MyCardBlog

As Associated Press indicated the Honest Abe will become Colorful Abe with splashes of purple and gray livening up the $5 bill. Today government showed off the new design of $5 bill fearuing Civil War president—Abraham Lincoln.Starting in 2003, the $10, $20 and $50 bills are already colorful today. The primary reason for the redesigns is to stay ahead of counterfeiters and their ever-more-sophisticated copying machines. Pastel colors were added in those bills. According to the report, the government will start printing the new notes next week at its facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The goal is to have 1.5 billion $5 bills ready to be put into circulation, at a date still to be determined.

There will be a new large-size 5 printed in the lower right-hand corner of the backside of the bill in high-contrast purple ink which was added to help the visually impaired.

Our government hopes those changes will make it harder for conterfeiters to pass fake bills. As the report sated, there were 3,945 arrests related to counterfeit bills with about 62 million loss.

The next bill to get a makeover will be the $100. However, according to the report, the government is only about one-third of the way through the redesign of the $100 and hopes to have that process completed by this time next year.

Will we be safer to use bills in the near future?

I think most you of you have already known the 2008 Mazda CX-9 Test-Drive Promotion. I just want to share my experience with you. If you don’t know the promotion and want to get the free $25 gift card, this might be a right post for you.

Here is the information about this promotion:

Test-Drive offer ends 01/31/08. Entries must be postmarked by 02/07/08.

CX-9 Test-Drive Rules: Must be 18 years old or older and have a valid driver’s license to participate. This certificate has no cash value. This is a nontransferable test-drive offer exclusively for you. Valid for only one test-drive offer per household. This test-drive offer is valid when you test-drive any new vehicle in the Mazda family. Used vehicles do not qualify. Please allow 2 weeks for gift delivery by e-mail. Only one Mazda test-drive offer may be redeemed in a 120-day period. Offer ends January 31, 2008. Only original, completed certificates postmarked by February 7, 2008 will be accepted. Mazda North American Operations is not responsible for late, undeliverable, incomplete, stolen, lost, illegible, mutilated, tampered-with, postage-due, misdirected or delayed test-drive certificates or gifts. While supplies last. Mazda Program HQ, P.O. Box 802290 Santa Clarita, CA 91380-2290.

Click here to register for this promotion.

Here is what I did:

I went to the nearest Mazda dealer as indicated in the email I got from Mazda. I just told the dealer that I didn’t want to test drive the card but wanted to get the free $25 gift card. I told him to give me his business card and sign the certificate for me. He just smiled and was very corporative.

I can get out in less than 5 min. I believe that they are willing to do this for us. Because they also don’t want to waste time on you.

I received a lot of emails about my previous posts—“How to Make Money with $100”. I mentioned that if you have an ING orange saving account, you can get up to $250 bonus by referring your family members or friends to open orange saving account. Some of friends are not sure all the features of this account. Many of them are afraid of be charged extra fees by ING. I have been using this account for a long time and like it very much. Hereby I write a brief review with this account.

ING Direct is a branchless or virtual bank in the United States that was funded in 2000. ING Direct is a member of Feral Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). I think most of us have known that the Net Bank was acquired by ING in September 2007.

People open the orange saving account for two goals: 1). Use it to make direct deposit to take advantage of sign-up bonuses offered by other banks or financial institutes; 2). Enjoy the famous $25 sing-up bonus and earn high rate interest (currently 4.2% APY). A unique feature is you don’t have to maintain a minimum balance to get such high interest rate. As long as your account is active, you can enjoy the 4.20% interest rate without any restrictions.

$25 sign-up bonus if you referred by your friends with minimum $250 initial deposit. (Sometimes they offer $50.)

High interest rate, no monthly fees.

No minimum balance required to earn interest.

No fees, no service charges, no penalties, no hidden fees.

24/7 access your online account.

Link other bank accounts can be easily done via mailing checks or online (Maximum 3 external accounts can be linked online. No maximum accounts limit if you link account through mailing checks.)

Safe and secure—FDIC insured.

They offer Automatic Savings Plan which allows you to automatically have a fixed amount of money regularly transfer to your orange saving account from your linked checking account. All you have to do is to specify how much money you would like transferred, and how often you would like it moved. It’s very simple and easy to maximum your earning.

Other comments:

You might have to wait 10 days until your initial deposit becomes available. Your sing-up bonus will show up immediately you open the account. You have to wait 30 days or so to link other accounts online. At the same time, you can link your other bank account by mailing a check to them. Online funds transfer usually can be finished in 3 business days without any charges. No hard pull to open this account. Click here to learn more features.

