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Discover More Rotating Categories For 2012

By: Mr Credit Card
01/03/2012

Discover More has announced their rotating categories for 2012. There are some significant changes and we will highlight those versus the categories from previous years.

Below is the 2012 rotating categories:

January-March: Gas, Museums, Movies (cap of $1500 in spending in these categories)
April-June: Restaurants and Movies (cap of $1500 in spending in these categories)
July-September: Gas, Movies, Theme Parks (cap not announced yet)
October-December: Department Stores, Electronics Stores, Toy Stores (cap not announced yet)

The first observation is that Discover has completely removed the “travel categories” of airline, hotel, car rental and cruises for 2012. In 2011, these categories were available in the first quarter. Groceries, drugstore and home improvement categories are also no longer available. For 2012, the movie and gasoline categories appear for two quarters. For gasoline, you can earn 5% in the first and third quarter. For the movie category, you can earn 5% rebates in the first and second quarter. This makes it a very good gasoline card since there are hardly any cards that pay 5% cash back on gas these days. The fourth quarter category looks like it is geared up for the holiday shopping season with department stores, electronic stores and toy stores all earning 5% cash back.

Overall, I would say that Discover has taken away some categories (negative), and extended a couple of existing categories for two quarters (positive). What is not clear is why were certain categories removed. Were they not popular or was it too popular?

Discover Rotating Categories for 2011

January – March 2011: Airlines, car rentals, hotels, cruises, restaurants. Sign up now for your January through March rewards.
Also in March 2011: Grocery and drug stores.
April – June 2011: Home improvement, department stores, clothing stores.
Also in June 2011: Gasoline.
July – September 2011: Gas, hotels, movies, theme parks.
October-December: Restaurants and fashion, department stores

The 2011 rotating categories for Discover is slightly different from 2010. Firstly, the first quarter categories are changed to include mainly travel categories. In 2010, the first quarter categories were grocery and drugstores, which is only available as a 5% category in March 2011. The second quarter categories resembled those of 2010 with home improvement being the most prominent category (since most home improvement starts in spring!). The third quarter categories are also almost the same as 2010 except that they have added the theme parks. So for those who love to go to theme parks during the summer break will enjoy a 5% rebate (which is equivalent to a discount). Finally, the fourth quarter is essentially unchanged from 2010, though they added department stores in the last minute.

Discover Rotating Categories For 2010

Jan-March 2010: 5% cash back on purchases at grocery stores and drug stores.
April-June 2010: 5% cash back on home and fashion. This includes home improvement stores, department stores, and clothing stores.
July-Sept 2010: 5% cash back on gas, hotels, and movies. This includes purchases at gas stations, hotels, movie theaters, and on movie rentals.
Oct-Dec 2010: 5% cash back on restaurants and fashion. This includes purchases at restaurants, department stores, and clothing stores.

Discover in 2010 added what we would term a 5% rotating category to their cash back rewards. What this means for card holders is that you can earn 5% when you use the card at stores which belong to these categories. Bear in mind that they change every three months. But having 5% categories that change every three months allow Discover to continue to pay 5% rebates for cardholders. In contrast, there are hardly any cash back cards today paying 5% rebates on a category for the whole year round.

Continental United Card Strategy: Should You Cancel Your Continental OnePass Card Now?

By: Mr Credit Card
12/29/2011

Here is an update for those of you looking to take advantage of the Continental United merger to get extra sign up bonuses. The Continental United Merger will be officially done in 2012. What is more important is the holders of the Continental OnePass Cards will be converted to the United Explorer Card. When the Continental United deal was first announced, the very obvious strategy for churners and folks who want to get sign up bonuses was to get both the Continental and United cards (spaced out over a couple of months since they are both issued by Chase). Then a real bumper harvest came along when Chase offered a 50,000 bonus sign up for both their Sapphire PreferredSM Card and the Ink Bold(SM) with Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to Continental Miles at a one for one ratio – and Continental Miles are transferable to United Mileage Plus account).

