CardRatings.com Monthly Newsletter May 2007
May 1, 2007
High-Yield Savings and Rewards Card Pay Off
You don't have to look very hard to find a high-yield savings account these days. Coupled with a cash-back rewards credit card, you could almost make money by spending. In fact, if you've mastered the art of budgeting and pay every bill in full and on time, you could be well on your way to supplementing your income by spending on credit and paying your bills. (4/27/07)
Take Charge of Your Cards
The average American carries about $5,000 in credit card debt. Does that sound familiar? With a typical interest rate of 16 percent, it would take 12 years to pay that off, assuming the cardholder makes only the minimum payment and doesn't charge any new purchases. Worse, that person would pay an extra $2,500 in interest payments for a total bill of $7,500. (4/12/07)
Closing a Credit Card Account with a Balance
If there is a small balance left over after closing an account with a credit card company, can the company continue to bill you for those fees, or will it send you a final bill and from there? And if the bill is not paid, does it then goes to collections? (4/3/07)
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New Discover Card Offer Rewards On-Time Payments Motiva, a unique new credit card from Discover, is designed for people who carry a balance and can use some extra motivation to pay their bills on time. Here's how it works: When cardholders make six on-time payments in a row, they receive the seventh month's interest as a "Pay-On-Time Bonus." Read more >>
Beware of Credit Card Foreign Transaction Fees! Foreign exchange fees on credit cards should be of keen interest to those traveling beyond the borders of the United States. Exchange rates offered by credit cards are usually hard to beat. Of equal and perhaps greater importance, however, is the foreign transaction fee that your credit card bill might show once you have returned home from your trip. This fee, which is often a shock to cardholders, has been increasing. Read more >>
Citibank and Chase Adopt More Consumer Friendly Credit Card Policies Citibank recently announced that they would be eliminating the controversial universal default clause from all of their accounts. At the same time, Citi announced that is also eliminating "any time for any reason" increases to the rates and fees of its customers' accounts. Read more >>
HOT TOPICS...Anyone having issues with TU not reporting for March/April....
The question was raised in the "Debt Management forum" if anyone else was experiencing an issue where TU had not updated their reports for March and April.
multiplierx, I received a notice that Discover will be sending me a new card because of the name change from "Platinum" to "More". The notice also said the account number would be changing. Has anyone got their new card yet? I'm curious if they'll send me the custom card design I have now. Until next year I'll only be using my Discover for the 0% 0 fee BT, which I recently took advantage of and put in my 5% APR WAMU savings account. After that I'm looking forward to taking advantage of the 5% cash back bonuses not available on any of my other cards.
amexman, Go to their site - discovercard.com - they have scores of designs you can pick from. As a matter of fact, when I got my generic card I picked a nice design and they sent me a new card (same account number) within days. So I have 2 Discover cards (same account number).
Pokerplayer, Hi all! First post here but I wanted to say how glad I am to have found this site. Very informative! I just got my Amex Blue today and immediately got a CLI from 2k to 5K. I would have never attempted a CLI right after activation but after reading some posts on this site, I thought I'd give it a try and BAAAM! It worked! I do have a question if anyone can chime in....I have the AMEX Blue and AMEX One. I recieved both within this past week. I want to also apply for the AMEX Blue Cash. What would be the likely hood of getting approved? Fico at 700. Thanks in advance for all that respond!
xace, I would suggest you change your Amex Blue into a Amex Blue Cash.
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| Recent Credit Card Reviews by Consumers Like You |
Following is a sampling of the latest consumer reviews that can be found by clicking the "Cardholder Reviews" link above. We take pride in the quantity (our site offers approximately 19,000 reviews of 956 different credit cards) and quality of the consumer reviews that can be find on our site. New reviews are added on a daily basis. The cards are rated on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest recommended. Credit Card: Bank of America WorldPointsT Platinum PlusT MasterCard® Credit Card Review: I got this card to help Ducks Unlimited. The interest rate is great and the points add up fast. It's a win win card. Customer service has been great. Best Feature: This is a great card that helps support Ducks Unlimited! Benefit Rating: 5 Service Rating: 5 Recommend: Yes Credit Card: Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Credit Card Review: The Platinum card is not a good deal. To obtain a companion ticket you will pay extra hidden fees (including $15 for each of two tickets, because you cannot book online). The absolute worst feature is that you must physically take your certificate to a Delta agent. For many of us, this means going to an airport. Have AMEX and Delta not heard that this is the electronic age? I downgraded to AMEX Gold and am skeptical about keeping this one. Best Feature: There are none Overall Rating: 2.5 Credit Card: HSBC Standard Mastercard Review: I opened this account and used my card only once for $450.00 (the limit they gave me was around $6000.00) and then I completely forgot about these guys. I never got a bill and, as I have 7 to 8 cards, I didn't remember about this card in particular. After 6 months I get a call at last from a collections agent saying that my balance on the card is $920.00, my card was blocked and I'm delinquent. I was shocked. I payed immediately over the phone for the $450.00 that I used and then I called up customer service. I told them that I never got a bill and I had completely forgot about this card. The rep took 6 minutes to research the account and then told me that he could see that all the statements were returned and then told me all fees would be adjusted. Next month I had a zero balance, my card was active again, and since they reported me delinquent to credit agnces they corrected that as well. Thank You HSBC for the service - I appreciate that very, very much. I would continue to do business with you guys until the end. Best Feature: The Bank itself Overall Rating: 4.5 Credit Card: American Express® Costco Platinum Review: This is a good card if you do not carry a balance. As others have said, this is currently the only credit card accepted by Costco. The rebates are nice. Although I