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Discover Card Overhauls Their Credit Card Terms

by Flexo on August 24, 2009

in Credit

Now that regulations established by the Credit CARD Act and related rules by the Federal Reserve have begun to take effect, I’ve started receiving notices from card issuers regarding my accounts. My Discover Miles Card was opened in 2005 to attempt a 0% balance transfer, a way to earn interest on someone else’s money for free, but the move failed when MBNA denied the transfer and has gone almost completely unused since that event.

Nevertheless, Discover continues sending notifications of terms changes, balance transfer checks, and new cards requiring activation, all to encourage me to use their service. I received one from Discover today, even though I haven’t used my Discover Miles Card in several years.

Here is the summary of the changes.

  • Discover will no longer increase the interest rate on existing balances if I pay late or exceed my credit limit, but the interest rate on new purchases may increase to a Default Rate if I miss a payment.
  • The card is moving from a “fixed” interest rate to a higher variable rate for purchases: the Prime Rate + 9.74%.
  • The same is true for cash advances. The new variable rate for these transactions is Prime rate + 20.74%. (Yikes!)
  • The credit card company is using the grace period differently. They will not use new purchases to calculate the amount of interest due as long as I pay my credit card bills on time.

The notification included four pages on fine print, but none of these changes will affect me personally unless I need to use this credit card. I expect my other credit card issuers will send similar notifications soon, but even the new regulations for the cards I use will not affect me much because I charge only what I can pay off by the time the bill is due and pay off my entire balance at that point.

There is always a possibility that I experience a severe emergency for which I have insufficient cash. If for some reason I do need to carry a balance from one month to the next, I would prefer to fully understand the many ways in which I will be punished by the credit card industry.

The improvement of the grace period and the elimination of double-cycle billing are two aspects of the new credit card regulations that benefit consumers. Some of these changes, such as the elimination of double-cycle billing, won’t go into effect until February 2010.

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Discover as the Most Forgiving Credit Card

by Smithee on July 1, 2009

in Credit

Bankrate.com recently completed a study of 20 different credit cards from 10 different issuers and concluded that if one of your priorities is a card which will forgive your human errors, Discover is probably the card to apply for (or not cancel).

Looking at the fine print for one platinum card and one rewards car for each bank, they found the following significant differences:

  • Most banks will raise your rates if you pay late once, or end up over the credit limit once. Discover will wait for you to make that mistake twice
  • Discover, along with Capital One, have a range of overlimit fees instead of just one flat fee
  • Discover’s grace period is 25 days, instead of 20-25

It’s not all hugs and puppies with a Discover card. For example, if you violate the terms of the credit agreement, your rate goes up to 29.99%, the highest in the industry.

Of course, no credit card is a wise choice to carry a balance on. Check the BankRate survey if you’re in the market for a new card; they’ve done most of the hard work for you.

If you want forgiving, Discover card is the one to pick, Becky Yerak, Chicago Tribune, June 30, 2009

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$50 Cash Back Bonus With Discover More Card

by Flexo on November 11, 2008

in Credit

If you open a new Discover More credit card account now, you can earn $50 cash by spending $500 within the first three months of owning the card. The card also offers 1% cash back on all purchases in addition to 5% to 20% for purchases at select online stores.

This credit card is of the few still offering generous cash back as well as an introductory APR offer. With the Discover More Card, your purchases will be interest-free through June 2009 and your balance transfers will be interest-free through December 2009. Pay attention to the details of this offer so you won’t lose this benefit.

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79 Cards Offering 0% APR on Purchases, Balance Transfers, or Cash Advances

by Flexo on November 27, 2007

in Credit

Any indented text is excerpted directly from the issuer’s marketing.

Here is an update to an article I posted about four months ago. If you’re looking for 0% APR offers, here are 79 of them.

Warning! Taking advantage of credit card companies may be fun and profitable, but it is dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing, or if you do know what you’re doing but are not careful. If you miss one payment, in most cases, you will owe back interest at the default rate.

