save money and reduce debt.

The fees charged to merchants for accepting credit card purchases may soon be limited in one state, which might allow for some debt relief  for consumers and small businesses alike.

New Hampshire lawmakers are currently considering a bill that would limit what banks can charge for processing credit card purchases to just 1 percent of a transaction's value, according to a report from the Nashua Telegraph. Currently, merchants pay an average of about 1.75 percent of a purchase price but fees range anywhere from 0.67 percent to 4.76 percent, a price the merchant typically doesn't learn until after they've been charged by banks.

This limit would be applied in addition to the new federal cap on debit swipe fees for major banks, the report said. That imposed a limit of just 21 cents per purchase regardless of its size, down from the previous average of 44 cents, based on a percentage of the transaction's value.

The law could help consumers keep credit card debt under control because oftentimes, swipe fees are built into businesses' prices as a way of passing them on to the consumer. If the bill were to pass, some companies may be in a position to reduce their prices

A recent ruling passed down by the U.S. Supreme Court states that telemarketers and other businesses, such as debt consolidation or collection firms, that repeatedly call homes can be sued in state and federal courts.

The decision came as the result of a lawsuit involving a man who was repeatedly harassed by debt collectors with recorded phone calls, according to a report from the Associated Press. The calls came from Arrow Financial Services, which was trying to collect student loan debt for Sallie Mae. The recipient, Marcus Mims of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, sued for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

The case was originally thrown out of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said the law did not give permission for federal suits, only those in state courts, the report said. However, other courts ruled in favor of Mims and the suit moved forward until it reached the nation's highest court.

Consumers should do all they can to educate themselves about the rights they have when dealing with debt collection firms, which sometimes engage in harassing behavior when trying to collect credit card debt.

Many consumers may have noticed that their mailboxes are being filled with more generous credit card offers from a number of major lenders in recent months, but other financial institutions are likely to step up their marketing as well.

Federal credit unions are seen as the next big competitors when it comes to offering credit card debt to those who have had trouble with their accounts in the past, according to a report from Business Insider. That's because they're stepping up marketing efforts, particularly to those with limited or damaged borrowing histories.

These accounts may be beneficial to those with low credit ratings because federal law limits the interest rates on all types of loans – including credit cards – these institutions can offer at just 18 percent, the report said. That's considerably lower than the interest rate most low-credit borrowers can expect from lenders, which is usually closer to 25 percent.

Efforts to market credit cards to consumers who have been locked out of the credit system in the past have expanded in recent months, as many Americans have made more conscientious efforts to reduce debt and have cut instances of delinquent and defaulted accounts significantly.

Consumers who are worried about being hit with fraudulent credit card debt may be interested to learn about a new mobile payment system being shown off by a global card issuer.

CSI GlobalVCard, which issues MasterCard-branded debit and credit accounts, recently unveiled its new virtual credit card payment system at the latest Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, according to a report from InformationWeek. This system allows consumers to create unique account numbers and have digital credit card images bearing those details emailed to them so that they can be displayed to a cashier when completing a transaction.

The security of this platform comes because consumers can customize the credit limits and expiration dates on each new account they create as debt prevention steps, the report said. However, CSI GlobalVCard also acknowledges that there may be some obstacles to adoption, and future versions of the payment system will involve near-field communications technology to make it even more secure as well.

Mobile credit card payments are expected to be adopted on a large scale by consumers within the next few years, but security concerns are currently seen as the biggest obstacle to that goal.

A new credit card device has recently been introduced and is designed to limit the chances of consumers being hit with bogus credit card debt.

The card, created by Dynamics Inc. and being shown off at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, randomizes six digits of a user's credit card number every time they make a transaction, essentially making the card useless to fraudsters in the event it's lost or stolen, according to a report from tech news blog Ars Technica.

A new number is displayed on a built-in screen only during a transaction, and after the user types in a code on the card's embedded five-button keypad, the report said. Otherwise, the screen, and the magnetic strip on the back of the card, are blank. Citibank is already testing the card in a number of small pilot programs but more lenders may adopt the technology in the near future.

Credit card fraud is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the nation and consumers who lose their credit cards or have them stolen should alert their lenders to the incident immediately so they don't run into issues getting out of debt.

Millions of Americans who have subprime credit ratings are now receiving offers for new credit cards, and some of those are the result of a controversial alliance between lenders and debt collectors.

Some companies are now issuing credit cards to consumers with thousands of dollars in old debts on the condition that they pay back some of the credit card debt lenders long since abandoned as being uncollectable, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. Typically, this debt falls outside the consumer's state's statute of limitations for collection.

Consumer advocates say that this debt relief practice is deceptive and federal authorities have looked into some of these companies' practices, the report said. However, lenders and even some borrowers say that those who have bad enough credit ratings should welcome the opportunity to begin borrowing once again.

In general, many of the nation's largest credit card lenders are now offering consumers more opportunities to obtain new lines of credit. Recent studies suggest the average subprime borrower in the U.S. received several offers for new cards in the first nine months of 2011.