MyCardBlog

Today I found a very interesting trick from CitiCards.Com.

Citi Professional Card with ThankYou Network is a nice card. It will give you 3% cash back at restaurants, gas stations, office supply stores and even on car rentals. This professional card is a hybrid personal/business card and it will appear on your credit report. At CitiCards.Com, you can see “Earn 10,000 ThankYou Points” after first purchase which can be redeemed for a $100 gift card. However, if you apply for this card from this link, you can get 2,000 more ThankYou Points.

If you apply for this card through this link, you can get 5,000 more ThankYou Points.

How can you do this? When you enter the application page, you can try to close the window. (please make sure your browser allows ‘pop-up’s ) Then there will be a small window pop up which will give you more bonus points. I believe most credit card websites are aware of this trick. But they still promote this card as what exactly Citi said. Too bad, huh?

Similar trick can be found at another citi card—Citi Business Card with ThankYou Network. Details can be found at this post.

This is a repost. Maybe you are all aware that I have a series of posts about how to make free money by taking advantage of ” free money”. Of course, you have to establish a solid credit history to play the money game with credit card issuers. But it will let you better understand how to manipulate your credit usage.

1. Making Money From Credit Cards (1)
2. Making Money From Credit Cards (2)
3. Making Money From Credit Cards (3)
4. Making Money From Credit Cards (4)

I think it’s necessary to let you know the Discover More Card new “Get More Program” calender for 2008. Although you can get 5% cash back on certain categories which will be changing quarterly, you have to register your discover more card first. Otherwise, you can’t get 5% cash back on the pre-determined categories.

January-March 2008

Airlines, Cruises, Hotels, Car Rentels

April-June 2008

Home, Apparel

July-September 2008

Gas, Hotels

October-December 2008

Restaurants, Movies Read more…

They are not offering sign-up bonus. However, they are just perfect cards for those who need money. Blue from American Express is offering 0% APR on purchase for up to 15 months. Blue Cash/Blue Cash Business from American Express is offering 0% APR on purchase for 6 months. Another feature is they offer 4.99% fixed APR on balance transfer for the life of the balance! That the reason why I want to write a post about them. The fixed 4.99% APR for the life of the balance is just perfect for those who need money. For example, if you can’t get a better auto loan than 4.99%, you might think about this offer. At the same time, if you buy a car with auto loan, you have to pay premium auto insurance which will be a huge amount compared to the liability only insurance. So if you know how to use balance transfer, you can save a lot of money. Of course you can use the balance transfer offer to pay off other credit card balances or loans with higher interest rate. Don’t forget the balance transfer length is for the life of the balance! You don’t have to worry when you can pay the balance off as long as you can pay the minimum every month. 4.99% is already a very low rate for a loan not to mention the “for the life of the balance” feature.

How to take money out of the credit card via balance transfer?

Well, although officially you can’t get money/cash out of credit card through balance transfer, there are many direct or indirect ways to put them into your bank account.

Most credit card issuers will send you some checks with new card. Or Citi will even allow you to get a balance transfer check online! However, you should read carefully with the associated checks. Cash advance? You can also call the card issuer to confirm what you can do with the checks. I can deposit the checks from WaMu directly to my checking account with the checks received along with my new WaMu card. I call them up and confirmed that I can do this. I also wrote down the ID of the customer service representative.

Another way to do balance transfer is to transfer the balance to another credit card (This card doesn’t have to carry balance.). For example, you have new card A with balance transfer offer, and another card B. You can request to transfer balance from A to B. Once your request gets approved, you can see the balance on card B is negative. Then just go ahead and request a balance refund check from card B. You can deposit the check to you personal account. Again, Citi is most friendly with credit refund!

I have a special page about high rate saving accounts. You may check out there to find one for you to earn free money.

If you need money and don’t know where to find low rate loans, the balance transfer offer from the above mentioned cards might be worth considering.

Well, there are thousands of credit card compete in the market to get the attention from consumers. They are trying their best to give you bonuses, rewards, and other kinds of benefits. However, there’s something you must know before you apply for any credit card:

Credit inquiries can hurt your credit scores. Applying for new accounts can ding your scores, although temporarily. Don’t apply for any new accounts if you’re to apply for a major loan such as a mortgage or auto loan.

Read the fine print carefully. Before applying, find the offer’s Terms and Conditions, which shows important details like the card’s interest rate, grace period and annual fee. Make sure you understand details of this card. If you don’t understand what the fine print is saying, you can always call them up. Or you can leave a message here, I will be more than happy to assist you.

Be prepared—cards can change. Under current law (or you can read from the fine print), credit card issuers can change virtually everything about your card: rates, terms and rewards with just 15 days’ notice. Read every mail that your issuer sends you so you can keep up to date, and call the card’s toll-free number if you have any questions.

