MyCardBlog

Although credit card market is still not in a good shape, Chase seems to be the only one credit card issuer that keeps introducing more and more credit card products into the market. Other than the Chase Sapphire Card that I mentioned few months ago, Chase also brought the Chase Slate Credit Card. Unlike the Chase Sapphire Card, the Chase Slate Card does not provide any sign up bonus. One obvious benefit of this Chase Slate Card is the 0% Intro APR and $0 annual fee. All other credit card features are similar to Chase credit card products. It is said that this Chase Slate Card is introduced to replace the previous Chase Platinum Card.

There is one, however, new feature that Chase launched together with this Chase Slate Card-the Chase BluePrint. Chase BluePrint is a unique feature that unveiled by Chase recently to manage your finances on your terms. With Chase BluePrint, Chase credit cardholders are offered versatile flexibility and customization for their existing Chase credit card accounts. After enrollment in the BluePrint program, cardholders can select special financing terms for individual purchases.

There are 4 points listed by Chase about the Chase BluePrint:

Full Pay: With Full Pay, the Chase credit cardholder can choose one or more of 14 categories of purchases for which the credit card issuer will waive the interest on the interval between the date of purchase and the billing due date, even if you don’t pay it off at the end of the month. (Most credit cards have this feature.)

Split It: If the Chase credit cardholders want to put a larger purchase on his/her credit card, he can set up a payment schedule much like an installment loan, based either on how long he wishes to take to pay it off or how much he wishes to pay per month.

Finish It: Chase offers a unique way to cardholders to pay off the credit card balances. Cardholders and Chase can work out a plan to pay off the balance gradually.

Track It: This feature allow the cardholder to track expenditures and payments conveniently. (Not new to me.)

Only the Chase Sapphire Card, Chase Freedom Card, Chase Slate Card, Chase Ink Card and Chase Platinum Card have this feature.

More information about the new Chase Slate Card and Chase BluePrint program can be found at Chase.com.

Chase is the only bank that consistently offers $100 sign up bonus for its new customers all year round. Like I mentioned in other posts, you can always get a $100 chase coupon for opening a new checking account with direct deposit at USPS stores (moving kit). Today Izzi told me that, actually, we can get a $100 coupon online from Chase. This coupon is also offering debit card purchases as the requirement to get the $100 bonus.

Here is how to get a $100 Chase coupon:

• Go to https://coupon.chaseinformation.com/
• Enter your email address and click “GET YOUR COUPON”
• The coupon will be delivered to your email instantly

This offer expired on October 16, 2009.

How to get the $100 bonus?

1. Print out the coupon that we e-mail you.
2. Take it to a Chase branch near you.
3. Open your new Chase Checking^SM account and set up direct deposit or make five debit card purchases.

California residents can also get $100 bonus from WaMu through this link: http://reward.wamu.com/AspxFiles/D_Offer.aspx?Offer=3596790

For those who do not like Chase, Bank of America is also offering $100 bonus. Read more…

Today I received an email from Mint.com which I have been using for more than 2 years now that Mint.com to be acquired by Intuit, maker of Quicken. This email was sent out by the CEO of Mint.com, Aron Patzer, tilted as “Ready for the next Evolution”.

This is the content:

Thank you for being a part of what’s becoming a revolution in active personal financial management. I’m excited to say that Mint.com and Intuit are coming together to take personal finance to the next level. Mint.com has entered into an agreement to be purchased by Intuit. Once the acquisition closes, Mint.com will have the opportunity to spread that revolution to more people, more quickly, together with one of the world’s strongest software brands. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of 2009.

What’s not going to change

Mint.com will stay the way you like it: free, easy-to-use and constantly improving.

What will change

As outlined in today’s press release and my blog post, after the acquisition closes, the Mint.com team will contribute to improving the financial lives of tens of millions of consumers and small businesses. I’ll personally be taking on the role of GM of Intuit’s Personal Finance group responsible for online, desktop and mobile consumer personal finance offerings. Joining Intuit enables us to bring our vision of helping consumers understand and do more with their money to millions of Intuit customers.  This is a compelling combination of our innovative product, technology, and industry leading user interface design with one of the most trusted brands in software.
I look forward to executing on that vision — for you.<
Thanks for your support,
Aaron Patzer
Founder and CEO

As far as I know Intuit paid Mint.com for $170 million! Intuit is the NO. 1 maker of personal finance softwares like Quicken, QuickBooks, and TurboTax. As more and more customers are switching their service from desktop to internet, this move will also make the Intuit to take the NO. 1 place in the internet-based personal finance provider. Mint.com claims to have ~1.5 million users tracking nearly $50 billion in assets and $200 billion in transactions.

Bank of America is offering $100 bonus to new customers for opening a new MyAccess Checking Account. This is the latest checking account bonus from Bank of America which is $25 more than I posted two months ago. The promotion page can be found at the bank of america website.

How to get the $100 bonus?

• This offer is available only to new customers who open a qualifying personal checking account with a minimum balance of $500
• The new checking account must be open for at least 30 days
• You must make a minimum of one transaction with the newly assigned check card

The MyAccess Checking Account features no monthly maintenance fee (when opened online). You must use the code: AOU260909 when you open the new account.

Fine print:

To take advantage of this offer, you must use the Offer Code provided to open your qualifying new Bank of America personal checking account by 11/30/09. Bank of America may terminate the offer before this date. This offer is available only to new customers who open a new qualifying personal checking account. The new customer will receive the incentive upon verification of qualification in the incentive programs. We will deposit the $100 incentive directly into your new checking account within 90 days of its opening; if unable to do so, a check will be issued. The new customer is not eligible for this offer if they were a signer on a Bank of America checking account that was closed within the last three months.

