MyCardBlog

American Express is running a new promotion to selected card members which will offer 1 bonus membership rewards point for every dollar spent during this fall shopping season. This offer is targeted to my Blue from American Express Card. Enrollment is required to get the bonus points credited to your account.

This promotion offer was mailed to me via USPS. The content is like this:

Now is your chance to get closer to get more of the exceptional experiences offered by the Membership Rewards program. As a selected cardmember, you have the opportunity to earn double points on virtually every dollar you spend over $500 each month from October 1, 2008 through December 313, 2008 (up to maximum allowed).

So whether you’re starting your holiday shopping or entertaining friends, be sure to use your Card for everything this fall. Enjoy a weekend getaway or a night on the town. And when you’re out buying gifts for everyone on your list, don’t forget to pick up something for yourself. It can all add up to double points.

P.S. Enroll today by visiting us at americanexpress.com/bonuspoints883

or call us at 1-800-794-1308 and use the promotion code 126480025.

So here is how it works:

1. Enroll your American Express Card by November 15, 2008. Visit americanexpress.com/bonuspoints883 and enter your RSVP code. Or call 1-800-794-1308 and mention the promotion code 126480025.

2. Earn double points. You can earn one additional point for every dollar you spend over $500 each month from October through December. (monthly limit is 5000 points)

This offer is not so attractive to me since I have other better credit cards which can give me much better rewards. But for those only have one or two American Express credit cards, this is a good chance to get yourself awarded during this coming shopping season. $500 per month is not so difficult to reach.

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Discover Card is also running a promotion. The Discover Open Road Card is offering 2% cash back for shopping at grocery stores this November and December.

Following is a message shows up in my online account:

Earn 2% Cashback Bonus on purchases made at grocery stores from 11/1/08 (or the date on which you signed up, whichever is later) through 12/31/08, subject to a cap of $1,000 in purchases. These purchases must post to your account by 12/31/08. Grocery store purchases are those made at merchants we classify as stand-alone grocery stores or supermarkets. Grocery or food purchases made at convenience stores, gas stations, warehouse clubs, supercenters and discount stores are not eligible.

This sign up process is very simple. All you have to do is to click the sign up bar in your account. The Discover Open Road Card is a gas card which offers 5% cash back at pumps. It is rated as one of the best gas rewards credit cards.

I reported that American Express is running On the Card promotion from which you can get $30 credit back for shopping a pre-selected locations with your American Express cards. I also indicated that there is another promotion from American Express from which you can get $10 Walmart gift card for shopping at Walmart.com with minimum purchase of $50.

Today I realized that there is another On the Card promotion which is similar to what I have introduced before but with different money back for shopping at different pre-selected locations.

The link to the “On the Card” promotion is http://onthecardncl.amexnetwork.com/. This time, the promotion offer is also targeted to selected American Express card members who received the email from American Express. You should only choose 5 different locations from the link I provided above and make a purchase at each location before December 8, 2008. Then you will receive a $40 statement credit within 8 weeks.

The locations as listed on the website are:
bp, Burger King, Chevron, Chili’s, Dunkin Donuts, Olive Garden, Panera Bread, Regal Cinemas, Subway, TGIF, 7-11, Bed Bath Beyond, Costco, JCPenney, Kohls, PET’sMART, Sears, Staples, Home Depot, and WalMart.

Compared to the previous $30 offer, I think this offer is much better. Less required locations with more cash back.

Another great promotion I’d like to mention is eBay is offering 10% coupon with seemly selected members along with 30% cash back from Microsoft’s live search cash back. This would give you an opportunity to save up to 40% (max $300.00) for shopping “buy it now” items at eBay.com. The coupon code is CFALLSAVINGS10P. According to the experience from last time use of the 10% coupon will not invalid your live search cash back. They can be used together. The coupon page can be found at http://pages.ebay.com/coupon/CFALLSAVINGS10P/

My latest post about American Express turned out to be a very interesting post: American Express Rates Credit Risk by Where You Live and Shop. Although I have heard something about this before this report from MSNBC, this was the first time this kind of credit monitor was confirmed by a credit card issuer. I believe other credit card issuers also use similar method to monitor consumers’ credit performance.

