Consumer financial info site Bankrate.com (NSDQ: RATE) announced two acquisitions today totaling nearly $38 million with potential earnouts: Nationwide Card Services for $26.4 million and $7 million in earnouts, and Savingforcollege.com for $2.25 million plus $2 million in possible earnouts. NCS is an online marketer of business and consumer credit cards. Bankrate has identified credit cards as a key growth area, and it believes it will benefit by combining its traffic with NCS’ platform and affiliate network. Savingforcollege.com offers various tools, such as online calculators and professional directories, to help families save money for college. The move is intended to bulk up Bankrate’s college finance section and help it appeal to a new pool of advertisers. The acquisitions, which help Bankrate minimize the significance of the vulnerable mortgage sector, are expected to be accretive in 2008. Following the announcements and an upgrade, Bankrate shares gained over 20 percent, closing at $45.95.Release.