MyCardBlog

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.

We are talking about the best credit cards all the time. Actually, there is no definitive answer to which is the best credit card. Different people have different spending styles. One might be interested in playing games, one might be interested in buying books, movies or even musics, and some might want to save money on gas. The key to get the best credit card is to choose the card that fits your spending styles.

Following is a list of best credit card offers from Kiplinger.com. Let’s see what they pick as the best credit cards.

BEST FOR CASH REBATES

American Express Blue Cash

I have a review of this card. The blue cash card from American Express is a really good cash back credit card. It’s one of the top rated cash back credit cards by me. Kiplinger.com rated this credit card as the “Best Cash Rebate Card” in 2006. “Everyday Purchases” made at drugstores, gas stations, and U.S. supermarkets earn up to a 5% rebate, and all other purchases earn up to a 1.5% rebate ($6,500 threshold). You will see how much you can save by using this card.

BEST GAS CARD

Chase BP Visa

This Chase BP Visa Card is an excellent gas card in terms of the rate it offers. 5% cash back at BP stores anywhere in the United States at any time. At the fist 60 days, you can double your cash back. Plus you can earn cash back for dinning and traveling. There are other great gas rebate cards out there. For example, Discover Open Road Card is a good substitute. For more tips on choosing a gas card, you can read the 5 Top Rated Gas Rebate Cards.

BEST TRAVEL REWARDS

Simmons First Visa Platinum Travel Rewards

This is a little surprise to me. I didn’t hear anything about the Simmons First Bank and the credit card products offered by Simmons First. Anyway, it looks like a great travel card but without any sign up bonus. Usually, travel credit cards offer some sign up bonus. Like the Citi PremierPass Card Elite Level is offering 20,000 bonus points. But you need only 22,000 points for a coach ticket, worth up to $325, to any destination within the 48 contiguous states. You earn one point per dollar spent with this no-fee credit card.

BEST LOW RATES

Wells Fargo Prime Rate

Wells Fargo is a not a big credit card issuer in US. But this credit card product is indeed a great offer to American people. As Kiplinger.com describes: “Cardholders who carry a monthly balance will appreciate this card for its 5% interest rate and $19 annual fee. The rate will never exceed prime, the rate at which banks lend to their best customers. Free alerts remind you when your bill is due and notify you if you’re approaching your credit limit.”

Everyone will have different opinions on which credit card is the best one. Will you share your opinion with us?

Today a reader sent me an email about “Verified by Visa” service. He obviously didn’t know anything about the Verified by Visa and thought it was a phishing site. I think it is necessary to talk about what the Verified by Visa is for and how it works. My friend actually placed an order at Newegg.com to purchase the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 digital camera and he didn’t know what the Verified by Visa was, as a result, he placed the order twice at Newegg.com.

So what is Verified by Visa?

Verified by Visa is free to Visa cardholders and was developed to help prevent unauthorized use of Visa cards for online shopping. The cardholders can choose a password at through activation of the Verified by Visa service. Only the cardholders remember the password. Thus Verified by Visa protects Visa cards with personal passwords, giving cardholders reassurance that only they can use their Visa cards online. Once your Visa card is activated, your card number will be recognized whenever it’s used at participating online stores (Click here to see the participating stores.). A Verified by Visa window will automatically appear and your Visa card issuer will ask for your password. You’ll enter your password to verify your identity and complete your purchase.

For the online stores that are not participated in the Verified by Visa service, you can use your Visa card as normal.

The Verified by Visa is an attempt by Visa to reduce online fraud and identity theft. However, there are some problems associated with it. Because the Verified by Visa step comes as a pop-up window and general shoppers usually think pop-up windows are from phishing sites. Actually, if you look at the domain of the pop-up window, you will find that the domain is not from the site where the user is shopping, not from the card issuing bank, or visa.

Actually, Verified by Visa is a 3-D Secure protocol which is an XML-based protocol used as an added layer of security for online credit and debit card transactions. The 3-D Secure protocol was developed by Visa to improve the security of Internet payments and offered to customers as what we now know Verified by Visa service.

How does Verified by Visa work?

• Activate your Verified by Visa service in the Verified by Visa program now or while shopping online. You have to provide your visa card account number and last 4 digits of your social security number along with other information. It’s easy and only takes a few moments to activate your card. You can do it right here on the secure Visa site or when prompted during the checkout process at one of our participating online merchants. Either way, your information is protected. (link to activate the service: https://verified.visa.com/aam/data/default/landing.aam?partner=default)
• Shop at participating online merchants with Verified by Visa symbol.
• Use your Visa credit card or debit card at the checkout and then put in your Verified by Visa password. Once your password is recognized by the transaction system, your order will be successfully placed.
• There is no charge — Verified by Visa is free to Visa cardholders.

Verified by Visa used to pop up at many online merchants which participate in the program. Right now, this service seems not so popular and not all online retailers are using it. But the Verified by Visa still is an important and effective way to reduce your risk when you place an order at the websites that out of US. Many payment network might still require you to use Verified by Visa service.

Most of you are familiar with the famous Black Card (American Express Centurion Card) issued by American Express. This Black Card has been reviewed here. The reason why the Black Card is famous is over 98% people are not qualified for this credit card which has an annual fee of $2,500. However, there is another card that even more prestigious than the Black Card, the Diamond-Studded Dubai First Royale MasterCard.

Yes, this is a very cool credit card which is studded with real diamonds all over the credit card. For me, there is no other ways to let me know that you are a very rich people in the world. Because all of our credit cards are made from plastic but your credit card is made from real diamond and covered with real gold! The Dubai First Royale Diamond MasterCard was introduced to the Dubai credit card market in the March of 2008. This credit card is also by invitation only. This credit card is offered to a “select” group of elites who “must possess the right criteria in terms of social standing and profile.”