HSBC Direct Online Savings Account owners now have a chance to get $50 bonus for using your HSBC Debit MasterCard. This is a good time to open a new online payment account (in order to use your debit card) and use your debit card to get $50 free money. Following is the rule:

• Promotion page is here at HSBC Direct.
• Open a new online payment account (checking).
• Make 3 debit card transactions to get $50 bonus.

Important notices are highlighted in the fine print:

To earn a bonus, you must open an Online Payment Account by September 30, 2009, and make three debit card purchases with your HSBC Debit MasterCard^® with PayPass^TM by October 31, 2009. ATM transactions and cash withdrawals do not qualify. Bonus will be deposited into your Online Payment Account by December 31, 2009. Account adjustment transactions/returns are not considered eligible for this offer. Transactions from unauthorized card use or made with lost, fraudulent HSBC Debit MasterCard with PayPass cards are void. To be eligible you must have been an existing HSBC Direct Online Savings Account customer as of September 8, 2009. Limit one bonus per household. The $50 bonus will be reported on IRS Form 1099.

Good luck to get the $50 bonus from HSBC!

WaMu (currently Chase) is offering $100 sign up bonus for opening a new checking account and make necessary banking activities in selected states. The promotion page can be found at http://reward.wamu.com/AspxFiles/D_Offer.aspx?Offer=3596790. This is a great time for new customers currently are not banking with WaMu. The required banking activities are very simple: direct deposit or debit card transactions.

Here is how to get it:

• Open a new WaMu free checking account at above promotion page.
• Setup direct deposit to the new checking account or make 5 $10 debit card transactions.
• Wait for the $100 bonus deposited to your account.

Fine print:

Offer valid 9/8/09 – 10/16/09. To qualify for the reward, you must open a new checking account with a $100 minimum opening deposit of new money (money not currently held by this bank). Also, within 60 calendar days of account opening, you must initiate a monthly direct deposit which includes payroll, pension, Social Security or other government benefits or have at least five debit card purchases (using your PIN or signature) posted to your account. The reward will be deposited into your new account within 2 weeks after the initial direct deposit or the five debit card purchases have posted to your account. Limit one personal checking account-related reward/premium per customer, per calendar year. Offer not available on account conversions or in combination with any other offer. Reward is not considered part of the minimum opening balance. Account is subject to approval. Offer limited to one per household. Employees of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. and our affiliates are not eligible. Reward is considered interest and will be reported on IRS Form 1099-INT.

The promotion period is 09/08-10/16. And people in the following states are not eligible: NC, AR, CT, IL, DE, FL, IA, IN, LA, MD, MO, NE, NJ, NY, TX, PA, VA, WA, WI Read more…

Today a MyCardBlog.com reader sent me an email about this interesting but sounds possible information from Bank of America. The key point is you can really make a huge profit from Bank of America if you are a student and have a credit card issued by Bank of America. Although I provide this information to you, I have to clarify that this has not been confirmed since the original source seems to be a phone marketing.

The prerequisite is 1). You have a Bank of America credit card which enables you enroll the credit protection plan

2). You must have to enroll in the Credit protection deluxe plan (not the general plus plan)

3). You must can meet the requirement set by Bank of America thus you can activate the benefit

SO how can you get the $1000 from Bank of America? Here is the details:

The principal of this promotion is you get $500 from Bank of America for enrolling the credit protection deluxe plan and activate the benefit like you do for other credit protection plans. But you can only activate benefit twice each year.

If you enrolled in the Bank of America credit protection deluxe plan with your Bank of America credit card, and meet one of the following requirements (lief benefits):

1. Academic Excellance – a 3.6 gpa or higher for the term, not cumulative GPA, term GPA.
2. Graduating – Getting a degree .
3. Entering school – Becoming a full time student.

You can call Bank of America to activate the benefit to get $500. They will send you an envelop and clearly list the materials needed to activate your benefit. Since you can do this twice each year, you potential return is $1000 from Bank of America. The net profit is about $760 because the cost for enrolling the Deluxe plan is $20 each month. (The cost of the general credit protection plus plan is 95¢ per $100 of Your Monthly Outstanding Balance up to $25,000.)

For more information you can contact the Plan Administrator toll free at 1.888.668.6938 Monday-Friday, 7:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Central Time. The webpage for the credit protection plan is here.

I got an email from Chase titled “Get Free debit rewards with your Chase checking account”. Form this email, I can tell that simply enrolling your Chase debit card at Visa Extras (WaMu debit cards are also eligible) and you can  get 5,500 bonus points which can be redeemed as a $10 gift card. SO if you are free for about 5 min, you can enroll you debit card at Visa Extras and get an easy $10 gift card .

The link to enroll your Chase Visa Debit Card is here. (You must have to enroll before September 30, 2009 by above link to get 5,500 bonus points.) That link will bring you to visaextras.com to get enrolled. Once you finish the enrollment process, all you have to do is wait until the bonus points appear in your account. You might be also interested in using your debit card to get more points (which I do not suggest—simply because your need 5,500 points for a $10 gift card at visaextras compared to 6,000 points for $50 gift card at Citi thankyou network.).You need to know what kinds of “qualifying purchases” are eligible to earn points.

• Purchases for which you are required to sign
• Internet purchases (except for gambling)
• Phone or mail order purchases
• Bill payments
• Contactless blink_® purchases (purchases made by holding your card or other device up to a secure reader instead of swiping your card)
• Small dollar purchases for which you are not required to sign, made with your enrolled debit card, unless any of such purchases are authorized with a Personal Identification Number (“PIN”) or are non-qualifying purchases.

To earn points, if prompted for “Debit or Credit,” always select “Credit” and sign for the purchase.
Your $10 gift card will be awarded by posting 5,500 bonus rewards points to your Chase Extras account following the expiration of this promotion.