Don’t carry too much balance on rewards cards. Interest rates on rewards cards are typically higher than other cards. If you are planning to carry balance on your credit card, try to find out the 0% APR on purchase or balance transfer. Usually, credit cards with sign-up bonuses will not offer 0% APR benefit. For example, last Feb. Chase Freedom offered $250 sign-up bonus for new account and the APR on purchase was not 0%. There’s another Chase Freedom offered 0% APR on purchase which was not offering $250. You can’t be too careful!

Well, I have a post about my favorite rewards credit cards. And this post was turned out to be one of popular posts in the past few weeks. Sometimes, you will get overwhelmed trying to find out a best rewards credit card for you since there are thousands of credit card in the market. This blog is trying to let you get ready to decide which credit card is best fit for you. If you are still not clear which one is best for you, there’s a shortcut:Take a peek at what industry pros are using. (from MSN.com by MSN money staff)

Curtis Arnold, founder of CardRatings.com: Arnold once swore by his American Express Blue Cash card, but this year he’s taking advantage of a special promotion on his Chase Free Cash Rewards^SM Visa Card.

“I haven’t used this card in a long time, and they sent me a mail solicitation that promised me $1,000 (cash back) if I’d charge $48,000 on the card during 2008, or $500 for spending $24,000,” he said. “This amounts to an amazing 2.08% overall rebate, no strings attached. I’m a happy camper.”

Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com: Hardekopf uses Blue Cash from American Express everywhere it’s accepted and the Chase Free Cash Rewards^SM Visa Card (1% cash rebate on all purchases) otherwise.

Ron Lieber, managing editor of FiLife (and a million-mile frequent flier): Lieber, who’s written columns for The Wall Street Journal about his prowess in wringing the best from rewards programs, uses the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express for everyday use and the Costco TrueEarnings American Express card at restaurants to get the 3% cash back for dining purchases.

Justin McHenry, research director for IndexCreditCards.com: McHenry’s No. 1 card is an Orchard Bank 2% MasterCard that offers — you guessed it — 2% back on purchases.

“For whatever reason, this card offer only pops up occasionally, and one of the benefits of my job is that I know about new offers and jump on the best ones,” he said. “As far as I know, you can’t get your hands on it at the moment.”

Another hard-to-get card McHenry uses is a Chase Cash Plus Rewards that gives a 5% rebate on gas, groceries and drugstore purchases, plus 1% everywhere else. He’s heard Chase bank branches may still offer it, but it’s not available online.

Randy Petersen, publisher of InsideFlyer Magazine and WebFlyer: Petersen is another fan of the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express, as well as Diners Club. In the past, he’s used an Amtrak MasterCard when the other two aren’t accepted (although with Diners Club becoming a MasterCard, that problem has vanished). Petersen still likes the Amtrak card because it has no annual fee, and he can earn train travel, frequent-flier miles or hotel stays.

Ben Woolsey, marketing director for CreditCards.com: Woolsey uses a Citi Platinum Select MasterCard that offers 5% cash back on gas, grocery and drugstore purchases for the first six months and 2% on those purchases thereafter; other purchases get a 1% rebate. After he hits the $300 annual cap for that card, he switches to a Discover More card that offers 5% cash back on spending categories that change quarterly and up to 1% on other purchases.

He’s thinking of switching to the Fidelity Investments 529 College Rewards American Express card, though, because he and his wife just had their second child.

Full story from MSN money is here.

This is the second part of the “10 Confessions Of A Chase Customer Service Rep”. I hope you can learn something from this series. Read carefully before calling them up!

COMMON SCENARIOS I ENCOUNTER

4. DON’T SAY “MY PAYMENT WAS LATE BECAUSE I DIDN’T GET MY STATEMENT”

Please, don’t tell me this. This is the worst excuse ever. While I don’t doubt that some people somehow legitimately didn’t get their bill, for the most part, its a lie to cover up the fact you didn’t make your payment on time. Hmm, for the past 5 years you’ve always gotten a statement to the correct address on file, but the one month you’re late it didn’t show up. Right. Somehow, whenever the car payment or the mortgage is due, people never forget that, even without a paper reminder.

3. WATCH YOUR CREDIT LIMIT

Going over limit- Its your responsibility to watch out where your credit line is. If you really don’t ever wanna go over your credit line, but a block on it. We do let cards go over a little bit, just in case you’re in a situation where you really need it. Imagine these scenarios. Imagine you’re in a restaurant, and you go to pay the bill. Would you rather be declined and be embarrassed in front of your friends and family, or have it go through and pay the $39 fee. Or, imagine you’re stuck on the side of the road and need a tow truck. Do you want the charge to go through so you can get out of the cold, or do you want it declined and sit there shivering for hours? We’ll allow the card to go over, but usually not more than $100.

2. READ YOUR CONTRACT

Not being aware of fees, or APR’s- Everything on your card is agreed upon when you accept the card. The Cardmember Agreement basically states that the bank has the right to change your limit at any time, change your APR, or close your account, no reason needed. That agreement basically leaves the bank holding all the cards. The one constant I see is people never ever read the agreement, and then are surprised by things later. Please, read it, or at least call customer service and ask any questions you need answered.

