Archive for the ‘Citibank’ Category

The CARD Act: Numerous APR hikes as phase 2 takes effect

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Phase two of the CARD act has driven numerous revisions to APR’s and card offers.

  • First National Omaha Bank, Heartland Bank, and KeyBank raised APR’s across the board.
  • Citibank raised APR’s on most airline and retailer cards.

What does this mean for you?

If you carry a balance, many of the 7.99% APR rates from Heartland Bank and 8.99% APR rates from First National Omaha Bank are no longer an option. However, there are still many great options available at 7.25% for those with Excellent Credit. We endorse the Iberia Bank Visa Classic, or if you have pristine credit, the First Command Bank Platinum (the only ultra low APR card with no fee AND a 1% rewards program).

Posted in Citibank, First National Omaha Bank, Heartland Bank, KeyBank | 2 Comments »

Try Our Nerdy Flowchart – What’s The Best Credit Card For Me?

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

Download the PDF version

Posted in American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citibank, Discover, Rewards, Schwab | No Comments »

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 »

Card offer changes at Citi, US Bank, Discover Business

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
  1. Citi is no longer offering the Sunoco gas card
  2. US Bank is now offering 2 Taca Airlines Distancia credit cards. US Bank DISTANCIA Visa has a $45 annual fee, a 15,000 mile signing bonus, a 3,000 mile annual renewal bonus, and a 25% excess baggage discount. US Bank DISTANCIA Visa Signature has a $75 annual fee, a 20,000 mile signing bonus, a 6,000 mile annual renewal bonus, a 50% excess baggage discount, and 2x miles on TACA purchases.
  3. Discover Business & Discover Business Miles have changed minimum APR from Prime + 10.74% to Prime + 7.74%, default APR from Prime + 27.99% to Prime + 15.24%, and the balance transfer fee from 3% to 5%. Also, both cards have removed the introductory APR offer of 0% for 12 months.

Posted in Citibank, Rewards, Travel, US Bank | No Comments »

Top 5 cards not listed on credit card sites

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

There are a lot of great credit cards out there that do not pay websites referral fees. The following cards nominated by our staff, to our knowledge, are unknown in the world of credit card aggregation websites:

  1. Fidelity has 3 cards that earn you 2% cash back into a Fidelity account. Investment Rewards American Express, Retirement Rewards American Express, and 529 College Rewards American Express.
  2. Chase offers a Subaru Credit Card that pays a whopping 3% back towards Subaru purchases. We are not aware of any other card that pays such a high rate. In addition you get 2,500 bonus points for signing up, or the equivalent of $25. 
  3. American Express offers the Hilton HHonors card, which is the best deal around if you stay at Hilton hotels. The card has no annual fee and pays 1 point for the first $20,000 of spending per year then 1.25 points thereafter. The real kicker is the card pays a 20,000 point bonus for joining and 6 points per mile spent on Gas, Groceries, Drug Stores, and internet/wireless/phone bills. Depending on your circumstances you could be even better off with the Hilton HHonors Surpass, please try out our rewards calculator to decide for yourself.
  4. Bank of America has 2 cards that rank well in both rewards and APR & Balance Transfer promotions: Choice Privileges & Wyndham Rewards Platinum. Both cards earn 2% back on everything.  
  5. US Bank & Bank of America appear repeatedly at the top of our rankings for best Low APR credit cards and Balance Transfer credit cards, but do not pay for referrals and therefore do not appear on other sites. Among many great choices, the aforementioned Wyndham Rewards Platinum offers best in class 15 month 0% introductory Balance Transfer APR with a low ongoing APR of 8.24%.

Posted in American Express, Balance Transfer, Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, Rewards, Travel, US Bank | No Comments »

New Credit Card legislation driving a flurry of changes to card offers?

Friday, June 5th, 2009

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Our Nerd Factory diligently tracks changes to credit card offers. Come back for updates!

Here are some recent updates we’ve made regarding changes in Credit Card Offers:

  1. Discover Escape changed it’s promo from 1,000 bonus points per month for 12 months, to 1,000 points for 25 mo
  2. US Bank has raised APR on Bed Bath & Beyond from P+8.99% to P+10.99%, and Default APR from P+20.99% to P+23.99%
  3. US Bank has raised APR on Gymboree Visa from P+9.99% to P+11.99%
  4. US Bank has raised APR on Harley Davidson Visa from P+8.40% to P+9.99%
  5. US Bank has raised APR on Secured Visa from 14.99% to 16.99%
  6. US Bank has raised APRs on its 4 SkyPass cards from P+9.99% to P+12.99%
  7. US Bank has raised APR on Sierra Trading Post Visa from P+(5.99%-14.99%) to P+(7.99%-16.99%), and Cash Advance APR from P+14.99% to P+17.99%
  8. US Bank Consumer cards with APR range increase from P+(5.99%-14.99%) to P+(7.99%-16.99%): College Rewards, Young Adult, Cache
  9. US Bank Consumer cards with APR range increase from P+(3.99%-16.99%) to P+(5.99%-18.99%):
    Cash Rewards, Select Rewards, Signature, Platinum, Travel Rewards
  10. US Bank Business cards with APR range increase from P+(3.99%-9.99%) to P+(5.99%-11.99%): Cash Rewards Business, Select Rewards Business, Travel Rewards Business, Business Platinum
  11. US Bank has raised APR’s on 21 of their 26 credit cards, in the range of 2-3%
  12. Discover has raised default APR on Motiva from P+27.99% to P+28.99%
  13. Citi raised APR on Dividend Platinum for Students, MtvU Platinum for Students, and Bronze AAdvantage for Students from P+9.99% to P+12.99%
  14. Citi has raised their APR on Platinum Select for College Students from Prime+8.99% to Prime+11.99%
  15. Citi has raised the APR range on their PremierPass card from Prime + 6.24% and 14.24% to Prime + 8.74% and 15.74%
  16. Chase has raised the APR range on their TJX Rewards card from Prime+5.99% and Prime+14.99% to Prime+8.99% and Prime+15.99%
  17. Citi is no longer offering the Driver’s Edge Options Platinum
  18. Chase is no longer offering the Borders 3.2.1 Visa
  19. Bank of America is no longer offering Jeep, Chrysler, and Dodge cards
  20. Bank of America is no longer offering the Royal Carribean card
  21. Bank of America has added Hawaiian Air Platinum. Best FF we’ve seen is Citi PremierPass Elite, with usual perks + 1 bonus pt per mile flown
  22. American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card plans to change it’s annual free from $150 to $125 on May 26th
  23. American Express has lowered their Blue Cash rewards. Prev 0.5% up to $6,500 then 1.5% after. Now 0.5% up to $6,500 and 1.25% after

Posted in American Express, Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, Discover, Rewards, Travel, US Bank | No Comments »