Archive for the 'Credit Cards' Category
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
Still got a few resolutions left to do? Here’s a current coupon for real FICO scores and all other credit products at myFico.com. Use the promotional code MYPOINTS30 to get a FICO score for only $11 (~31% off), the best discount I could find right now:
You can still use CPPSAVINGS for 20% off if this expires.
Experian no longer allows Fair Isaac to sell FICO scores to consumers, even though lenders can still buy and use them. Instead, they join a bunch of other outfits selling their own FAKO (”FAKE-O”) version. But since lenders almost always use real FICO scores in their decisions, those are the only ones you should pay for - if at all - in my opinion.
For the diligent, a cheaper alternative is to sign up for a free 30-day trial of Scorewatch, which includes two free Equifax scores and reports. Just remember to cancel as soon as you grab those scores. It is easy to cancel online, without having to even call in. As always, you can always request your credit reports (not scores) once every 12 months at AnnualCreditReport.com.
Posted in Credit Cards | 1 Comment »
Monday, February 1st, 2010
I applied for the Chase Sapphire card primarily - okay, solely - for the $100 sign-up bonus. But when I called with a question about how to redeem, I was actually startled that a human being picked on the second ring. No phone tree to navigate, no punching in my dang 16 digit number first… I didn’t even have to press 0 several times.
Now that I read their website again, I do see the sentence mentioning “direct access to dedicated live advisors”. It appears I’m not the only one to notice this:
When a Sapphire cardholder calls Chase, “a specially trained advisor picks up the phone – with no need to navigate a voice-response system.” These specially trained advisors have the goal of resolving the customer’s need on the first call. (Chase didn’t say anything about the empowerment to do so, but perhaps that’s a picayune quibble). No phone tree has to be worth at least a ten point reduction in blood pressure. Can one really put a price on health? Perhaps not, but Sapphire seems to have given it an annual fee…
Actually, that last part is true for the Sapphire Preferred, but the regular Sapphire has no annual fee, and I still get zero hold times. Hey, a new feature that’s actually useful. If only the rewards structure were better.
Posted in Credit Cards | 17 Comments »
Friday, January 8th, 2010
American Express is promoting a new charge card called the AmEx Premier Rewards Gold Card, which is different from their other Gold/Gold Rewards/Platinum/Precious Metal cards.
Since this is the new card being pushed, it has the best sign-up incentives for new cardholders:
* Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards bonus points when you spend $1,000 in your first 3 months of Card membership. MR points are very versatile, and can be converted to 15,000 frequent flier miles in a number of programs (or 10 Southwest credits), or you can simply get $150 in gift cards at several stores like Home Depot, Crate & Barrel, or Macy’s. I think you can also get cash equivalents at a reduced ratio.
* Offers 3X points on airfare, 2X points on gas and groceries, and 1X points on everything else. The traditional versions only offer 1 point per $ spent, so the double points on gas and groceries are an extra perk, although the annual fee is much higher at $175.
* Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards bonus points when you spend $30,000 per calendar year. This means that if you spend $30,000 in a year ($2,500 per month) that you’ll get at least 15,000 for sign-up + 30,000 on spending + 15,000 bonus = 60,000 points total, plus any extra for gas/groceries/airfare. That’s enough for 60,000 frequent flier miles or 2.5 free flights on Southwest (40 credits).
* No annual fee for your first year. Another important feature, you can get the sign-up bonus and also try out this card for free for a year.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 19 Comments »
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
The most well known part of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT act) is that you can get a free copy of your credit report from all three major credit bureaus once every 12 months. However, there are also several other consumer databases that you should check as well, as they also can have a significant financial impact.
Credit History
You know the drill. Go to AnnualCreditReport.com and request your free credit reports. Some people like to get all three at once (like me) and others like to space it out to one every 4 months. As usual, the main thing is to do it today. Remember, we’re trying to knock these resolutions out right away!
ChexSystems Banking History
ChexSystems is a consumer information database used by an estimated 80-90% of all banks to help determine the risk of opening new accounts. Think of it as the bank’s version of a credit bureau. If a person commits check fraud or overdraws their account, it will be listed here. In addition, the simple act of opening or closing a bank account may be recorded in their database. Getting a negative ChexSystems record can leave you blacklisted from opening bank accounts at most major banks.
Get your free ChexSystems consumer report here.