However, when United issued their new Explorer Card (in place of their four old Mileage Plus Visas), one of their terms and conditions was as follows:

United Mileage Plus Explorer cardmembers will only receive one 25,000 bonus miles award if they apply for both the United Explorer Card and the Continental OnePass Plus Card after 7/19/2011

To add to the confusion, some folks are getting targeted offers of 50,000 or 60,000 sign up bonuses for Continental or United cards. The way to find out if you have been targeted is to log into your OnePass or Mileage Plus accounts and check what sort of bonus is being offered on their credit card page.

Now that we are getting close to the period where Continental OnePass Card will be converted United Explorer Card, what should you as a holder do? Below are some scenarios we can think of.

1. You Got The Continental Card Before 19th July 2011 And You Want To Get More United Sign Up Bonus – In this case, the answer is pretty clear. You should cancel the card because once it converts to the Explorer card, you cannot get their sign up bonuses. Whether you want to apply for the Explorer Card now or wait for a larger sign up bonus is totally up to you.

2. You Got The Explorer Card After 19th July 2011 – You’ve already got your sign up bonus on the Continental Card. If you fly Continental and United and value the free baggage feature and do not want any interruptions on that, keeping the card may make sense. It will eventually convert to the Explorer Card. The downside of keeping it is that you may miss the opportunity of getting a big United sign up bonus (I say may because cancelling the card and applying for the United Explorer Card down the road is not without risk).

You could cancel the card and apply for the United Explorer Card. The upside could be that you do get extra sign up bonus. There are some risk to this. It is not clear in the terms and conditions of the Explorer if you can only get “one sign up bonus” even if you canceled the Continental OnePass Card that you applied after 19th July 2011. It also depends if Chase put that terms and conditions there just to deter folks, but not really enforce it.

What if you have not applied Continental Card and want to churn both cards?

The more interesting question would be what happens if you have not applied for any of these cards but want to churn them both? This is really tricky. There are more risk if you apply for the Continental Card now. It will probably take a good month for your sign up bonus to get into your OnePass account. ( Here is the timeline: If you get it now and get approved instantly, you’ll get your card within the next 10 days. If you use your card immediately, then you will have to wait for your first statement in about 25 days). By then, your card may already be converted and you will not be legible for the Explorer sign up bonus.If you card is not converted by the time you get your bonus, then you face the risk that Chase might put you in the jailhouse for canceling a card too soon.

The answer on whether to get the Continental Card now if you have not gotten one might depend on whether you get a targeted mega 50,000 bonus miles offer. At present, the current sign up bonus of Continental is 25,000 miles after the first purchase. You get 5,000 miles after adding an additional card member. That makes it a total of 30,000 bonus miles (OK but not impressive). You get an additional 10,000 bonus miles if you spending $25,000 every year. But if you purpose of getting the card is to churn, then the anniversary bonus doesn’t really matter in this case.

If you have received the targeted offer and it is 50,000 bonus miles, it might make applying for the Continental more attractive.

Conclusions – After going through the various scenarios, it appears that if you applied for the Continental Card before 19th July and you want to get the extra United sign up bonus, then you should cancel the card and get the United Explorer Card (either now or wait for a better sign up bonus). If you got your Continental Card after 19th July and have had it for a few months and you want to get the United sign up bonus, it probably makes sense to cancel it and get the Explorer Card. The worse case scenario would be that Chase refuses to give you the sign up bonus, but you would still be in the same position. The best case scenario would be that United has a mega sign up bonus and you now have extra miles in your account.

If you do not have either cards now and want to churn, it probably makes sense if you get the targeted 50,000 bonus miles offer.

