MyCardBlog

Recently, there are a lot of emails from MyCardBlog.com readers regarding the easy steps to pay Bank of America (BOA) credit cards online. I must indicate that to pay Bank of America’s credit cards online is not so easy if you are not familiar with BOA’s rules and do not have checking account with them. If you have a regular checking account at Bank of America, then there is no such problem because you when you click the “pay now” button, it will re-direct you to the checking account bill pay section. Then everything is very simple.

If you do not have a regular checking account at Bank of America, you need to find other ways to pay your credit card bills online. It seems even Yahoo! answers do not have the right answers on how to pay Bank of America credit cards online. I believe it will be very easy for you if you read this post.

To pay your Bank of America credit card online from other financial institution, you have to visit www.myeasypayment.com to submit a payment online. You will need following information for each payment (This website does not store your payment and personal information!).

• Credit card number
• Last name as it appears on the credit card
• Last 4 digits of your Social Security number
• City and ZIP code where your statement is mailed to
• ABA/Routing Number of non–Bank of America financial institution
• Account number of non–Bank of America financial institution

Of course, this myeasypayment.com is also the only website that you can pay your Bank of Ameirca loans online.

If you have a Bank of Ameirca checking or savings account, you can go to your online account and click “Make Transfer” tab and follow the directions to transfer money to your credit card.

It is a little boring to remember everything for each payment at www.myeasypayment.com. Will Bank of America do something to make online payment much easier like other credit card issuers in the near future?

CircuitCity is going to be out of business soon. Best Buy is the only national consumer electronic merchant now. However, I received an email from a MyCardBlog.com reader who indicated that Best Buy employees might steal your credit card information. He wanted me to let all credit card users be aware of Best Buy or other stores when you use your credit card at the checkout.

The news about Best Buy employee stolen consumers’credit card information was report at PalmBeachPost.com. The full story link can be found here. According to the report, a Best Buy employee at 1880 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd., FL, was caught stealing credit card information. The company warned that anyone who bought something using a credit card at that Best Buy store in recent months might want to check their credit card statements closely. This guy was using special device to steal more than 4,000 customers’ credit card information. It was thought the guy used the device to reach customer’s credit card information in November and December 2008. Until now, whether those credit card information had been used for was not clear yet.

Via simple search on the internet with Google, I found out that that report was not the only one talking about the Best Buy employees stealing customer’s credit card in 2008. The Kfoxtv.com also reported that in August 2008, a Best Buy employee at Las Cruces Best Buy store was indicted by the grand jury on charges of felony credit card fraud. In this case, six Best Buy customers’ credit accounts were involved.

Amanda Hopkins worked as a customer representative at the Las Cruces store. Her duties were opening new accounts for customers. She obtained customer credit information and used the information make numerous purchases on their accounts, according to the indictment.

Actually, not only at Best Buy your credit card information may leak. Essentially anywhere at anytime your credit card information might be stolen. You can not be too careful on your credit card security.

Tips:

Watch out for your mails and take GOOD care of credit card statement.

Secure your personal information at home.

Do not give your important information over the phone.

Check your credit card account frequently.

If you’d like daily tips, thoughts, and suggestions on how to maximum your rewards and how to catch sign-up opportunities, subscribe to MyCardBlog for free by clicking this link.

This is my monthly updated list of credit card sign-up bonus. I missed some posts (November and December 2008) due to the severe financial situation. I posted some similar posts in the past several months. The purpose of this post is to keep you updated about the latest sign-up bonus opportunities from major US credit card issuers. I have a special page for credit card sign-up bonus where you can find a complete list of credit cards which will offer you a certain amount of sign-up bonus. I hope this list will be helpful for those App-O-Rama planners. I think it’s necessary to keep a tidy list of credit cards with some fulfillment requirements. The aim is to keep you updated with sign-up bonus offers. There are two main requirements for a specific credit card entering in this list: minimum $50 sign-up bonus and must be a mainstream brand like American Express, Discover, Citi, Chase, BOA, etc. Thus all the credit cards on this list are available to everyone.

All the credit cards are listed in order of value and I will try my best to keep this list updated in a monthly manner. Basically, I assume 100 points/miles=$1. Because you can always redeem your points or miles for certain gift cards. If you have more credit card deals, please let me know.

Recently many friends asked me which credit card was the best student credit card. Although I have already a post indicated the Citi mtvU Platinum Select Visa Card for College Students is the best credit card for college students, there are actually many great choices out there. And since the credit card issuers are tightening their credit approvals, it’s not easy to get a credit card from a single credit card issuer. Hereby I introduce many great student credit card products.

At first, I should let you guys remember that in the past all college students can let their family members to add them as authorized users in their credit card accounts. In this way, all college students can build a solid credit history. But this method doesn’t work from now on. It’s really difficult to establish a good credit history now. But the positive side is the credit card companies know that students need money and usually lack the ability or knowledge to manage their personal finance. Students credit cards are usually a big income for most credit card companies. Therefore most credit card issuers are willing to issue their credit cards to college students.