Medical History Used For Insurance Underwriting
MIB (previously known as Medical Information Bureau) is run by 470 insurance companies and has a “primary mission of detecting and deterring fraud that may occur in the course of obtaining life, health, disability income, critical illness, and long-term care insurance.” They record information of “underwriting significance” for those who have applied for life and health insurance with MIB member companies. If you have not applied for individually underwritten life, health, or disability income insurance during the preceding seven year period, then you probably don’t have a record.
Get your free MIB consumer file here.
Insurance Claims History
CLUE stands for Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange, and they collect information that is used to calculate your potential risk of loss and thus your insurance premiums. You can also find out about previous claims on the house you are currently renting or recently bought, even if they weren’t made by you.
The C.L.U.E. ®Personal Property report provides a seven year history of losses associated with an individual and his/her personal property. The following data will be identified for each loss: date of loss, loss type, and amount paid along with general information such as policy number, claim number and insurance company name.
The C.L.U.E. ®Auto report provides a seven year history of automobile insurance losses associated with an individual. The following data will be identified for each loss: date of loss, loss type, and amount paid along with general information such as policy number, claim number and insurance company name.
Get your free CLUE Auto and Personal Property Reports here.
In addition, you should also request your free A-PLUS report (Automated Property Loss Underwriting System), which is a smaller database that also contains information about property loss claims.
Employment History
When a potential employer runs a background check through ChoicePoint, this is the information they see. It doesn’t seem to claim be comprehensive, but you should still check for potentially negative data.
The ChoicePoint Workplace Solutions Inc. Employment History report contains information related to your employment history as well as other information regarding your background. [...] Our files would only contain information on you if ChoicePoint provided your Employment History Report to an employer.
Get your free ChoicePoint employment history report here.
Tenant History
This report can be important if you are a renter and someone runs a background check on you at ChoicePoint.
The Resident Data Inc. Tenant History report contains information related to your tenant history as well as other information regarding your background. [...] Our files would only contain information on you if ChoicePoint provided your Tenant History Report to a housing provider.
Get your free ChoicePoint tenant history report here.
Scared yet? At least now you know what Big Brother does.
See the rest of my 2010 Instant New Year’s Resolutions here!
Posted in Credit Cards, Insurance | 10 Comments »
Saturday, December 26th, 2009
Want to check your credit score to start off the new year? Here’s a current coupon for real FICO scores and all other credit products at myFico.com. Use the promotional code SURVEY30 to get 30% off and a FICO score for about $11, the best discount currently available:
The code is good until December 30th, 2009 (although try it as it may still work even after that date). As a backup, you can also get 26% off with the codes DECEMBER26 or 26UNTIL2010 until 12/31/09.
Finally, you can still use CPPSAVINGS for 20% off after these expire.
Experian no longer allows Fair Isaac to sell FICO scores to consumers at all, even though lenders still buy and use them. They sell their own FAKO (”FAKE-O”) version now. But since lenders almost always use real FICO scores in their decisions, those are the only ones you should pay for - if at all - in my opinion.
For the diligent, a cheaper alternative is to sign up for a free 30-day trial of Scorewatch, which includes two free Equifax scores and reports. Just remember to cancel as soon as you grab those scores. You are allowed to cancel online, without having to even call in. As always, you can always request your credit reports (not scores) once every 12 months at AnnualCreditReport.com.
Posted in Credit Cards | 6 Comments »
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
Yeah, you read that right. You should make the credit card companies pay for your holiday spending! (You thought I meant something else?) Since they offer juicy incentives to get you to switch to their credit card, take advantage of these loss-leaders and use the money to pay for your gifts. Sure, technically it may take you a bit to actually get the check or gift cards in the mail, but a few hundred dollars can go a long way. Just remember to pay off your balances in full, or they win!
I chose one card from three of the major issuers - Chase, Citibank, and American Express, and you can get at least $100 from each one. If you apply for all three on the same day, it is more likely that you’ll be approved for all of them since they won’t be able to see that you applied for other cards.
Free $100 Cash
The Chase Sapphire Card is a new rewards credit card that is offering 10,000 bonus points after any first purchase on the credit card, which can be redeemed for $100 cash. No annual fee.
As a rewards card, it offers 1 point for every dollar in purchases (100 points = $1, or the usual 1% back). The nice part is that redemptions are easy - you can even redeem in $1 increments as long as above $25, so you could cash out $27 or $113 without anything left over. There are no earning caps, or points expiration dates.