If any of these sound dicey to you, the safest option to get more Continental United Miles would be to get both the Chase Sapphire Preferred(SM) Card and the Chase Ink Bold(SM) with Ultimate Rewards. Both offer 50,000 sign up bonuses and you can get a total of 100,000 bonus miles, which can be converted to Continental OnePass miles (then to United Mileage Plus).

Apple Products Reward Points Study: Which Credit Card Reward Program Is Best For Getting Apple Products?

By: Mr Credit Card
12/19/2011

We have just completed a study that reveals the number of reward points required to redeem Apple products from all of the major credit card issuers. The purpose of the study was to see if it made economic sense to actually use reward points to get Apple products and also to see which reward program required the least points.

apple products - number of rewards points needed

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The credit card issuers involved in the study included Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, Capital One, and American Express. The investigated reward programs were the Ultimate Rewards from Chase, Thank You from Citi, World Points from Bank of America, Capital One’s reward program (no name), and Membership Rewards from American Express.For the online shopping portals, we looked at Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thank You, Bank of America Add It Up, Capital One’s Perk Central and Discover’s Shop Discover Online.

Methodology – To conduct the study, we picked a few Apple products that were widely available in these reward programs. While we found that most had almost a full range of Apple’s products, we understood that choosing just a handful would be sufficient and not affect the results at all.

The products that we chose included the Apple iPod Touch 8GB version, the iPad 2 16GB with Wi-Fi and 3G with either AT&T or Version, MacBook Air 13 Inch and the MacBook Pro 15 inch version. Both the iPod Touch and iPad products led to easy comparisons because unlike the MacBook Pro, the internal components were very much standard and not subject to consumer customization. The MacBook Pro was a little trickier because different reward programs had slightly different specifications. Hence, we had to go beyond just looking at the number of points needed to redeem for the MacBook Air and Pro. Instead, we also had to look at the specs and then compare the price it would cost at an Apple store versus the points required from a reward program.

Explanation of the Value of Reward Points – For most reward programs, the average value of one hundred points is one dollar. Let us assume for the moment that for the most part, you will earn one point when you charge one dollar to your reward card. That means when you get one dollar of value from one hundred points, you essentially get a 1% return or rebate equivalent.

To ascertain if it is worth using reward points to redeem for Apple products, we first determined the price of the product. To do so, we simply took the standard price from Apple’s online store. Once we have the price of the product, we know that to achieve a one percent reward return from reward points, the number of points required would be the price of the product multiplied by one hundred. For example, if a product cost $1000, then to achieve a 1% return, 100,000 reward points are needed. If more than 100,000 points are needed (in this hypothetical example), we would conclude that it is not worth using your points to redeem for the products because most other basic rewards like gift cards and cash back will yield one percent.

 

Results of Study

 

iPod Touch 8GB – The iPod Touch 8GB cost $199 on the Apple store with free shipping. That means that the benchmark to watch out for in terms of points required is 19,900.

The Chase Ultimate Rewards program requires 19,400 points, but you need to pick up the product from a Best Buy store. The Membership Rewards requires 37,100 points, which is almost two times the number of points required by the Chase Ultimate Rewards, though shipping of the product is provided. Citi’s Thank You requires 23,700 points and requires store pickup. But the version on their reward program is the 4th generation and not the 5th generation. Capital One requires an amazing 54,500 points and Bank of America requires 22,000 points.

For the iPod Touch 8GB, the Chase Ultimate Rewards is the only program that that makes it worthwhile to exchange your points for it (based on the price of $199).

iPad 2 – with Wi-Fi and 3G – For the iPad 2, we used the 16GB model with Wi-Fi and 3G. The price on Apple’s store is $629. Therefore, we will be looking at reward programs that require about 62,900 points or less. Chase Ultimate Rewards requires 64,200 points. Membership Rewards requires 118,400 points. Capital One requires 163,250 points though it comes with casing and cover. Citi’s Thank You did not have this item. Bank of America requires 75,300 points. Once again, it appears that the Ultimate Rewards from Chase provides the best value using reward points for the iPad 2.