Of course, the top choice is still the Citi mtvU Platinum Select Visa Credit Card for College Students. This Citi mtvU Card is specialized for college students. You get 5 thankyou points for each dollar spent at restaurants, bookstores, video stores and movie theaters. Meanwhile you can also get 5 thankyou points for every dollar at Amazon.com. Plus you can rewards for being a good student. You can earn 250~2,000 bonus thankyou points each semester for maintaining a good GPA. In a word, this Citi mtvU card is highly recommended for college students.

Following is a list of other great student credit cards:

• Citi Dividend Platinum Select Card for College Students
• Citi Driver’s Edge Card for College Students
• Discover Student Card
• Discover Open Road Card for Students
• Chase+1 Student MasterCard
• Bank of America Student Platinum Plus Visa Credit Card

Capital One Credit Card is highly recommended for a international trip. The worldwide acceptance of mastercard and visa card combined with 0 transaction fee make the Capital One credit cards really good credit cards for using internationally. More information about using Capital One credit card can be found in this post.

Another innovation from Capital One I like is the Capital One Card Lab which was launched in November 2007. With the Capital One Card Lab, Capital One credit card customers can personalized the rewards and card design according to their own credit scores.

Today I will introduce the Capital One Image Card which is another attractive feature I think most Capital One credit card members will like. The Capital One Image Card program was introduced in Jan 2008. This program is another way to allow Capital One credit card customers to personalize their own credit cards by printing their own “personalized image”. New and existing Capital One credit card members can go to www.capitalone.com/imagecard and upload your own photo or choose an image from the existing gallery for your credit card. Of course, the image has to be approved by Capital One. Once the image is approved, a new card will be mailed at no cost to you.

It’s true that putting a personalized image on the credit card is a unique way to express your personality and creativity.

It’s apparent that Capital One is dedicated to serve their credit card customers. Following are some great credit card offers from Capital One.

Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards Automatically earn 2% cash back on purchases at gas stations and grocery stores, and 1% cash back on all other purchases. There is no limit to the cash back rewards you can earn, and your cash rewards never expire.

Capital One No Hassle Miles Rewards Earn unlimited 1.25 miles for each dollar spent on purchases (25% more than regular airline miles credit cards).

Capital One No Hassle Points Rewards Earn unlimited 2% back (2 points per dollar) in point rewards for purchases at gas stations, grocery stores, and drug stores, plus 1% back for all other purchases.

Capital One No Hassle Miles Rewards for Travel and Gas Earn 3 miles per dollar spent on travel and gas purchases, and 1 mile per dollar on everything else. This credit card is ideal for travelers.

Capital One No Hassle Miles Ultra Earn unlimited 2 miles per dollar spent on all purchases. A special 2% cash back credit card.

I have introduced a lot of promotions from our credit card issuers like Chase, Discover Card and American Express. Actually, there are many more promotions from other credit card issuers. PayPal is running huge promotions via corporate with other online merchants like buy.com. This is a summary of holiday promotions from many credit card issuers and other payment processing providers.

Discover Card

The most famous and popular promotion from Discover Card is the Discover Mall Promotion. I first reported this promotion in September. You can take the chance to save with a  $20 Discover Gift Card for every $200 you spend on your Discover credit card at over 160 shopping malls nationwide through Jan. 4, 2009. According to the terms and rules, there is a limit of five gift cards per account with a total of $100 value. No enrollment is necessary. The process is quite simple, take your receipts with you to the customer service at each participating mall and the officers there will issue a $20 Discover Gift card for every $200.

Chase

First of all, the famous Chase Rewards Plus program is offering cash back for shopping online through the Chase Rewards Plus. Chase Freedom Cardholders are automatically enrolled in the program. You can get up to 20% cash back from top online retailers.

Chase is also running the Holiday Bonus Rewards promotion. This seems to be a targeted offer, every registered cardholder can receive a $25 Target Gift Card for purchases exceeding certain threshold amounts in preset categories made from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31. The promotion website is here. You can visit the website to see whether you are eligible or not and how to get the $25 gift card. If you register you credit card at the chase bonus website, you can see other wonderful promotions like: 500 bonus points for adding an authorized user to your account, 1,000 bonus points for enrolling at Chase Online, and 2,500 bonus points for signing on for Chase Fraud Detector.

Bank of America

Bank of America is offering $10 for every $100 you spend getting around the New York City. The promotion website is here. You have to enroll your Bank of America visa credit card to be eligible to get the $10 cash back. Maximum amount you can get is $100.