Free $100 Gift Card + Cashback from Restaurants & Amazon.com
The Citi Forward card is offering 11,000 ThankYou points for making just $250 in purchases and electing for paperless statements within 3 months of account opening. That’s enough points to exchange for $100 in gift cards from stores like Sears, Staples, Overstock.com, Macy’s, or Gap. No annual fee.
In terms of ongoing rewards, you get 1 reward point for every $1 you spend on other purchases like most other cards, but this card offers a special 5 reward points for every $1 you spend on books, movies, music and restaurants. You also get 100 points each month you pay your balance on time and don’t exceed your credit limit. See my Citi Forward card review and Amazon.com & restaurants follow-up for more details.
Free $150 in Gift Cards
The American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card offers 15,000 Membership Rewards bonus points when you spend $1,000 in your first 3 months of Card membership. MR points are very versatile, and can be converted to 15,000 frequent flier miles in a number of programs (or 10 Southwest credits), or you can simply get $150 in gift cards at several stores like Home Depot, Crate & Barrel, or Macy’s. You can view the reward options at MembershipRewards.com. I think you can also get cash equivalents at a reduced ratio.
You can also earn another 15,000 Membership Rewards bonus points when you spend $30,000 per calendar year. No annual fee for your first year. After that it is $175, so remember to cancel within the first year if you don’t want to continue.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 17 Comments »
Saturday, November 14th, 2009
Need to check your credit score? Here’s a new coupon for 26% off real FICO scores and all other credit products at myFico.com. Use the promotional code NOVEMBER26 to get 26% off and a FICO score for less than $12, the best discount currently available:
The code is good until November 30th (although try it anyways and see if it works after that date), so be quick about it. For the Equifax credit score only, you can get it for $10.95 using the code SW94608, which is over 30% off. You enter the promo code relatively late in the buying process, right before entering your credit card information. Look for this:
Experian no longer allows Fair Isaac to sell FICO scores to consumers at all (even though lenders still buy and use them). They sell their own “FAKE-O” version now. Lenders almost always use FICO scores in their decisions, so those are the only ones you should pay for if at all.
For the diligent, a cheaper alternative is to sign up for a free 30-day trial of Scorewatch, which includes two free Equifax scores and reports. Just remember to cancel as soon as you decide you don’t need it anymore. You are allowed to cancel online, without having to even call in.
You can always request your credit reports (not scores) once every 12 months at AnnualCreditReport.com. If you’ve already done that, you can still try these other direct methods for the unemployed, those denied credit, and victims of identity theft.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 2 Comments »
Friday, November 6th, 2009
Here’s a nice credit card offer for those interested in international travel. The Chase British Airways Visa Signature card is offering 50,000 BA Executive Club miles for new cardmembers with first purchase, and another 50,000 BA miles after spending $2,000 within 3 months, for 100,000 miles total. Regular features include earning 1.25 miles per dollar spent. The card does have an annual fee of $75 as well.
50,000 British Airways miles is enough for an economy class transatlantic flight from USA to their “Europe Zone 1″, which includes the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Switzerland. Note that “all reward flights are subject to taxes, fees, charges and surcharges, including airline surcharges.”, which can add up. I did a quick search and for a random San Francisco (SFO) to London (LHR) flight in March 2010 that cost $807, the taxes and fees alone were $387.
You’ll also need to fly out of a major city that BA services (see route map). Still, two free flights from US to London even for a few hundred dollars each is a big discount for those looking to buy such a ticket anyways.
What if you like to fly in style? 100,000 miles is good for a single business class ticket from USA to Europe Zone 1… and the fees are more reasonable on a relative basis. A business class flight from SFO to Paris (CDG) in March 2010 would have cost around $4,700 in cash, but the fees/taxes are only about $400 as well:
Finally, if you can manage to spend $30,000 a year on the card, you can even earn a 2-for-1 companion voucher. Time to buy some coins? Thanks to reader Paul for the tip.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 40 Comments »
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
The Chase Sapphire Card is a new rewards credit card that is offering 10,000 bonus points after your first purchase on the credit card, which can be redeemed for $100 cash. No annual fee.
As a rewards card, it offers 1 point for every dollar in purchases (100 points = $1, or the usual 1% back). The nice part is that redemptions are easy - you can even redeem in $1 increments as long as above $25, so you could cash out $27 or $113 without anything left over. There are no earning caps, or points expiration dates.