MacBook Air 13 Inch – For the MacBook Air 13 inch, the specifications is as follows. The processor was the Intel i5 Core, 1.7GHz and 256GB Solid State Drive. The price on Apple’s store was $1,799. Chase Ultimate Rewards needed 152,800 points. Membership Rewards needed 293,500 points. World Points needed 176,200 points. Citi Thank You did not have this model. Instead, they had the Core Duo with 128GB of Solid State Drive.

MacBook Pro 15 Inch – The last time is trickier because the specifications differ with different programs. The model we chose has Intel Core i7 with 2.2GHc Processing speed, 4GB Memory, 500GB SATA Hard Drive and Intel high-definition Graphics3000 and AMD Radeon HD6750M. On Apple’s online store, a similar model cost $1799.

Chase Ultimate Reward Points required 174,200 points. Membership Rewards has a very similar model on as the first model from Chase – Intel Core i7 2.2GHz processing speed, 4GB memory, 750GB Hard drive, Intel high-definition Graphics 3000 and AMD Radeon HD6750M with 1GB GDDR5. So it has a slightly more memory in the hard drive and AMD graphics. But the number of points required is 409,700 points.

Citi Thank You had a Intel Core i7 2.2GHz, and almost similar specs to Chase and Membership Rewards. The number of points required is 210,200 points.

Capital One requires 409,500 points. There were no specs on their website. Bank of America’s World Points does not have MacBook Pro in their reward program when we checked.

Observations

From this study, we can make the following observations.

1. If you would like to use reward points to redeem for Apple products, the Chase Ultimate Rewards program is the only program among the major credit card issuers that makes it worthwhile to do so. By using the Ultimate Reward points for Apple products, you are getting about one percent return or rebate equivalent.

2. The Ultimate Rewards program requires the least number of points for Apple product redemptions. Close behind is Bank of America’s World Points program and Citi Thank You.

3. Membership Rewards from American Express and Capital One require the most number of points.

4. All reward programs, with the exception of Capital One, listed detailed specification of the products in their catalog.

Conclusion

For the most part, using reward points in exchange for Apple Products in a credit card program yields less than 1% rebate or return on your reward points. The exception to this rule is the Ultimate Rewards program from Chase where you do get 1% and slightly more. Citi’s Thank You Rewards and Bank of America’s World Points require slightly more points than Chase and yields just slightly less than 1% in returns. One should avoid using Membership Reward points or reward points from Capital One for Apple products.

Chase Freedom Rotating Categories – 2012

By: Mr Credit Card
12/17/2011

Here is the 5% Cash Back Rotating Categories for the Chase Freedom. I actually got this because I am a member and I got an email asking me to sign up for the first quarter. Here is the list.

January 1st to March 31st – Gas Stations, Amazon.com
April 1st to June 30th – Grocery Stores, Movie Theaters
July 1st to September 30th – Gas Stations, Restaurants
October 1st to December 31st – Hotels, Airlines, Best Buy and Kohl’s.

Chase Freedom 2012 Rotating Categories Compared To 2011 and 2010

Here are a couple of initial observations I have made. Firstly, there are two quarters where the “gas” category appears. This is actually good news because for six months, cardholders can get 5% rebates from gas stations. Secondly, I was surprised to see the addition of Amazon.com during the first quarter. I was also surprised and happy to see Kohl’s and Best Buy in the category for the 4th quarter, but as we will find out soon, it comes at the expense of the “department store category”.

