Archive for the ‘Card Changes’ Category

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The CARD Act: What do the new regulations mean for you?

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Limited interest rates hikes. 45 day advanced notification for most fee changes. No interest rate increases for the first 12 months of holding an account. These are just a few of the new changes to the card industry.  In short, The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (the Credit CARD Act), which came in to effect today, is aimed at preventing banks from sneakily raising interest rates and changing terms on an account, which ultimately lead consumers deeper into debt.

Some of the key features of the CARD Act include:

  • Limited interest rate hikes: increases in interest rates on existing balances will be limited to specific conditions, including the end of a promotional rate period, variable rate changes or if the cardholder misses a payment
  • Minimum 6 month promotional interest rate period
  • 45-day advance notice required for most fee changes, including pending rate or fee increases
  • Issuers must notify card holders of the right to cancel a card (“opt out”) if the holder doesn’t agree to changes in the terms of the account

Young Adults:

Young adults under 21 years of age will need to have an adult co-signer to open a new credit card account, or show proof of income.

Poor Credit History:

Looking to apply for a credit card, but have poor credit card history? Beware. While the credit card act stipulates that upfront account-opening fees cannot exceed 25% of the initial credit limit, some issuers are considering absurdly high interest rates on these accounts, with one card company quoting a 59.9% APR

Corporate Credit Cards:

It’s important to note that the new laws only affect consumer credit cards, not corporate cards. If you have a business card, be sure to stay on top of changes in the terms and conditions of your card.

Once the new regulations are fully phased in by December 2010, the credit card industries marketing, billing and advertising will be fundamentally changed.  This also means the credit card companies will need to reign in their rewards programs and potentially increase annual fees.

Posted in Card Changes | 1 Comment »

Chase Shuffles Card Portfolio

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Update

Feb 23, 2010:

Chase further cut back its portfolio, removing the Pier1 Rewards Master Card, TJX Rewards, Sony Card, Subaru Card (which had 3% rewards), Honda Card, Classic Industries (now offered thru UMB), Marathon Oil (which had 5% back at Marathon stations), Continental Airlines Presidential World Plus, United Mileage Plus Club, United Mileage Plus Access, and United Miles Plus Select.

Original Post

Feb 17, 2010:

Chase has added and removed quite a few credit cards, especially in the company’s First USA portfolio. Several new alumni, charity, and special interest cards were added, while several retail cards were removed.

Additions

  • Alumni - Ball State, California State University Northridge,California State University Northridge, Cornell University, Duke University, Middle Tennessee State University, NC State University, Oklahoma State Association, Pittsburg State University, Sam Houston State University, Southern Illinois University, University of Chicago, University of Maryland College Park, University of Oregon, University of Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Yale University
  • Sports Teams – Detroit Tigers, Miami Heat, Nashville Predators, USA Hockey
  • Charity & Special Interest - Academy of General Dentistry, Association of Junior Leagues International, New Vision, Onecause, The Shriners, Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation

Removals

  • AAA of Northern California Nevada and Utah, Sheetz, Diamond Select Rewards, Orvis, U.S. Naval Academy, Sprint, Coldwater Creek, Shoprite, My H-E-B Platinum MasterCard, 7-Eleven, Drs. Foster & Smith, American Kennel Club
    Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, American Paint Horse Association, National Association of REALTORS, National Geographic

Posted in Card Changes, Chase | 2 Comments »

Wyndham Rewards latest victim of shrinking Bank of America card portfolio

Friday, January 29th, 2010

The Wyndham Rewards card from Bank of America is no longer being offered on Bank of America’s website. This is unfortunate because it was one of few cards offering a 2% base rewards rate.

The card issuer has slimmed its card portfolio down from 145 cards to less than 40 over the past year, dropping many alumni cards, charity cards, and travel cards along the way.

Posted in Bank of America, Card Changes, Rewards | 1 Comment »

Bank of America and Chase raise APRs, trim card offerings

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Bank of America and Chase raised APRs on most of their credit card portfolios by 1% to 3%. Many cards previously listed in our Low APR Credit Cards page have been affected.

Also, both credit card issuers have removed some great cards from their portfolios. Among those cards no longer available:

  • Bank of America’s Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indy Racing League, and National Hot Rod Association cards
  • Bank of America’s Norwegian Cruise Line card
  • Chase Volkswagen Platinum Visa
  • Chase Irving Oil Visa
  • Chase ASPCA Visa
  • Chase Sprint Visa

Posted in Bank of America, Card Changes, Chase | 1 Comment »

Citibank, Schwab Discontinue Cards and Raise APRs

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Schwab is no longer widely offering it’s fantastic 2% cash back Schwab Visa Invest First credit card, although you can still get one if you open an account or already have one.

The best place to look is here, or call 1.866.4Schwab.

But before you decide 2% is the best you can do, it’s worth taking a look at the 7 (as of this writing) 2% rewards cards we offer for people with excellent credit, and 8 credit cards that can easily earn above 2% rewards if used correctly, if you spend a lot on either Gas (5% after a $6500 spending hurdle with Blue Cash, also 5% with the PenFed Platinum CashBack), Groceries, or Dining (a 5% bonus category with Citi Forward). We’ll do the math for you, just check out our main rewards page.