generally do not carry a balance period over period, I discovered that AMEX is now charging average daily balance over two bill cycles if you carry a balance. So if you carry a balance over one bill cycle, pay off the balance the next cycle, you will still incur a finance charge for the third bill cycle even if no charges were made against the card in the third period. Essentially, you are paying double the finance charges. This is considered such a shady practice that lawmakers are considering passing legislation to regulate this practice. It was surprising to see that an otherwise respectable credit card company would employ such a practice. Best Feature: Rebates Overall Rating: 3.5 Credit Card: Capital One® Platinum MasterCard® Review: I've been a customer with Capital One for approx 3 years. Because of my exceptional credit history, I was given a Platinum MasterCard with a low 4.9% rate. My payment history is spotless with Capital One as well as all my other creditors/bills, etc. In January I made a large purchase which ran my balance up to 11k (unusually high for me). While I had enough cash saved to pay the entire balance, I wanted to take advantage of the low rate and use the cash for something else profitable. The first week in March I received notice that my rate would double to 9.9. The justification they provided was "due to market changes..." I made the purchases expecting to pay a 4.9 rate, only to be shafted into a 9.9 rate. While 9.9 IS competitive, that's not what I signed up for. In the very same letter they were offering 5.9 for an unsecured personal loan. So why the raise? Clearly, they're tempting customers into debt and then raising the rates when they reach a point where Capital One feels they can't pay off the balance. Where I'm from, we call that "loan sharking." Best Feature: Online web services are reliable well designed. Overall Rating: 2 Credit Card: US Airways® Platinum MasterCard® Review: I have had this card for a year and 3 months. I am a college student who applied for this card with 7 months of having a credit history (credit score of 680). I have paid this card off every month since I have had the card and have a credit limit now of 2,000 dollars. I have earned 3 award travel tickets from the miles I earned during the first year (1.5 mile for every dollar I spent). The first couple payments were delayed but by the fourth month with every payment being sucessful the wait time was extremely reduced to overnight. I have had several instances where I have went over my credit limit (ie. tuition, books, fees). Every one of my charges have been paid and the company has been understanding enough to waive the fee's. The customer service is SUPERIOR, with my Chase and Capital One I have to wait at least 15-20 minutes, and sometimes I get disconnected. Juniper bank is there all the time, their quality of service is excellent, and 98% speak fluent english. They don't force promotions or extra insurance on you, and their services are free. The intl. travel I made to Europe over the summer was excellent, everywhere I went accepted the MasterCard. I am impressed with this card company and currently in the process of cancelling my Chase and Capital One card this week. Best Feature: One and a half miles for a year, and one mile per dollar after! Overall Rating: 5 Credit Card: Citi® Diamond Preferred® Rewards Card Review: Citi stands by their customers. I've had this card for 10 years or so and Citi just replaced my cards PROACTIVELY. They gave my wife and I new cards - both with unique numbers because they were concerned over potential fraud. I could not find my new card in the mail pile to activate it,so they offered to ship me a new one ASAP. I once used it randomly for gas 2000 miles from home and they alerted me after the fact. Now I check in with them before traveling. I wish the rate was lower than 14.99% though (they won't cave in on rates as easily anymore). I use it as a back up to my AMEX. Compared to Chase & Capital One, I much prefer the Citi experience. Most likely a customer for life. Best Feature: They appreciate loyalty, waived fees when appropriate, alerted to potential fraud Overall Rating: 4 Credit Card: Washington Mutual Platinum Card Review: Horrible Experience after WAMU bought Providian We opened a credit card account with Providian in 2000. After WAMU bought them out, the interest rate was raised on our card to 31%. Because of this, we pay the card off each month. Today I was checking our accounts online, and noticed that my credit limit had been changed to zero. When I called the customer "service" line, I was put on hold and then when the girl finally came back, she told me that our card was being cancelled, and there is nothing that can be done about it. She said that I am welcome to re-apply. I have been current with this card for seven years! I have no recent bad credit at all. The last time we had any derogatory credit was in '97 when our house burned down. I am upset about this, because this will affect our credit score in a derogatory manner---and we are trying to buy a new house. Because the creditor has closed the account, my credit score will be affected. I just don't understand. They must have cancelled us because we don't carry a balance, and therefore they don't collect that outrageous interest rate from us. Please Advise. What a HORRIBLE company. Best Feature: Horrible since WAMU took over Providian Overall Rating: 1 Credit Card: Bank of America Secured Visa® Platinum Card Review: I decided to start building a credit history and I was surfing their website for an appropriate card. I had the oppurtunity to chat with various agents online on different times. They are usually very friendly. One day I was on the BofA website chatting with an agent. As he answered my numerous questions, I decided to apply for the Secured Platinum Visa with a deposit of $300. He said I should not apply for it because he had a better card for me with no deposit at all. I was surprised and pleased and so I applied for the BofA Platinum Visa Plus through the link he gave me. This card is an unsecured card. I was rejected but instantly got preapproved for this great special card 'Partial Secured Platinum Visa' with a $99 collatoral deposit. It has a credit line of $500 with an APR of 19.24%. I really felt I got a treat as I am getting a larger credit line with less money. I applied on 02/08/07, my deposit was cashed on 03/12/07 and I am waiting and counting days to see my card. So in short it looks like a good card to me and of course with lots of waiting to do inbetween! Best Feature: It has the lowest deposit of $99 for a credit line of 500. Overall Rating: 4.5 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 more 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. We hope that you will find this section of our site useful and that you will visit it on a regular basis. |
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