Anyway, good news is I received a promotion offer from American Express targeted to my Starwood Preferred Guest Card. According to the email I received, if I use my Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express from October 15 to November 15, 2008, I will get a $10 Walmart gift card for any purchase over $50.

This is really a great deal. Last time, American Express offered a similar offer to a majority of American Express card members for shopping at Amazon.com (here).

The email indicated:

Use your American Express^® Card at walmart.com between Oct. 15, 2008 and Nov. 15, 2008 and when you spend $50 or more on a single transaction you can receive a Walmart gift card worth $10 — redeemable at walmart.com or at Walmart stores.

Fine print:

Offer valid for spend only at walmart.com. Offer valid when you pay with your American Express® Card. Offer valid on a single transaction of $50 or more when you spend during Oct. 15, 2008 and Nov. 15, 2008. The Walmart gift card will be mailed 10-12 weeks after promotion period has ended. Offer limited to one Walmart gift card per Cardmember.

Maybe an iPod shuffle is a good choice to take advantage of the $10 bonus. Or some GPS units at Walmart.com is pretty cheap compared to other online shopping stores.

I believe this offer is targeted to many American Express cards like Blue Cash from American Exprss, and Blue from American Express etc.

Nowadays Google is everywhere. And indeed we need Google. Google provides search engine, maps, news, videos, emails, shopping tools (Google checkout), online advertising services (Google Adwords and Google Adsense), calendar, Google readers, Picasa web album, web browser (Google Chrome) and even the latest operation system on mobile devices (Google Andriod)! The truth is we live with Google. Can you imagine the days without Google?

However, the only question remains is (as a credit card expert): will there be any possibility of Google Credit Card? Or more precisely, the gCard. Right now, we have Visa Card, MasterCard, Discover Card and American Express in US market. (There might be also other credit card products from other countries like China’s China UnionPay.) I think it’s very natural to have the idea of inventing a gCard just follow the Google Checkout. Because we believe Google has the ability to get a new kind of credit card product to the market.

Of course, this just is a speculation. But if Google can really launch a new credit card product like gCard, we can expect great rewards program and best cash back. Just like Microsoft offered 35% cash back for shopping at eBay through live search. Maybe we can expect 5% cash back for a year for using Google Credit Card or maybe 5% cash back for the first 3 months just as the Citi CashReturns Card did.

I should admit that inventing a gCard might be a little bit difficult and if Google really wants to involve in the payment industry, it will cost Google a lot of money.

However, why I want to mention the gCard here? Because we never seen a credit card product from Google with other credit card issuers at US. For any company like Google, I think it’s very easy to launch a co-branded credit card product with any credit card issuers at US. Because we never seen a Google Visa Card issued by Citi Bank, a Google MasterCard issued by Chase, and a Google American Express card issued by American Express……Furthermore, Bill Me Later was lately acquired by PayPal. And Google checkout is still far behind the PayPal in terms of the transaction amount. I believe Google has the ambition to launch the Google Credit Card with their own payment system (gCard).

Anyway, I think there will be a Google Credit Card comes out in the near future as a step following the Google Checkout.

American Express is always redeemed as the best credit card issuer at the United States. The 2008 J. D. Power Credit Card Satisfaction Study also revealed that American Express was ranked the best credit card company. My previous post “Funny Stories with Citicards” described some ridiculous mistakes made by Citi. As Sander mentioned in the comment,  American Express also will do something unfriendly to their customers. The famous Financial Review is a typical example.

Today I just noticed a very interesting article about American Express and wanted to share with you.

It’s no doubt that as the credit crunch reaches from Wall Street to Main Street, many credit card issuers are reducing their credit limits to certain customers. Some customers also found that their credit card accounts were closed without any reasonable explanation from credit card companies.

