Author Archives: ccwatcher

Discover Card: Double Cashback Rewards on Select Holiday Purchases

Discover

Discover Card holders can earn a 2% cash back bonus on up to $1,000 in holiday purchases at department stores, clothing stores, shoe stores, jewelry stores or any online shopping with their Discover More, Open Road, or Motiva card from November 15 through December 31, 2009. Purchases must post by December 31.

To earn this bonus, you must sign up for this promotion by logging into your Discover account. Click on rewards tab and you will see the “Double Cash Back Bonus” under the current 5% advertisement. (Via SD)

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Amex Cardmembers: Earn $30 for Spending at Select Merchants

American Express

The following promo is by invitation only: If you are eligible, you can participate by registering your American Express card at amexnetwork.com/my30, then make a purchase at 6 of the 18 participating merchants by December 19, 2009 to receive a $30 statement credit. Participating merchants include:

  • Target
  • Amazon.com
  • WalMart
  • Drugstore.com
  • Costco
  • Kohl’s
  • Dunkin Donuts
  • Burger King
  • Subway
  • Exxon Stations
  • Chevron
  • Mobil Stations
  • Whole Foods Market
  • Shoprite
  • Smart & Final
  • TGI Fridays
  • Panera Bread
  • Outback Steakhouse
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Citi Starts Closing Gas Credit Card Accounts Without Warning

Citibank

These days, when a credit card issuer decides that it no longer wants your business and decides to close your account, it’s not that unusual. When the issuer chooses to close your account without any warning, that (fortunately) is unusual and frankly, a poor business practice. Yet according to this AP story, that is precisely what Citi did to a number of card holders of its oil partner co-branded MasterCard accounts, including Shell, Citgo, ExxonMobil and Phillips 66-Conoco cards.

Citi allegedly closed many of these oil company affiliated credit cards last Wednesday, but did not send out notice to its affected cardholders that their accounts had been closed until the following Monday. Citi did not supply a reason for the account closures, though they do appear to still be accepting new applications for these cards.

If nothing else, the story once again underscores the importance of not relying on a single bank for your credit, given how quickly and unexpectedly it can be taken away.

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$50 Statement Credit for Spending $50 at Amex Open Merchants

American Express, Business Cards

Amex OPEN card holders are eligible to earn a $50 statement credit for making at least two purchases totaling $50 or more at OPEN savings merchants between October 15 and December 15, 2009. OPEN Savings merchants include FedEx, Hertz, and Hyatt among others. See opensavings.com for a full list of participating merchants.

For details on the $50 bonus, see this link (Via FW)

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Bank of America To Test New Annual Fees

Bank of America

Although Bank of America recently vowed that it would refrain from raising interest rates in advance of the looming credit CARD act, it just announced its intentions of testing the introduction of new annual fees to a random group of customers as a new way to grow revenue. A spokesperson said 1 percent of accounts globally are being tested based on “risk and profitability,” with annual fees ranging from $29 to $99 starting next year.

B of A’s plan is to collect feedback from customers and then decide what to do going forward. Translation: if not enough people complain or close their accounts as a result of this move, there is a good chance that annual fees will be rolled out on a wider basis. Customers can opt-out of the fee, but that requires closing their accounts. Impacted customers must decide whether to opt out by December 16, 2009.

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Amex Offering Bonuses to Lower Credit Lines?

American Express

A while ago, it was publicized that Amex was offering to pay select customers to close their accounts. That program, dubbed “Simplify Your Finances,” was supposedly targeted towards cardholders who Amex felt were unlikely to meet their obligations.

Now, this thread on FT reports that Amex is taking the unusual step of offering statement credit to select individuals to lower their credit limit. From the sound of it, the OP is someone who keeps his line in use specifically to avoid a credit line reduction, and not because he is unable to pay their balance. If true, this news potentially represents an interesting trend, and highlights the drastic lengths to which Amex is willing to go to cut its credit exposure.

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PenFed Visa to Start Charging Forex Fee

Cash Back Cards

Per a recent email, the Pentagon Federal Credit Union Visa is due for a number of changes “in response to new federal laws and regulations, as well as market conditions” effective November 30, 2009. Among them:

  • Change from fixed to variable rate – if your card can be used for purchases or cash advances, your rate will now be variable.
  • Overlimit fee will be eliminated
  • The foreign transaction fee will be increased to 2%
  • Payments made in excess of the minimum payment will now be applied to the highest APR first
  • Payments will be credited the same day if received by 5PM local time

While it is sad to see the foreign transaction fee increased, there are still other options for no fee forex cards, the Schwab Visa being chief among them. And with its 5% gas, 2% supermarket and 1.25% rebate on everything else, the Penfed Visa is still overall an excellent card. But like many other casualties of the credit crisis, it’s not quite as great as it used to be.

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