I know most of us have a good credit score and many of us are taking advantage of the credit score to make some free money. However, some of my readers are afraid of lowering the credit score if he/she applies for too many credit cards. It’s true that credit inquiries (hard pulls) will temporarily lower your credit score. But the influence will be not so obvious after 6 months or so. I would say credit score is nothing if you’re not using it. If you are not going to buy a house (or apply for a mortgage) in the next two years (Credit inquiries will disappear from your credit report after 24 months.), you are free to use your credit. Credit inquiries will slightly influence your mortgage rate but not influence the auto loan (as long as your credit score is 700+).

This post is to tell you how to get a free trip to Europe or Asia by redeeming Citi ThankYou Points for an airline ticket. You can redeem your ThankYou points for an airline ticket because ThankYou Network provides Fixed Flight Travel option:

Eligible Citi cardmembers can also take advantage of our fixed flights option for air travel by calling one of our ThankYou Network Travel Specialists. You can count on getting a ticket for the date you want to fly. Note: please book 14 days in advance and plan for a Saturday overnight stay. Tickets are subjected to availability.

Account or the following Card Accounts are eligible for fixed flight airline tickets at fixed ThankYou Point amounts: Citi PremierPass Card, Citi PremierPass Card – Elite Level, Citi PremierPass Card – Smith Barney Elite Level, Citi PremierPass / Expedia.com Card, Citi PremierPass / Expedia.com Card – Elite Level, Citi Professional Card with ThankYou Network, CitiBusiness PremierPass Card, CitiBusiness Card with ThankYou Network, Citi Chairman Card and Citi Chairman American Express Card. This list is subject to change without notice. Fixed flight option Travel Rewards are only available when you call the ThankYou Service Center (800-842-6596). Agents will work to offer you the best deal on available flights – you are not required to select the fixed flight option.

According to the ThankYou Network, if you have 60,000 ThankYou points, you can redeem them for a free airline ticket to Asia and Europe. (Only 25,000 ThankYou points are needed for flights anywhere in the continental US and Alaska at any time of year.)

So the goal is to get enough ThankYou points (You should have one of the above mentioned cards which are eligible to use the fixed flight travel option.) Here are some recommendations for you:

• CitiBusiness Card with ThankYou Network (10,000 ThankYou Points—see this post)
  
• Citi Professional Card with ThankYou Network (15,000 ThankYou Points—see this post)
• Citi PremierPass Card-Elite Level (20,000 ThankYou Points)
• Citi PremierPass Card (10,000 ThankYou Points)
• CitiBusiness PremierPass Card (15,000 ThankYou Points)

Other methods to earn ThankYou points:

Use Citi checking/saving account and debit card (Citi Bank will send about 300 ThankYou points every month. If you use all of the banking services provided by Citi Bank, you may get up to 800 points per month.) You can also use other credit cards like Citi mtvU card and Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards card to earn ThankYou points.

So remember, if you have a decent credit score with solid credit history, you can do a ThankYou Points AOR to get enough points for a free trip to Europe or Asia.

AmTrust Bank is offering a $50 bonus for its Totally Free Checking account. This offer is nationally available. To receive the $50 bonus, you have to do the following 4 activities in 90 days after you open the account. They also offer a free 4-pc Corningware Portable Round Casserole Set right now.

1). Minimum $50 to open this account

2). Use debit card—3 purchases each month for 2 consecutive months.

3). Direct deposit—2 direct deposits with minimum $50 are posted to your checking account.

4). Online bill pay—pay 3 different bills per month for 2 consecutive months.

If you can only make one of them, you will get $10. If you can do two of them, you’ll get $25. If you close the account in 12 month, your bonus may be debited from you account.

*Features of this account:

*No minimum balance requirement.

*NO monthly fee.

*Free 24/7 online banking with free bill pay.

*Free unlimited check writing.

*Free debit card.

*Free first order of checks.

No HARD Pulls for this account. You are free to get bonus!!!

I would like to mention the Money Market account at AmTrust which is offering higher than 5.00% APY. If you have lots of free money, AmTrust might be a good choice.

Some friends sent me several emails and asked me which card is currently the best from American Express. Well, from my point of view, the best credit card from American Express is Starwood Preferred Guest Card. I have a post about this card. I also put this card as one of my favorite rewards cards. At the same time, it’s a must to have an American Express card to buy electronics like laptops, HDTVs and so on, just because of the best extended warranty provided by American Express.

There are many reasons to rate Starwood Preferred Guest Card as the best American Express card.

First of all, the American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Card is offering 10,000 bonus points. You can earn 1 point per $1 spent on the card. Along with the new card, you will get a Starwood Preferred Guest 50%-off Award coupon which can be redeemed at any participating Starwood hotel or resort worldwide. Currently, this card also gives you an additional 15,000 points if you can spend $15,000 in 6 months.