That being said, here are a bunch of credit cards offering 0% APR on purchases, balance transfers, or cash advances for a year or six months. Use these cards responsibly, and you can save yourself money two ways. First, you can earn interest on your cash while paying off the card, and second, you can use inflation to your advantage. For example, if you pay $100 each month for thirteen months, your last payment is worth about 3% less in purchasing power. Here are 79 cards that offer 0% interest on purchases or more.

Note: Since posting this list on November 27, 2007, many issued have canceled these offers. The list below reflects what is currently available of the original 79 offers.

Discover Business Miles Card (apply here)
0% APR on purchases for 12 months
13.99% APR on purchases (standard)

You don’t have to have a business to apply and be accepted for this card, as with any business card. With this card, you also earn miles which can be redeemed for travel credits. The standard Discover Business Card offers a similar introductory rate, but rather than miles, earns the spender 5% cash back on office supplies, 2% on gas, and 1% on all other purchases.

Here are more 0% interest introductory offers on purchases, balance transfers and cash advances.

Discover More Card: 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months
Discover More Card – Sealife Collection: 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months
Miles by Discover Card: 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months
Discover More Card – American Flag: 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months
Discover More Card – Wildlife Collection: 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months

Discover More Card – Monogram: 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months
Discover Open Road Card: 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months
Discover More Card – Clear: 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months
Discover Motiva Card: 0% APR on purchases for 12 months
Advanta Platinum BusinessCard: 0% APR on purchases on balance transfers for 12 months

Advanta Platinum BusinessCard With Rewards: 0% APR on purchases on balance transfers for 15 months
Discover Open Road Card for Students: 0% APR on purchases for 6 months
Discover Student Card: 0% APR on purchases for 6 months
Discover Student Card – Tropical Beach: 0% APR on purchases for 6 months
Discover Student Card – Clear: 0% APR on purchases for 6 months

Discover Student Card – Monogram Collection: 0% APR on purchases for 6 months
Blue Sky from American Express: 0% APR on purchases for 6 months
Clear from American Express: 0% APR on purchases for 12 months

Blue from American Express: 0% APR on purchases for up to 15 months
Blue Cash from American Express: 0% APR on purchases for 6 months

Citi mtvU Platinum Select Visa Card for College Students: 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months, if you qualify, based on your application and credit history

Pulaski Bank Gold Visa Card: 0% APR on balance transfers for 6 months
Pulaski Bank Visa/MasterCard: 0% APR on balance transfers for 6 months

Capital One® No Hassle CashSM Rewards – Good Credit: 0% APR on purchases until October 2009
Capital One® No Hassle MilesSM Rewards – Good Credit: 0% APR on purchases until October 2009

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Consumer Reports: Best and Worst Credit Card Issuers

by Flexo on October 30, 2007

in Credit

Consumer Reports surveyed customers in an effort to find the best credit card companies when it comes to incidences of interest rate problems, incidences of bill-timing problems, and effectiveness of problem resolution. If you’ve paid for a subscription to Consumer Reports, you can view the results here.

At the very top of the list is USAA Federal Savings with a score of 95 out of 100. The first major credit card issuer on the list, American Express, scored an 84, and was followed closely by Discover.

Other notable scores include Citibank with 75, HSBC with 73, and Capital One with 71.

The only card I’ve ever had trouble with was a Best Buy card, which was actually operated by Household Retail Banking Services (aka. Household Bank, aka. HSBC). I had purchased a notebook computer many years ago with a 0% for 12 months offer to allow me to do some web work alongside by non-profit day job. I didn’t receive statements, and some of my payments were sent in late. I argued the point with customer service and was able to reverse the company’s decision to charge me back interest.

Many years later, I had some problems playing with 0% APR arbitrage using Discover and MBNA and didn’t attempt such schemes since. MBNA scored a 72 on Consumer Reports’ survey, just above Capital One.

