CardRatings.com Monthly Newsletter May 2002

May 1, 2002

Recent Articles

Overseas Credit Card Purchase Fees
An overview of the fees associated with overseas credit card purchases levied by credit card companies, including credit card currency conversion fees associated with Visa credit cards and MasterCard credit cards. (5/13/02)

Prepaid Credit Cards
Prepaid credit cards or gift cards are nice gifts, but be wary of the fees that credit card companines charge to issue these cards. (5/6/02)

0% Credit Card Offer Warnings
The lowdown on 0% balance transfer credit card offers. Are zero percent balance transfers as good as they seem? (5/1/02)

Cardholder Reviews

Recent Credit Card Reviews by Consumers Like You!
Following is a very small sample of the newest cardholder reviews that can be found by clicking the "Consumer Reviews" link above. We take pride in the quantity (our site offers 7,750+ reviews of 578 different credit cards) and quality of the consumer reviews that can be find on our site. The cards are rated on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest recommended.

Credit Card: Priority Club Worldwide Platinum Card
Issuer: First USA
Status: Platinum
Review: Payment schedule must be done within 5 days of the payment. I would not recommend First USA, there are plenty of other companies that have much better Internet system and customer service: MBNA.
Best: The points
Worst: The customer service and internet payment set up
Card Rating: 2.5
Customer Rating: 1
Benefit Rating: 3
Recommend: No

Credit Card: AT&T Universal Card
Issuer: Citibank
Status: Standard
Review: I have been very happy with my AT&T card. My interest is always going down & my credit line has increased twice in the 2 years I have had the card. I have never had to call in to request this either. I have never had a problem with my payments being late or being held. I work for a credit card company. All the compaints listed about this card are the same complaints I hear daily. If you don't want fees,all you have to do is mail the payment in early & call in a few days later to make sure it has arrived. If the payment isn't there you still have time to make additional arrangments without being late. I do this with all my payments. Things happen in the mail, payments do get delayed & lost, same thing for your statements. You just got to be on top of things & you won't have problems. This card also doesn't have an annual or any kind of activation fee.
Best: Low interest & no annual fee
Worst: No grace period for cash advances
Card Rating: 4.5
Customer Rating: 4
Benefit Rating: 4
Recommend: Yes

Credit Card: Providian Visa Classic
Issuer: Providian
Status: Standard
Review: Due to Corporate problems, Providian is liquidating their sub and mid-prime portfolio. They also are unable to extend payment dates and credit lines at this time. In fact, they are raising some of their accounts interest rates to nearly 30% with no grace period. Some of this info is first hand and some of it it alleged. However, I am a stockholder for what it's worth.
Best: Have been flexible in past
Worst: Rate/fees due to co. problems no longer flexible
Card Rating: 1.5
Customer Rating: 2.5
Benefit Rating: 1
Recommend: No

Credit Card: Capital One Visa Gold Card
Issuer: Capital One
Status: Gold
Review: So far, I have had numerous reasons to call and had them all efficiently explained and settled to my satisfaction.
Best: Response to unauthorized charge was quick and appropriate
Worst: Occasional too long on hold
Card Rating: 5
Customer Rating: 5
Benefit Rating: 5
Recommend: Yes

Credit Card: AOL Visa Card
Issuer: First USA
Status: Standard
Review: I have an AOL card and I've never gotten my AOL free. What's this about a free AOL reward?? Also, I tried to get my ex-wife off of it, and they said they would change the account number and expiration date. All they did was place my account on "hold" so now I'm not sure if they even did what they asked, yet. What a pain. Also, the person who said Mafia-like interest rates is very right. I'm getting rid of this card ASAP.
Best: None
Worst: Customer service
Card Rating: 1
Customer Rating: 1
Benefit Rating: 1.5
Recommend: No

Credit Card: Discover Card
Issuer: Morgan Stanley
Status: Standard
Review: This to me is one of the best credit cards out there. They offer prompt customer service 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I have yet to encounter a rude or dissengaging operator. They have all been very friendly, kind, and cooperative. On top of all that, they have a cashback bonus. They pay you for using the card. Not much, but how many credit card companies do that. They offer programs that will assist you in your discover card bill if you lose your job. I mean there are so many options that are in place to help you that I don't even have to the room or time to name them all. To wrap this all up, I would say that the discover card is one of the best cards out there and i would recommend it to anyone.
Best: Prompt customer service
Worst: Too many options
Card Rating: 5
Customer Rating: 5
Benefit Rating: 4.5
Recommend: Yes

The Cardholder Review section is a unique feature of our site and, to the best of our knowledge, there is no other organization or company that offers this many consumer reviews of credit cards. It's all about consumers helping other consumers. As your might expect, this section of our site has been one of the most popular sections of our site since it was introduced in the summer of 2000. New reviews are posted on a daily basis, so we hope that you will find this section of our site useful and that you will visit it on a regular basis.

Important Note! The information in this article is believed to be accurate as of the date it was written. Please keep in mind that credit card offers change frequently. Therefore, we can not guarantee the accuracy of the information in this article. Please verify all terms and conditions of any credit card prior to applying.

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