Citibank has discontinued the following cards:

In further bad news, many banks are raising APRs on cards and reducing rewards programs.

  • Citi has raised its APRs on most cards by 1%
  • US Bank has raised its APRs on most cards by 0.75%
  • Wells Fargo has raised its APRs on most cards by a whopping 4.5%
  • Citi ThankYou points are now worth a deceptive 5/6 of  $0.01, instead of the industry standard of 1 cent per point. Compare this to cards like the Chase Freedom where you can get 1.25 cents per point when you save up $200 worth of points before you redeem.

Posted in Card Changes, Citibank, Schwab | 1 Comment »

Chase & Bank of America Discontinue Cards

Friday, November 13th, 2009

Chase has made the following changes:

Bank of America has made the following changes:

Posted in Bank of America, Card Changes, Chase | No Comments »

Capital One Raises Annual Fees, Discontinues No Hassle Points Cards

Friday, November 13th, 2009

Capital One has made the following changes:

  • Discontinued the following cards
    • No Hassle Points for Excellent Credit
    • Orbitz Visa for Good Credit
    • Platinum for Average Credit
    • Standard Platinum for Average Credit
    • Platinum for Limited Credit
    • No Hassle Points for Limited Credit
    • No Hassle Points for Young Adults
    • Orbitz Visa for Limited Credit
    • MTV for Limited Credit
  • Capital One has added one new cards, the LSU Tigers Platinum for Excellent Credit
  • Capital One has made changes to the following cards
    • Classic Platinum for Average Credit fee goes from $19 to $39 per year. Also, APR promotion extended from 6 to 12 months and minimum APR raised from 14.55% + Prime to 16.55% + Prime
    • No Hassle Cash for Average Credit fee goes from $29 to $39 per year. Also, APR promotion extended from 6 to 12 months
    • Classic Platinum for Young Adults fee goes from $19 to $39 per year. Also, minimum APR raised from 14.55% + Prime to 16.55% + Prime
    • Classic Platinum for Limited Credit fee goes from $19 to $39 per year. Also, minimum APR raised from 14.55% + Prime to 16.55% + Prime
    • No Hassle Cash for Young Adults fee goes from $29 to $39
    • No Hassle Cash for Limited Credit fee goes from $29 to $39

Posted in Capital One, Card Changes | No Comments »

Chase Targets Students and the Elderly for APR Increases

Friday, October 16th, 2009

Chase has made changes to the following card offers:

  • Raised purchase APR on the Chase AARP Rewards Card from a range of prime rate plus 5.99%-14.99% to a range of prime rate plus 9.99%-15.99%. Chase also raised cash advance APR from prime plus 15.99% to prime plus 20.99%.
  • Raised purchase APR on the Chase Student +1 Card from a range of prime rate plus 9.99%-14.99% to a range of prime rate plus 13.99%-17.99%.  Chase also raised cash advance APR from prime plus 15.99% to prime plus 20.99%, and default APR from prime plus 23.99% to 29.99%.
  • Chase Sapphire signing bonus was reduced from 25,000 points to 10,000 points
  • Chase Borders 321 Visa signing bonus was reduced from 3,000 points to 1,000 points

Chase has added several new travel cards:

  • Chase Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Card, featuring a sign on bonus of half a domestic roundtrip ticket, plus another half if you are approved for a balance transfer
  • Chase Slate, which is a generic card with no rewards, and some useless tools to monitor which parts of your statements you are not paying off
  • Chase Marriott Rewards Signature Card, which rank well because of their generous sign on bonus of 20,000 points + a free night’s stay. The more exclusive Chase Marriott Rewards Premiere Card offers 2x points at restaurants as well, but has a higher annual fee.
  • Chase Priority Club Rewards Signature is a hotel card for InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Staybridge Suites, and Candlewood Suites. The card offers a 10,000 point bonus each year when you spend more than $15,000, on top of the 1 point per $1 spent you earn on a normal basis. The card receives 3x points when used at the aforementioned Priority Club Hotels.

Posted in Card Changes, Chase | No Comments »

Discover increases purchase APRs, drops Open Road credit card

Sunday, October 11th, 2009

Discover has increased minimum purchase APR’s from 7.74%+Prime to 8.74%+Prime for the Discover More, Discover Motiva, Discover Miles, and Discover Escape credit cards. Also, Discover is no longer offering the Discover Open Road and Student Open Road cards.

Posted in Card Changes, Discover | No Comments »

Sweeping Rate Changes at American Express

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

American Express updated every card offer in some way over the past quarter. Generally speaking, minimum APR’s were increased and balance transfer promotions were reduced in reaction to credit card legislation which makes it more difficult for credit card companies to raise APR’s on customers and charge late fees.

Posted in American Express, Balance Transfer, Card Changes, Rewards, Travel | No Comments »

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