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More Credit Cards With Sign-Up Bonuses

by Flexo on October 4, 2007

in Uncategorized

Credit card companies want to drag customers in, and sometimes offer nice bonuses to encourage applications. If you know how to handle a credit card, bonuses can pay off nicely. Here is an updated list of current bonuses available. This past June I listed a few credit card bonuses, but this list is more complete.

Please note that many of these bonuses are available for a limited time only, so if you’re interested in any particular offer, it’s best to act now and not procrastinate. For example, the first offer below, 25,000 miles from AmEx Business Gold Rewards Card, expires in just a few days.

American Express Business Gold Rewards Card

Sign-Up Bonus: 25,000 bonus points, redeemable for a free round-trip airline ticket on any carrier or $250 gift card.

Discover Business Miles Card

Sign-Up Bonus: 12,000 bonus miles with first purchase.

American Express Platinum Business FreedomPass Card

Sign-Up Bonus: 5,000 bonus points with first purchase.

American Express JetBlue Business Card

Sign-Up Bonus: 50 TrueBlue points with first purchase.

American Express Gold Delta SkyMiles Card

Sign-Up Bonus: 15,000 bonus miles with first purchase, additional 2,500 miles for adding an additional card member.

American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card

Sign-Up Bonus: 10,000 Starpoints with first purchase.

Citi Professional Card with ThankYou Network

Sign-Up Bonus: 10,000 bonus points with after $250 in purchases, redeemable for $100 gift card

United Mileage Plus Platinum Business Card (no longer available)

Sign-Up Bonus: 17,500 bonus points with first purchase, one $25 United Discount Travel Certificate, and one One-way, 1,000 mile, One-class Upgrade Certificate.

Amazon.com Business Visa Card (no longer available)

Sign-Up Bonus: 1,500 bonus points with first purchase.

Miles by Discover Card

Sign-Up Bonus: 12,000 bonus miles with first purchase.

There are 25 more bonus-bearing cards listed below! Continue reading for the rest. [click to continue…]

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50 Credit Cards Offering 0% APR on Purchases

by Flexo on July 29, 2007

in Uncategorized

Warning! Taking advantage of credit card companies may be fun and profitable, but it is dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing, or if you do know what you’re doing but are not careful. If you miss one payment, in most cases, you will owe back interest at the default rate.

That being said, here are a bunch of credit cards offering 0% APR on purchases for a year or six months. Use these cards responsibly, and you can save yourself money two ways. First, you can earn interest on your cash while paying off the card, and second, you can use inflation to your advantage. For example, if you pay $100 each month for thirteen months, your last payment is worth about 3% less in purchasing power. Here are 50 cards that offer 0% interest on purchases or more.

Chase TravelPlusChase TravelPlus Visa (apply here)
0% on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months
17.49% variable APR (standard)

This card, in addition to the introductory APR offer, provides 2 miles for every $1 spent on travel-related purchases and 1 mile for every $1 on other categories. There is a $29 annual fee for the rewards program, however.

Discover Business Miles Card (apply here)
0% APR on purchases for 12 months
13.99% APR on purchases (standard)

You don’t have to have a business to apply and be accepted for this card, as with any business card. With this card, you also earn miles which can be redeemed for travel credits. The standard Discover Business Card offers a similar introductory rate, but rather than miles, earns the spender 5% cash back on office supplies, 2% on gas, and 1% on all other purchases.

American Express SimplyCash Business Card (apply here)
0% APR on purchases for 12 months
8.25% APR on purchases (standard)

In addition to the 0% offer and the competitive standard APR, this card offers 5% cash back on gas, office supplies, and wireless services, and 1% cash back on virtually all other purchases. Your cash back is credited to your statement monthly, one of the most convenient methods of receiving credit card rebates.

American Express Platinum Business FreedomPass Card (apply here)
0% APR on purchases for 12 months
12.24% APR on purchases (standard)

American Express offers points on the FreedomPass card, starting with a 5,000 point bonus just for making your first purchase. The points can be redeemed for travel.