Another limitation which restricted the population of the First Royale MasterCard is this credit card is only available to the super rich people at Dubai. This handcrafted black with golden metallic border credit card with no spending limit is studded with a certified diamond.

The First Royale MasterCard is designed by Inno Design, an internationally acclaimed design consultancy and is the first of its kind to use a certified diamond and metal implant technology in credit card design. There are less than 200 people are using this credit card in the world.

What’re benefits of this credit card?

The cardholders can have their own personal relationship managers with personalized services worldwide, yacht charter, polo club entry, VIP restaurant services, and a business package that allows customers to order a set of four key personal services in more then 13 international locations.

Due to the special design, it’s reported that only nine cards are produced in a day and the manufacturing process involves 36 processes from metal casting to diamond setting by a jeweler.

Actually, there are many other similar credit card products in the market like Sotheby’s World MasterCard and GK Power’s High-Concept Card. I will introduce them in the near future.

(Report about this card can be found at business24-7.)

We are talking about credit cards that might offer $50, $100, $150 or even $200 bonus. But do you know that there is a credit card that can offer you (not everyone) up to 140,000 bonus points? Yes, 140,000 membership rewards points which are equal to $1,400! The name of this credit card is the Platinum Card from American Express which is designed exclusively for Goldman Sachs Clients.

If you apply for a new Platinum Card from American Express at American Express website, you can only get 25,000 bonus points which can be redeemed for a free round-trip ticket. And you have to spend $1000 in your first 3 months of membership to qualify for this 25,000 bonus points, otherwise you can’t get the bonus points.

Right now, American Express and Goldman sachs are running a promotion. If you apply for a Platinum Card from American Express through this website: http://gs.americanexpress.com/ and are a Goldman sachs client, you are eligible to get 100,000 sign up bonus after first purchase! If you spend more than 100,000 each year, you can get additional 40,000 bonus points.

Following are two important sentences from American Express and Goldman Sachs:

1. As a Goldman Sachs client, you can earn 100,000 Membership Rewards bonus points after your first purchase on your new Platinum Card.
2. Apply by January 31, 2009 and you can earn 100,000 Membership Rewards bonus points after your first purchase.¹ Receive an additional 40,000 bonus points when you spend a minimum of $100,000 on your Card for each year of membership.

Fine print about this promotion:

100,000 Membership Rewards bonus points will be credited to your Membership Rewards program account 6-8 weeks after your first purchase appears on your monthly billing statement. The bonus points will appear as two separate credits: one for 10,000 points (Bonus ID: 4338) and one for 90,000 points (Bonus ID: 1914). To be eligible to earn bonus points, your application must be received by January 31, 2009, you must be enrolled in the Membership rewards program at the time of spend, and you must make your first purchase on your new, enrolled Platinum Card designed for Goldman Sachs clients before February 28, 2009.

Other benefits about this card?

First, this card has an annual fee of $450 and $175 for every authorized user. (On very rare occasion you might have seen a fee waived offer.)

• Access to the following airport lounges: American Airlines Admiral Club, Continental Airlines Presidents Club, Delta Crown Room Club, and Northwest Airlines WorldClubs. Plus you can gain complimentary admittance for yourself, your family, or up to two guests at airport clubs around the globe.
• Up to 4 complementary companion airfare tickets a year.
• Access to book cruises, private jets, yachts, and villas and hotel upgrades. Plus you can get free Starwood Preferred Guest Gold Status.
• No pre-set spending limit.
• Access to invitation only events.
• Roadside Assistance program.

If you are going to get a Platinum Card from American Express, I would suggest you apply through http://gs.americanexpress.com/.

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 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.

I was not aware that your driver’s license can be used as a debit card until my friend Jon told me the trick today. I think it’s a very interesting idea to use our driver’s licenses as a debit card. So I did some research and found out that this idea was already put in practice for more than one year by National Payment Card LLC. And people in 24 states in the United State can use their driver’s licenses as debit card and use them at the pumps or anywhere else.

National Payment Card LLC is said to be the only Non-Bank service provider whose ACH Decoupled Debit platform has been designed exclusively for the gas station /convenience store industry. Their patented technology can turn existing cards, such as driver’s licenses, loyalty cards or membership cards, into private label debit cards. What’s a brilliant idea!

Currently, their business focus is on the gas stations. They want to spread the idea that a driver’s license can be used at the gas stations. The reason is very simple, “It’s one of the only markets price-sensitive enough that a few pennies off can count as a serious incentive for consumers.”As I mentioned previously, there are 24 states in the United States where people can register their driver’s license and use it at the pump just as a general debit card with a pre-selected PIN. (The 24 states are highlighted in yellow in the following map.)

How does this work?

First, you have to register your driver’s license at www.rollbackprice.com. You have to provide your name, address, driver’s license number, birth date, bank information and a PIN.

After confirmation, you are eligible to use your driver’s license by swiping your driver’s license (linked directly, via the existing magnetic stripe, to your bank account), and entering a PIN.

The transaction is not processed by general network but via National Payment Card network which can substantially reduce the cost for many gas station owners. And this is why many gas stations will give you a certain amount discount for using the driver’s license at the pump. (Debit cards and credit cards are forms of payment that carry large merchant fees from the banking and credit card industry. These charges are  actually indirectly charge more money for the consumer.)

I would say this is really a great move in the payment industry. The only drawback is you can only use it at the gas station right now, although they want to promote the technique to other places in the long run. If we can use the payment card at other places, we might save a lot of money each year.

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.