Keeping an eye on the best credit card offers
Through September 20, 2014, or while supplies last, Staples is offering $25 off when you make a purchase of $150 or more using Visa Checkout, Visa’s new online payment service. Unlike the previous time a similar deal was offered, gift cards are notably excluded from this discount.
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Visa recently announced Visa Checkout, a new payment option designed to streamline the online purchase process for consumers. The new service replaces V.me, Visa’s previous effort to roll out a mobile wallet. With Visa Checkout, Visa seeks to make paying online easier by introducing a username and password system, which eliminates the consumer’s need to enter their credit card information. The system is similar to one that PayPal has used for years.
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The popular, annual Visa Signature/Fandango deal is back yet again. +1 Movie Fridays allow Visa Signature cardholders who buy 2 or more movie tickets on Fridays to get one of those tickets free. Tickets must be purchased on a Friday and used on a Friday showing. There is a limit of 1 complimentary movie ticket per Visa Signature card purchase, per 30 day period.
This offer is scheduled to run on Fridays from April 25, 2014 through August 8, 2014, while supplies last. You can view the full terms and conditions of this offer here. To purchase tickets through this promo, visit www.fandango.com/visasignature.
Today, Orbitz announced the launch of a new travel rewards Visa credit card, called the Orbitz Rewards Visa Card. Building upon the loyalty program it introduced last fall, the new card carries some perks that should appeal to the travel-faring public. Among them: A minimum of 2% rewards on all purchases, and up to 10% rewards on eligible hotel bookings made through Orbitz’s mobile app, along with no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees.
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The days of swiping your credit card and signing a receipt to complete a transaction are numbered. Starting late next year, it should become standard to insert your credit card into a card reader and enter a PIN.
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The popular “Buy One, Get One Free” movie ticket offer from Visa Signature and Fandango is back again this year. Called “+1 Movie Fridays,” this promo allows Visa Signature cardholders who purchase at least 2 tickets to a Friday show on Fandango to receive one of those tickets to the same show free of charge, while supplies last. Tickets must be purchased on a Friday for a Friday showing, with a limit of 1 free ticket per Visa Signature card per 30 days.
This promo is scheduled to run from April 19 through August 2, 2013. Full terms for the offer can be found here. To purchase tickets, visit www.fandango.com/visasignature.
Two years ago, American Express and social networking site Foursquare began a partnership that let Amex cardholders check in and receive instant discounts at select merchants. Today, Foursquare has announced that it is expanding this program to Visa and MasterCard credit and debit cards.
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As of Sunday, merchants are now allowed to charge up to an extra 4% when you use a Visa or MasterCard credit card to pay for your purchase. This change comes as part of a settlement reached last year between merchants and Visa and MasterCard over the fixing of credit card and debit card fees. The fee is supposed to represent the extra cost incurred by the merchant for processing the credit card transaction, which is typically between 1.5 and 3.5%. Under the settlement agreement, this “checkout fee” is capped at 4%.
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Visa, MasterCard and banks that issue their credit cards have agreed to pay $7.3 billion to some 7 million U.S. merchants in a lawsuit over the fixing of credit card and debit card fees. The settlement, which includes $6.05 billion in payments for past damages and a temporary reduction in fees valued at $1.2 billion, is believed to be the largest antitrust settlement in U.S. history.
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On the heels of Amex‘s introduction of personalized real-time offers for its cardmembers in its iPhone app, Visa recently rolled out its own personalized deal engine called “Visa Offers.”
On the surface, Visa’s service looks to be similar in intent to Amex’s offering. Upon further examination, however, it appears to be more intrusive and cumbersome–at least in its current form.
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