The question is how the credit card companies decide whether or not to reduce your credit limit or close your account. Your first reaction might be the credit score or credit report. I do believe your credit performance during the credit crunch is a very important factor, however, there are other criteria you might have never been thought of—American Express will close your account by taking into account of where they live, where they shop and who holds your mortgage.

The story was first published at MSNBC (link).

Jesse Gilleland of suburban Washington, D.C. had two American Express cards canceled and the limit on a third card cut. The company said the decision was based in part on where he  shops and who holds his mortgage.

As indicated in the mail, American Express clearly indicated that the reason why the limit of Jesse’s Platinum American Express Card was reduced were due to:

“Our credit experience with customers who have made purchases at establishments where you have recently used your card.”

“Our analysis of the credit risk associated with customers who have residential loans from the creditor(s) indicated in your credit report.”

The mail from American Express can be downloaded at here.

While I have heard that some credit card companies will use the above mentioned factors to determine the customers’ creditworthiness, this indeed is the first time I saw it happen.

It’s more interesting to see that this was confirmed by the American Express spokeswoman Kim Forde by saying: “We are looking at some other factors, too, in light of the economy. We are looking at consumers holding subprime mortgages (and) those living in areas where there has been a greater deterioration in home prices.” and “You have to remember that this is one contributing factor. That’s not the sole reason, but it’s certainly data that we’re looking at.”

The reason why I want to introduce this story is behavioral score is used by the credit card issuers. When you are talking about credit score, you should remember that there are many other “invisible” scores that credit issuers might take into account.

I hope this will not happen to me and readers at MyCardBlog.Com.

The full story can be found at MSNBC business section (direct link).

I have many posts about the promotion from the New Chase Amazon.com Rewards Visa Credit Card. If you are new to the Amazon.com Rewards Visa Card, you can take the chance to save money ($100) for purchasing an Amazon Kindle at Amazon.com. If you are already an Amazon.com Rewards Visa Credit Card member, you can call the customer service to upgrade your current card to a new credit card. This would give you a chance to get 6 rewards points for every $1 spent at Amazon.com. Today I noticed that there is a new promotion from Amazon.com for the Chase Amazon.com Rewards Visa Credit Card—-free Amazon Prime!

The promotion page for the free Amazon Prime with the new Amazon.com Rewards Visa Credit Card can be found here. According to the promotion page, you can get one year free Amazon Prime for signing up the Amazon.com Rewards Visa Credit Card ($79 value). With the Amazon Prime Membership, you can get unlimited free 2-day shipping for a year! If you want to choose the one-day shipping, you should only pay $3.99. The Amazon Prime is very popular among Amazon.com customers. There is no minimum order requirement to use the Amazon Prime.

New features of  the new Amazon.com Rewards Visa Credit Card:

• Absolutely new card design-the black card is replaced with the blue card
• At the first 90 days of account opening, you can get 6 points for every dollar spent at Amazon.com; 4 points at gas stations, drug stores and restaurants; 1 point at anywhere else.
• You can choose which kind of rewards you’d like to redeem the rewards points for. You are free to choose from many rewards options.

Fine print:

Most applications can be processed within seconds. In some instances an application may require additional time to process, and the account may not be available for immediate use. To purchase gift certificates, and downloadable items such as e-books with your Amazon.com Rewards Visa card, you will have to wait until your card arrives in the mail.