1. IF YOU DON’T NEED IT, DON’T BUY IT

The only other advice I have for people with credit cards….get a hold of your spending. I can’t tell you how many people I see every day who are absolutely drowning in debt. I get so many people making minimum payments, never getting ahead on their balance, or people just playing the balance transfer game to move their balance to a lower rate card, but they’ve moved that balance 10 times and it’s still not paid off. If you use credit cards wisely, you can make the bank work for you, but instead, we see banks with profits in the billions of dollars every year.”

This post is originally written by consumerist.com. I copy it here because I think it’s useful for you guys to know how to deal with Chase Customer Service Representatives. Remember this might be useful for other bank customer service representatives.

Do you know the one thing to never say to a customer service rep if you’re late on your bill? Do you know how Chase ranks you, and how you’re ranked determines whether they help you out in a bind? Do you know the best way to get what you want from customer service? After you read these 10 confessions from a Chase customer service rep, you will.

“HOW WE RANK CARDMEMBERS

There are 3 levels of cardmembers at Chase. They are segregated as BEST, VALUABLE, or NON-PROFIT.

10. BEST
Cardmembers make up a small minority of the people at Chase. If I talk to 100 people in a day, maybe 5 are best cardmembers. If you’re a Best cardmember, pretty much anything you want to get done. You want a late fee taken off? Done. Don’t feel like paying $200 in finance charges? No problem. How do you achieve Best cardmember status? You either have to move a lot of money through the bank, (we can tell if you have a mortgage, car loan, etc thru Chase), or have a high balance that you’re paying a good amount of interest on. If you generate enough fee revenue from finance charges, say $100 per month, and you want a late fee taken off, no problem, we’ll take $39 off this month to make you happy and make sure that $100 monthly keeps rolling in.

9. VALUABLE

Cardmembers make up the majority of people we talk to. Valuable basically means you pay your bills on time, and are in general a good customer. You can get a fee waived also, but not nearly as often. I don’t mind waiving a late fee for you, but usually only every 6 months. That’s standard, but we can base our judgment on it all the way back to a year. And if I remove a late fee for you, don’t think you’re getting anything waived in the foreseeable future.

8. NON-PROFIT

These are the cardmembers who know what they’re doing. They’re the group of people that pay their bill off, in full, every month, like clockwork. They don’t pay finance charges, and they’re never late. They don’t go over their credit line, they don’t have returned payments, and they earn rewards. Which all amounts to the bank isn’t making any money on your account. So if you get a late fee, you have absolutely zero chance of getting it waived. That late fee is revenue for the bank, and it uses it to offset the maintenance on your account. Maintenance includes your statements mailed to you, sending you replacement cards, dealing with customer service, and cashing out rewards point / miles / dollars. For this cardmember, if you threaten to close your account if we don’t do what you want, don’t be surprised to get an offer to close your account during that phone call. Why? What is the incentive to keep you? I know its pretty cold hearted, but that’s exactly how it works. You do a great job on your account, but you can get punished. Hey, I don’t make the rules, I just enforce them.

HOW TO GET WHAT YOU WANT FROM CUSTOMER SERVICE
7. I WILL GO TO BAT FOR YOU IF YOU TREAT ME LIKE A HUMAN

First and foremost, remember we are people. If you’re the type of person who calls up and rants and rave with a “you better do this or else” attitude, honestly, it’s just going to turn a service rep off. Remember, we talk to a hundred people a day, 5 days a week. It’s a thankless job, and in there somewhere, I’m cursed at, yelled, spoken down to, please God knows what else. Think about it like this….are you more likely to want to help someone treating you like a human being, or someone who is degrading you? It’s only natural.

I’ve waived significant amounts of money off of accounts if I feel its deserved, I’ve reduced APR’s, I’ve contacted credit bureau’s to get your record fixed, I’ve deferred your payment to next month, I’ve done a lot of things. But the one constant, I’ve only done this for people who have been pleasant with me on the phone, and in layman’s terms, haven’t been a douchebag.

6. STATE WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE DONE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CALL

I understand its human nature to explain why you’re payment showed up late, how you’re a good customer, this has never happened before, etc, but if you just tell me you want a late fee waived, I’ll immediately look at the account and decide if you’re eligible. To us, it doesn’t matter if you forgot to mail the check, were on vacation, your boss didn’t pay you, bottom line, you want a late fee waived, I’m gonna judge you on our ratings system and check to make sure you haven’t had other fees waived recently.

5. YOU ARE NOT A UNIQUE SNOWFLAKE

I’ve taken thousands of calls, and I’ve encountered every possible situation. The earlier you tell me what you would like your end result to be, the earlier you can get your matter resolved. Screaming at me does you know good, and honestly, makes me want to help you less.

I have a post about how th banks rank their customers. You might also want to check it out here.