In addition, you can get double points on airfare booked through their Ultimate Rewards website. It also promotes a “premium, dedicated service line that gives you access to a live person anytime, 24/7.” Fine print:
10,000 bonus points
You will qualify for and receive your bonus after your first purchase/first use of the card. First purchase/first use includes purchases, balance transfers, or any checks that are used to access your account, and excludes cash advances. After qualifying, please allow 6 to 8 weeks for bonus points to post to your account. This one-time bonus offer is valid only for first-time cardmembers with new accounts.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 10 Comments »
Friday, October 16th, 2009
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 42 Comments »
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
Just a reminder that American Express cardholders can get a free look at their Experian PLUS credit score and credit report once every 12 months. This is Experian’s own proprietary (”FAKO”) credit score, but is the best you can get from Experian since consumers can no longer get their FICO Score based on Experian data. (Only Equifax and Transunion via myFICO.) PLUS has a range of 330-830 as opposed to the FICO range of 300-850, but like all FAKO they don’t necessarily map directly to FICO.
To access your score, visit americanexpress.com/creditreport and log in as usual. It is free, and you do not need to enroll in any trials to get your free score. They will however try to upsell you their CreditSecure monitoring service after 30 days. Just checked for DW:
From their site:
How much does My Credit Score & Report cost?
My Credit Score & Report is a complimentary benefit offered exclusively to American Express Cardmembers. You pay absolutely nothing. Simply sign up to gain access to your Credit Score and Report.
How long will I be enrolled in My Credit Score & Report?
Your enrollment in My Credit Score & Report will last 30 days. After 30 days, you will no longer have access to your complimentary Credit Score and Report. If you wish to continue enjoying access to your Credit Score and Report, you may enroll in CreditSecure.
As always, you can get your free credit reports (not scores) at AnnualCreditReport.com.
Posted in Credit Cards | 20 Comments »
Monday, September 28th, 2009
Meet Bill and Jan. They are my imaginary couple that loves putting their personal finances on auto-pilot. They don’t worry about bill due dates, they never visit the bank, and only check their balances online once a month if there are no e-mail alerts sent to them. (Apparently they also don’t have lips or eyes, so it works well for them…) Let’s take a look at how they do it!
Income
Bill and Jan both elected to receive their regular income via direct deposit, so there are no checks to deposit. Even though Jan does some freelancing, she gets paid via PayPal, which she sets to automatically sweep any money into their bank account at the end of each business day. This feature is called Auto Sweep and is not heavily advertised, you must contact PayPal directly to enable it.
Long-Term Savings
Like everyone else, their 401(k) plans are funded via an automatic deferral each payday. For their Roth IRA, they simply take out $500 per month via an automatic transfer from their checking account for 10 months, which can be set up easily at Vanguard.com or any other major mutual fund provider. If you like individual stocks or ETFs, try automatic investing at Sharebuilder.
Short-Term Savings
For their annual vacation and other savings goals, they have an automatic transfer from their checking to an online savings account like the original ING Direct.
They do keep a certain buffer amount in their checking account, similar to this simple budgeting method. If the balance falls too low for any reason, an e-mail and text message alert are sent to both of them.
Housing
If they had a mortgage, most lenders will happily set up an automatic ACH from bank account each month. If they wanted to set up a biweekly payment plan and it isn’t free, they could simply take out 1/12th of their monthly mortgage payment each month automatically into ING Direct. Once a year, they send one full mortgage payment to their lender.
If they rented, they would set their Online Billpay service to send a snail-mail check automatically each month and deduct the amount from the bank account.
Utilities
Most utility companies will allow to you sign up for them to automatically withdraw the full bill amount from your bank account. Contact them directly, and when available use your credit card to earn some extra rewards.
Insurance
Instead of dealing with large payments either annually or semi-annually, they have signed up for State Farm Payment Plan (SFPP), which groups their insurance premiums and divides them into one single monthly payment which is taken from their bank account. Check with your insurer to see if they have something similar.
Credit Card Bills
Most large credit cards issuers allow you to sign up a service like Citi’s AutoPay, where you can have the full amount sucked out of your bank account each month. Since the Citi Forward card gives you 5x rewards on restaurants and Amazon.com, this most of their disposable income as well. To find it, go to Citicards.com> (Login) > Payments Tab > Enroll in AutoPay.