Visa

Visa is running discount promotions with many top merchants. The promotion details can be found at visa.com. Visit the visa.com and find out the promotion details at each merchant. Print out valuable coupons with 20% or more savings. The promotions cover all you need for the holiday season. But you have to have a Visa credit card to use those coupons.

MasterCard

MasterCard is also running a wonderful promotion with Home Depot. You can get the details of the promotion by visiting the MasterCard Overjoy of Giving website. The promotion offers every MasterCard cardholder a chance to win two identical prizes — one to keep and the other to give. Winners will have the chance to receive two identical cars, trips, shopping sprees or home makeovers courtesy of The Home Depot. The rule is very simple: every time you use your MasterCard to make a purchase during the promotion period ( Nov. 1 and Jan. 2, 2009) you will automatically get a chance to win that week’s sweepstakes.

You can also visit MasterCard website to find the latest discount information for using your MasterCard credit card.

These days I received a lot of emails regarding canceled credit cards. It’s a truth that credit card issuers are closing a lot of credit card accounts. I think this is a very common question. There are many reasons that your credit card will be closed. Or sometimes you want to close your credit card account. I will briefly discuss how your closed credit card accounts will affect your credit score.

Actually there are many reasons for a credit card company to close your credit cards. The NO. 1 reason is low activity associated with your credit card. Credit card companies are losing money to maintain a dormant accounts. Meanwhile, unused credit card accounts usually have higher risk in terms of identity theft. The other reason is the credit card companies determine that you are at the risk of credit default. Thus they want to close your credit card accounts. Note: credit card company will access to your credit report regularly (once per month). Of course, the reason why your credit card account is closed is never clearly stated in the letter mailed to you.

Whether your credit score will be affected or not by closing your credit card account depends on your credit history with this credit card and other cards. If the closed account is the oldest one in your credit report, unfortunately, you credit score will decrease for several points. The length of time your accounts have been open is the third most important factor in your FICO score. Plus, you should also remember that closing an account will also reduce the available credit (increase the ratio of the balance to credit) which could also lower your credit score.

However, if you have a lot of other credit cards on hand and are still active and you have a relatively high credit score (>720), the closure of a credit card account will not affect your credit score too much. If the closed credit card is not the one that has the longest history, then you have nothing to worry about. But if you have a slim credit history and very few credit cards, it may be wise to keep your credit card active. In case your credit card is closed, you can always call them up and request them to reopen the account.

Some readers might just want to open a new credit account for sign up bonus ($250 or $150 or $100 or even $50). Then you might want to close the credit card account after you receive the bonus. I will say it’s OK to do this. There is nothing to worry about as long as you have enough active credit cards accounts.

I’m frequently asked by the same question: How many credit cards is too many? Well, this is never an easy question to answer. Today, I received a message from one of my friends who told me that he just got approved for his 14th credit card. I think it is an interesting topic to discuss on how many credit cards is too many?

According to the article in MSN money, 1 in 7 Americans carries 10 or more credit cards. This article also indicated that the average American holds four credit cards. So it is safe to say that carrying 4 to 10 credit cards is really not to many.

As I mentioned at the very beginning, my friend Chris has 14 credit cards. Let’s see how he makes 14 credit cards.

Following is a list of the credit cards he currently has:

Blue Cash from American Express

Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express

The Gold Card from American Express OPEN

Citi CashReturns Card

Citi Platinum Select / AAdvantage World MasterCard

Citi PremierPass Card – Elite Level

Discover More Card

Bank of America World MasterCard with WorldPoints

Chase Freedom Card

Chase United Mileage Plus Visa Signature Card

Amazon.com Rewards Visa Credit Card

WaMu Platinum MasterCard

National City Everyday Rewards Visa Card

Household Bank Platinum MasterCard

He told me that the reason why he got so many credit cards is to get the sign-up bonuses. For example, when he placed the order at Amazon.com there is a message ask him to apply for the Amazon.com Rewards Visa Credit Card which will give him $30 cash back. He then just applied for the credit card! When he heard that the Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express offered 10,000 bonus points, he would just apply for the credit card, use it for a while and then I will catch another credit card later. He told me that there is no negative impact on his credit score for having so many credit cards. I personally have about 12 credit cards and my credit score is very steady.

So there is no definite saying that 20 credit cards are too many. You can’t have more than 20 credit cards. There is even a rumor says that some people carry up to 50 credit cards!

Actually there are only two things that matter to your credit performance: your balance-to-limit ratio and late payments. It is obvious that the more you have your credit card, the greater the chance that you might miss a payment. A late payment will trigger a damage to your credit report. Another risk you might have is you probably will spend more money with more credit cards. If you can keep your balance-to-limit ratio very low, let’s say 30%, there is no negative influence on your credit report even you have 50 credit cards.

How many credit cards is too many?

There’s no right number of credit cards for everyone. It really depends on how much you spend and how much you can pay off. A smart tip is never carry balance on your credit cards if you have a lot of credit cards.