In 2011 and 2010, grocery and drugstores, dining, utilities and child care were in the 1st quarter. This year, none of these categories appear in the first quarter and instead, it has been replaced by gas and purchases at amazon.com. In 2011, the second quarter category was main home furnishings and home improvements. For 2012, Chase has not even included this category at all. Instead, it has been replaced by grocery stores and movie theaters (great for folks who watch the latest summer releases). In the third quarter of 2011 and 2010, Chase had airlines, hotels and gas in the category. For 2012, it’s just gas and restaurants. Instead, they have shifted the hotels and airlines to the fourth quarter and added Kohl’s and Best Buy (which I think makes lots of sense). However, in 2010 and 2011, they did have the “department store” category in the 4th quarter and I’m sure that has helped many folks save lots of money. However, by including only Kohl’s and Best Buy, they have narrowed by the field and this is probably not such a great thing for cardholders the next holiday season.

To sum up, I think that having two quarters where you can earn 5% on gas is a great thing. Folks use the card for home improvement purchases in spring will not be too happy. It is also a shame that they took away the “department store” category in the fourth quarter of 2012 and instead replaced it with Kohl’s and Best Buy only.

Below is a screenshot of the email that I got.

chasefreedom 2012 rotating categories

Chase Freedom 2011 Rotating Categories

Jan 1 to March 31 – Grocery and Drugstores
April 1 to June 30 – Home Improvement, Lawn and Garden, Home Furnishings
July 1 to Sept 30 – Airlines, Gas, Hotels
October 1 to December 31 – Dining, Department Stores, Movies, Charity

Chase Freedom 2010 Rotating Categories

Jan 1 to March 31 – Dining, Utilities, Education/child care
April 1 to June 30 – Home Improvement, Lawn and Garden, Home Furnishings, Drugstore
July 1 to Sept 30 – Airlines, Gas, Hotels, Auto Rentals
October 1 to December 31 – Grocery Stores, Department Stores, Movies

How To Redeem Xbox 360 Merchandise With Chase Ultimate Rewards

By: Mr Credit Card
12/16/2011

My eldest son wanted an Xbox for his Christmas present. Mrs Credit Card and myself were initially hesitant because we already have a Wii! However, he has been doing well in school, doing his homework on his own, and basically being very independent. So we decided we were going to get him the Xbox. But to Mrs Credit Card’s horror, the full blown holiday bundle cost $399 and we were not willing to spend so that much. Then I remembered that we had over 60k Ultimate Reward Points and Membership Reward Points and so I proceeded to check to see if it was worth redeeming it.

Xbox 360 250GB with Kinect Holiday Bundle with – If you go to Xboxs’ site and other retailers, the 250GB holiday bundle cost $399. That means to achieve 1% rebates equivalent from reward points, I should only be using 39900 points (or close to that). So I started checking the number of points required. Here is the list.

Chase Ultimate Rewards – 40,800 points
Membership Rewards – 66,640 points (down from 78,400!)
Citi ThankYou – 49,400 points
WorldPoints – They had the bundle without Kinect for 48,100 points

So if I used my Ultimate Reward Points, I got slightly less than 1%. But the points required for the Xbox I wanted were too high and it was not worthwhile to use the other programs. I could actually have bought it online or in a store, and then used my points for a statement credit (exactly 1% cash back). But in the end, I decided to just use the points on Ultimate Rewards. And I am glad I did because it was so convenient. I’ll now run through the exact steps you have to take (with screen shots).

Step 1: Log into Your Chase Account and Go To The Ultimate Rewards Merchandise Page – After logging into your Chase account, just go to the Ultimate Rewards page (there will be a link close to your card that has Ultimate Rewards – in my case it was the Chase Freedom.

redeem ultimate rewards xbox - step 1, log into account

Step 2: Find The Product You Want – The next step is obviously to look for what you want. You can either click the relevant category on the left navigation bar or type in the product in their search box. In this case, I was looking for the Xbox. Once you have found the item, simply click on the “check store” link (if you want to pick it up from a store and save on shipping cost).

ultimate rewards - find how many points xbox bundle requires

Step 3: Find Nearest PickUp Store – After clicking on “check store” link, you will be taken to a screen where you have to enter your zip code to find the nearest pickup store. In my case, it was the King of Prussia Mall.