Excellent rewards program is the other reason making this card perfect. You can redeem the Starwood points as gift cards. For example, you can use 9,500 points to redeem a $100 Amazon.com/GAP/Banana Republic/Starbuck gift card. Or you can use 3,500 points to redeem a $50 off coupon at Avis.com. You can also use those points to redeem free night stays at Starwood hotels. You can start to redeem a free weekend night by using 2,000 points. For example, a weekend night at Chicago Four Points by Sheraton Fairview Heights will cost you 2,000 Starwood points (3,000 points for weekdays). However, it will cost you about $120.00 if you want to pay the room with credit card or cash. So the cash back is equal to 6% (4% for weekdays). You will also automatically get Gold Starwood status with this card, which will give you room upgrade choice. (Choose the cheapest room, and then upgrade at check-in.) It’s a nice choice if you travel a lot.

Another feature of Starwood point is you can convert Starwood points to frequent flier miles on a 1:1 basis plus bonus miles. For example, if you want to convert 20,000 Starwood points to AA miles, you can get 25,000 miles. In this way, you can earn 25% more miles than other miles cards. Not to mention the annul fee of this card is less than other miles cards. Please don’t transfer Starwood points to US miles (on a 2:1 basis).

There is also a business version of this card—AMEX Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card, which is also offering 10,000 bonus points. If you can get both cards, then you will get 20,000 Starwood points. The 20,000 Starwood points can get you 25,000 miles which are enough for a free domestic ticket. As a mentioned before, everyone can apply for a business card.

The title says it and it’s true. “Which is the best credit card for college students?” This the most frequently asked question from my friends. My answer is always “Citi mtvU Platinum Select Visa Card”. The reason is very simple—it’s just the best.

When we are using a credit card, we want to get a certain amount of cashback and some additional benefits. So what are the top categories of expenses in college? Dinning out, textbooks and other entertainments. That’s why this card is so popular among college students. You can get 5 thankyou points for every dollar you spent at restaurants, bookstores, video stores and movie theaters. Plus you can also get 5 thankyou points for shopping at Amazon.com—earth’s biggest merchant with a wide selection of books, magazines, music, DVDs, videos, electronics, computers, software, apparel & accessories, shoes, etc. Accumulated thankyou points can be redeemed as gift cards or cash at thankyou.com.

Another interesting feature of this card is you will be awarded for being a good student. You can earn 250~2,000 bonus thankyou points each semester for maintaining a good GPA. (Of course, you have to mail official transcript to them.) Furthermore, you can get 25 bonus points each month for paying the bill on time!

With Citi virtual account numbers integrated in this card, your online shopping will be protected.

Overall, this card features:

• 0% APR* on Purchases and Balance Transfers for 6 months if you qualify based on your application and credit history*
• Earn 5 ThankYou Points® for every dollar you spend at restaurants, bookstores, record stores, movie theaters and video rentals stores.
• Earn 1 ThankYou Point for every dollar you spend on all other purchases.
• Earn 25 ThankYou Points every month when you pay on time and don’t go over your credit limit.
• Earn up to 2000 ThankYou Points twice a year for having a good GPA.
• Redeem points for gift cards, travel, electronics, music and more.
• No Annual Fee

I will apply for this card in the near future. Usually I eat out at restaurants at least 10 times every week. I can’t imagine how much I can save if I use this card. (Currently, I’m using 2% cash back card at restaurants.) Remember, if you apply for this card, they may need you to provide proofs or they will contact your college. Don’t expect to get an instant approval. For those who don’t familiar with ThankYou points, you can visit www.thankyou.com. To apply for this card, please click here.

Creditcards.com is holding “Uniquely Yours” Card Design Contest through December 31, 2007. The contest is very simple. Upload your favorite artwork or photo, and then make a design at creditcards.com. (You are making the card deign by yourself.) You can invite your friends to vote for you. There is no purchase or card application necessary to enter or win the competition using their site or applying for a card will not affect your odds of winning.

The prizes are:

Jury Prize: Prepaid Visa Card in the amount of $2,500.00

Runner Up Prizes: Prepaid Visa Card in the amount of $500.00

Peoples Choice Prize: Prepaid Visa Card in the amount of $1,000.00

All prizes will be awarded. Winners will be selected on December 31, 2007. A list of winners can be obtained from Sponsor after January 30, 2008.

I’m not expecting to get one of those prizes. The reason to spread the information to you is to let you know that two credit card issuers (Advanta and First National Bank) can issue the credit card with your own design once your design got approved by creditcards.com. Of course, you have to submit the application with your own design. It’s really interesting. Advanta is issuing business credit cards with low interest rate and long 0% APR offer. You can find a post about Advanta here.

I personally submitted 3 designs several days ago.

Design I

Click here to vote for me.

Design II

Click here to vote for me.

Design III

Click here to vote for me.

For more information about “Uniquely Yours”, please click here. If you have a favorite picture and want to make it as a card design, you can take the chance to make one for yourself. You can also put the link here by leaving a comment to this post. We all would be like to see and vote for you.