Not every credit card on the market today is out to provide consumers with great rewards, because not every card customer can make the most of those rewards. Credit cards are just tools, and depending on who is wielding them, they could have a positive or a negative effect on that person’s finances. Some people just use credit cards to habitually buy what they can’t afford. For them, a great rewards credit card might actually be counterproductive.

A good example would be someone who has made mistakes with credit cards in the past and is now looking for some way to get out of the debt hole. Rather than trying to rack up rewards with spending, this individual would be better off finding a low-interest card or a card with an excellent introductory APR on balance transfers that will allow him to save money while reducing his debt.

Issuers design some cards for people looking to save money on costly interest payments. Slate® from Chase – No Balance Transfer Fee has offers a 0% introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months. This offer is for applicants with good or excellent credit; after the 15-month introductory period, the APR is 11.99% to 21.99% variable. Notably, Slate from Chase – No Balance Transfer Fee does what the offer says: It allows you to transfer a balance to the card with zero fees if you do the transfer within the first 30 days your account is open. (After the 30 days, balance transfers are assessed a fee of $5 or 3% of the balance transferred, whichever is higher.) Combined with the 0% APR period for purchases and balance transfers, this is a card that will likely save you money if you carry a balance and are committed to paying it down within 15 months. The Slate® from Chase – No Balance Transfer Fee card has no annual fee.

Slate from Chase includes a program that’s meant to help cardholders analyze and pay down their debt. The program is called “Blueprint,” and it allows cardholders to pick which purchases to pay off first. With Blueprint, customers have the option of designing their own plan:

1. Full Pay. Avoid paying interest by paying off full categories of your choice. Chase will separate all of your purchases into different categories.
2. Split. Inform Chase how much you want to pay and to what purchases you would like it applied to.
3. Finish It. Set up a goal and a timeline and Chase will calculate your monthly payment schedule for you.
4. Track It. Check out your spending trends and see where you stand with any goals you’ve set up.

It seems like a lot of work, and most people will probably prefer to just send a payment into a credit card and have it apply to the highest APR balance regardless of what the original purchase was. Psychologically, however, there is value in understanding exactly when a particular purchase has been paid off. That theory has been used to great effect by Dave Ramsey with the Debt Snowball, and this is sort of a similar application.

That’s about all there is to the Slate from Chase. For consumers looking for a great introductory rate with features to help you keep your debt in check, this card fits the bill. Remember to keep in mind that the best offer is given to excellent credit applicants only, so anyone with average or even above average credit should avoid applying. Here’s how to apply for the card.

• Visit the secure application page for Slate from Chase – No Balance Transfer Fee.
• Provide your personal information.
• Wait a short time for a response from Chase.

{ 3 comments }

Using cash back credit cards is rewarding in two specific ways. First, you’re earning money when you spend. That’s the obvious part. But when you know that you’re getting a rebate when you use your credit card, you also feel better about spending than you would otherwise. Feeling good can be dangerous, as you might make mistakes like spending more than you should while chasing that good feeling.

That’s why I’ve identified ten traps for using cash back credit cards. The issuers know that many people will fail to handle their credit cards properly, and the resulting profit from customers’ mistakes helps pay for those cash back rebates.

Credit card users are generally aware of these traps and can avoiding them, but sometimes other problem occur, beyond the spenders’ control. Consumerism Commentary reader SteveDH recent encountered a problem with his cash back credit card.

Here’s his story:

When I received my last VISA statement it showed that I had redeemed $275 in Cashback awards — I hadn’t. I got in touch with my bank and also started looking at all of the web pages and we found the someone had added a “Transfer Account” from GE Capital Retail Bank in Draper Utah to the redemption page and apparently requested the redeemtion. The information that they had to enter was the ABA number and account number. That’s how I know which bank it is even though only the last four digits of the account number were there. How they got to the redeemtion page without going through my login (which my bank says wasn’t compromised) is a mystery.

Although my bank killed the credit card and promised to apply the missing money to the new VISA card, I’m stilling waiting for final resolution. I download into Quicken almost everyday but I hadn’t even thought of checking rewards balances. In fact I’m amazed I noticed it on the statement this month. Yet another example of the crooks out there — some are pretty darn creative.

This is insanity. Cash back rewards should be something consumers should be able to forget about; they should be able to trust that each purchase earns the correct cash back amount (it occasionally doesn’t) and that the cash back will be there when you retrieve it. It’s a mystery how this redemption bank account was added to the cash back rewards page without SteveDH’s account being compromised. Perhaps it was an inside job.

I confess that I rarely look at my accrued rewards balances. As I primarily use airline miles rewards cards now, I generally see my rewards only when I visit Continental’s and United’s websites. The miles I earn from spending are deposited monthly, and I’ve not yet noticed any discrepancies. Cards that earn cash back, however, can be less organized.

Since cash back information is not downloaded into Quicken or reported in other software like Mint.com, it takes extra effort to verify your cash back is accruing correctly and is available according to the rules of your agreement. Don’t forget to check once in a while. You won’t be able to prevent every problem, but you’ll be able to report it to your issuer promptly, and hopefully have the problem resolved without difficulty.

Thanks for staring the story, SteveDH. If any other readers have stories to share, please contact me.

{ 15 comments }