ultimate rewards enter zip code to get nearest store pickup

Step 4: Check Details On Shopping Cart And Click CheckOut Button – The next step is to check the details on your shopping cart to make sure that it is correct. As you can see from the screen shots, you can choose to have it delivered to your home or have it picked up at a store. The bottom of the page shows the points you have, the points you will use (in my case the Xbox) and the number of points that will be left in your account. Once you are happy that everything is in order, simply click the “check out” button.

ultimate rewards beginning of checkout process

Step 5: Place Your Order – Then finally, you can “place your order”.

ultimate rewards review and place order

Step 6: Receive Confirmation Number – After you have “placed your order”, you will get a screen on your computer thanking you for the order and showing your confirmation number.

ultimate rewards checkout

Step 7: Check Your Email – The next step you have to do is to check your email. Chase will send you an email confirming your order. However, on that email, you will be told to expect another email when the store has your item ready for pickup.

ultimate rewards confirmation of rewards redemption

Step 8: Ready For PickUp Email – After about two minutes after receiving the first email, I got another email saying that my Xbox is ready for pickup. The email said to print a copy of it and bring it to the store. I did not pick it up the same day but instead went to Best Buy the next morning and picked it up from the customer service counter. You would have to bring your drivers license along as they will check for ID.

ultimate rewards ready for pick up email

Step 9: Email Confirmation That Item Has Been Picked Up – After I got home from picking up the Xbox, I saw another email from Chase confirming that the Xbox has been picked up.

ultimate rewards confirmed pick up email

So there you have it. The entire process of redeeming a merchandise with your Ultimate Reward Points. I must say that the process went extremely smooth and the number of points required for the Xbox was pretty reasonable as well. I got about 1% worth from my reward points which I am happy considering it was for an Xbox and not some hacked out international business class ticket.

If you are interested in earning ultimate reward points, the Chase Freedom, Chase Sapphire and the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card will be the cards to check out.

Combining Credit Cards, Sales and Coupons for Maximum Savings

By: Brooke Kaelin
12/14/2011

Combining credit cards and coupons is a devastatingly effective money saving strategy. You can use the coupons for instant savings and your credit cards for their cash back or reward value. When you take the time to understand the techniques involved, you can really stretch your dollar to new heights. If you feel even more adventurous you can combine credit cards, coupons, store sales and online sites like UPromise to pinch that penny until it cries. Let’s take a look at some of the insider tactics that will have you saving like a professional in no time flat.

Off-line saving combination strategies:

If you’re new to coupons you’ll want to pick up the Sunday paper each week, and start clipping. You’ll follow that by looking at the store circulars for your area so that you can combine your coupon with their sale offers. Then, you’ll take your cash back or reward credit card and use it to shop.

Some of the best credit cards for off-line shopping include:

 

The Discover More Cards – Discover’s prime savings categories rotate quarterly and their sign up bonuses change frequently. As of the fourth quarter of 2011, the top sign-up bonus is $150 cash back, and this quarter you can get 5% rebates when shopping at department stores, clothing stores and restaurants up to $300. Combine that cash back with an average 50% savings by using coupons at the grocery store, and you’re going to be doing pretty well at the end of the month. Here’s another insider tip: You can double your Discover rebate by redeeming it as a gift certificate. Discover features over 100 different partners on the double-up gift certificate offer.

Keep Reading: The Discover More Credit Card Review and  Bonus Offer

So, the first strategy would be to max out your Discover More sign-up bonus and focus your coupons and spending into their current quarterly reward category. Once you’ve reached Discover’s category limits you stop using that card and switch to a card like this one:

 The Blue Cash every day from American Express. The blue cash gives 3% back at supermarkets and 2% on all your gas and department store purchases. There is no cap on the earnings which is especially attractive if you’re looking at the big savings picture. Subtracting an extra 3% off on all the groceries you buy for a year, stacked with your regular coupon savings is a nice little bonus. (Read On: The Amex Blue Cash Review) This is one reason that cash back cards beat store credit and gas credit cards to pieces. Not to mention American Express offers automatic extended warranties and a host of other perks that make saving with them even more attractive.