This offer is available to newly approved Amazon.com Visa card members who have not participated in a previous Amazon Prime Free Trial or paid membership as either a member or invited guest. Amazon Prime is a $79 a year subscription-based membership program that provides free two-day shipping, $3.99 overnight shipping, and other shipping benefits. The 1-Year Free Membership period will begin when your Amazon.com Rewards Visa Card is approved. Your card will be charged $79 for the year and will be offset by a $79 credit on your credit card statement. At the end of your Free Year, your membership will continue and Amazon Prime will automatically charge your Amazon.com Rewards Visa Card, or another credit card Amazon.com has on file for you, for the next year and annually after that. If you prefer, you can set your Amazon Prime account to “do not auto renew” through the “Your Account” page on Amazon.com at any time prior to the initial charge or any renewal charge and you will not be charged for the next year. Since the first year is free, if you decide to cancel, there will be no refund. In subsequent years you can always request a refund of the most recent charge if your benefits have not been used in the new term. By signing up for this offer, you authorize Amazon Prime to charge your Amazon.com Rewards Visa Card or another credit card Amazon.com has on file. Amazon Prime benefits apply to millions of eligible items sold and fulfilled by Amazon.com. Shipments to AK, HI and PO Boxes excluded, other restrictions apply.

Take the chance to get a brand new Chase Amazon Rewards Visa Credit Card and get free Amazon Prime Membership!

WaMu was acquired by JP Morgan Chase & Co in last week. And the Wachovia (banking operations) is acquired by the Citi Group yesterday. The FDIC press release can be found here. Another bank that is still in struggling is the National City Bank. The stock price of National City dropped a lot in the past week. However, in the credit card market, it seems that every credit card issuers are still in good operations even though we still have serious credit crisis now.

JP Morgan Chase & Co should be a very reliable bank under this situation. Today I was informed that there is a new promotion that is going to start between October and December from Chase. This promotion is targeted to the Chase Freedom Card members.

According to the invitation letter, you can choose one of the three pre-selected bonus rewards:

• 3% cash back
• $25 gift card
• 3-bureau credit report and score

To redeem this offer, you have to register at www.chasebonus.com/holiday1 and select which bonus award you would like to have. And then from October 1 to December 31, 2008, all you have to do is to spend more than $250 on home furnishing, home repair, and home and garden supply purchase! (I believe different customers will receive different purchasing requirements.)

Compared to the $25 offer, I would probably go for the free 3-bureau credit report and score which values more than $25.

Fine print: Bonus Rewards is defined as a choice of cash back, $25 gift card or a 3-bureau credit report and score. In order to be eligible for a bonus reward, you must first enroll by blogging on to the opt-in website using your last name, last 4 digits of your account number and zip code. Once your bonus reward selection has been made, it cannot be changed. If you selected the 3-bureau credit report and score as your bonus reward, the credit report information will be obtained from one or more of the three national credit repositories, Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. Chase uses First Advantage Membership Services to provide  the information to you.

I have talked a lot about the cash back, sign up bonuses, rewards points, balance transfer offers, and low interest rates at mycardblog.com. Believe it or not, the above mentioned factors will affect how a customer choose a credit card from so many credit card products nowadays. Smart credit card issuers have now used new tricks to attract more customers in a competitive market. Many credit card issuers are creating some eye-catching credit card products to compete with other credit card products. American Express is on the track.

American Express is testing the Butterfly from American Express that folds in half and pops out of a small silver case attached to a key ring (shown in the picture). Right now the Butterfly card is only available to Gold card members and it’s free. Although the credit card number of the Butterfly card is different from your normal Gold card, the Butterfly card is linked to your Gold card account. Butterfly card charges will appear in a separate itemized section of your statement following your traditional Card charges. In this way, you can track your Butterfly card spending just like your traditional Card when you Manage Your Card Account online.

You can use your Butterfly card anywhere that accepts American Express cards. Just don’t forget to unfold the card at the checkout. The Butterfly card will expire after two years after when American Express will send a new card to you.

Using Butterfly card will also accumulate rewards points for you as long as you are currently enrolled in the Membership Rewards program. However, you can’t apply for additional cards for your authorized users at this time. The Butterfly card is only issued to some targeted card members of the Gold Card from American Express Open. (previously known as the business gold rewards card)

If you have a Gold Card from American Express Open, you probably are the first to try the new product from American Express.