What else?
With all this set up, all Bill and Jan have to do is show up for work and spend their money wisely. Is there anything else that could make their life even more easy? I thought about using an online grocery store like Peapod, where you can access past orders and possibly create default orders which you only tweak slightly each month.
Posted in Credit Cards, Frugal Living, Investing, Simple Living | 45 Comments »
Saturday, September 26th, 2009
Here’s a newly released coupon for 25% off real FICO scores and all other credit products at myFico.com. Use the promotional code FINANCIALHELP25 to get 25% off and a FICO score for less than $12, the best discount currently available:
The code is good until September 30th (although try it anyways and see if it works after that date), so be quick about it. For the Equifax credit score only, you can get it for $10.95 using the code SW94608, which is over 30% off. You enter the promo code relatively late in the buying process, right before entering your credit card information. Look for this:
Experian no longer allows Fair Isaac to sell FICO scores to consumers at all (even though lenders still buy and use them). They sell their own “FAKE-O” version now. Lenders almost always use FICO scores in their decisions, so those are the only ones you should pay for.
For the diligent, a cheaper alternative is to sign up for a free 30-day trial of Scorewatch, which includes two free Equifax scores and reports. Just remember to cancel as soon as you decide you don’t need it anymore. You are allowed to cancel online, without having to even call in.
You can always request your credit reports (not scores) once every 12 months at AnnualCreditReport.com. If you’ve already done that, you can still try these other direct methods for the unemployed, those denied credit, and victims of identity theft.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 4 Comments »
Monday, August 17th, 2009
I still love getting my bills via snail mail. I avoid online statements because I get over a hundred e-mails a day and it is very easy for me to put it off temporarily and never remember to read the e-mail again. A paper bill will stay on my desk until pay it and I file it away.
However, I essentially got paid $50 to sign up for paperless statements when signing up for the Citi Forward card (see my review), so of course I did it. This month, I barely got my payment in on time, and was only 2 days away from being dinged a $30 late fee.
As a result, I’ve been gradually visiting all my financial provider websites and signing up for online alerts, which e-mail or text you when certain criteria are met. For example, with Citibank I can get alerts for:
Credit Cards
- Current Balance (you choose frequency, up to daily updates)
- Within $XXX of credit limit
- Balance exceeds $XXX
- Payment notification: A payment posted on [xx/xx/xxxx]
- Minimum payment due on [xx/xx/xxxx]
Banking
- Balance Alerts (too high or too low… avoid overdrafts!)
- Deposit Notices alert you whenever funds are credited
- Bill Payment Alerts inform you when there are insufficient funds in checking
- Check Alerts notify you whenever checks are presented for payment
- CD Alerts notify when your CD is about to mature.
For the credit cards, the option is under the “Account Profile” menu as opposed to under “Tools” where I thought it would be. See screenshot.
Some sites like American Express also have an alert that triggers when it is X days before the bill is due, but they still haven’t received payment, which find most useful. Another alternative would be to just set up auto-pay on the card while it was on e-statements. But if you’re like me, I just switched my Forward card back to paper statements after I got my 5,000 ThankYou points. Sorry, trees!
Posted in Banking, Credit Cards | 24 Comments »
Monday, July 20th, 2009
Here’s a newly released coupon for 25% off real FICO scores at myFico.com. Use the promotional code FICOHELP25 to get 25% off, the best discount currently available:
Update: For the Equifax credit score only, you can get it for $10.95 using the code SW94608. $5 off equates to a little over 30% off.
You enter the promo code relatively late in the buying process, right before entering your credit card information. Look for this:
Experian no longer allows Fair Isaac to sell FICO scores to consumers at all (even though lenders still buy and use them). They sell their own “FAKE-O” version now. Lenders almost always use FICO scores in their decisions, so those are the only ones you should pay for.
For the diligent, a cheaper alternative is to sign up for a free 30-day trial of Scorewatch, which includes two free Equifax scores and reports. Just remember to cancel as soon as you decide you don’t need it anymore. You are allowed to cancel online, without having to even call in.
You can always request your credit reports (not scores) once every 12 months at AnnualCreditReport.com. If you’ve already done that, you can still try these other direct methods for the unemployed, those denied credit, and victims of identity theft.
Posted in Credit Cards | 3 Comments »