Here are more 0% interest introductory offers for purchases. Some of these credit cards also offer 0% on balance transfers and cash advances.

Gold Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Card: 0% APR on purchases for 6 months
American Express Blue Cash Credit Card: 0% APR on purchases for 6 months
American Express Blue Cash for Business Card: 0% APR on purchases for 6 months
American Express Platinum Business Card: 0% APR on purchases for 12 months
American Express Gold Delta SkyMiles Business Card: 0% APR on purchases for 6 months

Chase Platinum Business Card: 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months
GM Business Card: 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months (no longer available)
Chase Business Rebate Visa Card: 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months
Chase Business Cash Rewards Card: 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months
Amazon.com Business Visa: 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months (no longer available)

[click to continue…]

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Best Credit Cards for Airline Miles

by Flexo on July 23, 2007

in Uncategorized

If you use credit cards for regular expenses rather than excessive spending and pay your balance off each month, you should be getting something back for the money you’re making for the credit card companies. Some of the options out there include cash back, 0% APR balance transfers, 0% APR on purchases, and sign-up bonuses.

Here are some of the current best offers for credit card users who are frequent fliers.

American Express Business Gold Rewards Card

This card is currently offering 25,000 bonus points, credited to your account in two partial rewards six to eight weeks after your first purchase. The 25,000 points can be redeemed for one domestic airline ticket, for a fee of $0.0004 per point up to $50.

The American Express Business Gold Rewards Card carries an annual fee, waived for the first year.

Chase TravelPlusChase TravelPlus Visa

This card, in addition to a 0% APR introductory APR offer on purchases and balance transfers, provides 2 miles for every $1 spent on travel-related purchases and 1 mile for every $1 on other categories. There is a $29 annual fee for the rewards program, however.

Discover Business Miles

Like the American Express Business Gold Rewards Card, you don’t have to actually have a business to apply and be accepted for this card. With this card, you earn one mile for every dollar, but gas and travel purchases earn double miles. You can begin to redeem rewards once you earn 5,000 miles.

The Discover Business Miles is also currently offering 0% APR on purchases for 12 months.

American Express JetBlue Business Card

If you’re a frequent customer of JetBlue, consider the American Express JetBlue Business Card. This card offers 25 TrueBlue points after the first purchase, putting you on your way to earning a free flight with 100 TrueBlue points. As an extra bonus, your first purchase earns you a $50 credit.

The card, with its $40 annual fee, entitles the holder to a 5% discount on JetBlue purchases. If you spend $800 or more on JetBlue flights in one year, the card pays for itself, just taking the discount into account.

American Express Gold Delta SkyMiles Business Card

Again, the Gold Delta SkyMiles Business Card does not require a business. The Federal Tax ID for your business is not required on the application. The benefits of this card include 15,000 bonus miles after your first purchase, 1,000 bonus miles for each of the first 5 additional cards submitted with your application, 5,000 bonus miles every year when you spend $15,000, and 5,000 bonus miles every year when you spend $25,000.

The annual fee of $85 is waived for the first year, and AmEx is currently offering 0% APR on purchases for 6 months.

Like the JetBlue card, Delta flights purchased with this card qualify for a 5% discount.

American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card

As a commenter pointed out, the AmEx Starwood Preferred Guest Card allows the user to accumulate points which can be transferred to participating airlines as miles. Points are also earned for each dollar spent. AmEx will start you off with 10,000 points after your first purchase.

Any dollar spent at a Starwood hotel (Four Points, Sheraton, W Hotels, Westin, et.al.) earns two points. Transferring 20,000 points to an airline’s miles program earns you 5,000 additional points. The $30 annual fee is waived for the first year.

I don’t recommend chasing rewards offered by credit cards unless you pay your balances off each month, avoiding late fees and interest charges. Once you start paying interest to the credit card companies, the rewards come at too high a cost. Credit card rewards should only be sought by Type B credit card users.

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