All in all that’s a pretty simple deal. Use the Discover card to max out your quarterly refunds four times a year, double the value with a gift card, and then switch to your Amex Blue Cash for the consistent rebate.

Online Savings Combination Strategies:

It used to be that you couldn’t get the same degree of savings online as you could off-line. Fortunately, the opposite is actually true now. You can stack online discounts as easily as you can use a physical coupon – and that includes your groceries!

Retailers like Amazon offer regular grocery subscriptions that have special discounts built in. Amazon calls it their “subscribe and save” program. We say, couple that 15% off with their 70% off sale priced items (which change constantly) and use your Discover card to pay for it. According to the Christian Science Monitor, Amazon and Discover just teamed up to offer an extra 2% back to Amazon shoppers who use their Discover card, up to $250 a month. They are also offering a direct deal where you can use your Discover cash back bonus at Amazon when you link both accounts.

It’s no secret among the online parenting community that Amazon has one of the best deals around on diapers and other newborn essentials. Parents of babies can join the occasionally-open Amazon Mom program to save an additional 15% on top of the sale price, on top of the subscribe and save, and on top of the Discover bonus. The diapers may end up dirty, but that is still one sweet smelling deal.

Amazon and parenting deals aside, there are plenty of other ways to stack your shopping discounts online. Our favorite method takes advantage of the online shopping portals that most credit card issuers have set up.

 How Credit Card Shopping Portals Work:

Credit card shopping portals combine the best of online shopping with extra rewards from your credit card companies. In some cases you can get up to 20% back for every dollar you spend. If you combine those shopping portals with discounted items, and add in free shipping codes from places like RetailMeNot, you’re going to practically be stealing and getting rewarded for doing it.

Our favorite online credit card shopping portals are with Discover, Chase, and Citi. You can read our reviews of those portals and bonus offers by clicking the links on each.

If you’ve got last minute holiday shopping to do, you’re going to save a bundle (and you still have a couple days left to guarantee delivery on online items before Christmas).

How to Stop Getting Credit Card Offers By Mail

By: Brooke Kaelin
12/07/2011

How do I opt out of pre-screened credit card offers?

If you are tired of receiving unsolicited credit card offers in your mail box each week, there is a way to prevent it from happening.

Why you get unsolicited offers of credit in the mail:

The three credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax and Experian) regularly sell lists of consumer’s names to the major credit card companies. The credit card companies then send out offers of credit based on the range your credit score fell into at the time the list was made.

If you are tired of these offers there is a simple way to make them stop. However, before you decide whether opting out of credit card mailers is right for you, you may want to consider some of the pros and cons:

Pros:

Cons:

Tip:
The best way to combat that little voice in the back of your head that says, “I wonder if I could have gotten a better deal?” is to do a little research online. Credit card companies do not typically make unique, one time only, or only-for-you offers. (Although they want you to think they do!)

Chances are, if you would have been “pre-selected” for an offer, then other people were too – and you can usually find unbiased opinions of those offers in forums like this one. If you hear of a better than advertised deal, call the credit card company and see if you can get approved for it.

How to stop getting unsolicited offers of credit:

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) you have the right to “Opt-Out” of pre-approved or pre-selected credit card offers. You can choose to remove your name from the marketing list for 5 years, or to opt-out permanently and never receive offers again. You can also opt back in if you change your mind later.

To begin opting-out of credit card offers by mail, or to find out more about what opting out will mean to you, click here.

Your debt was sold to multiple collection agencies: What will you do now?

By: Christina
11/29/2011

There can be a lot of confusion for debtors once collection agents and collection companies enter the picture. Even more confusion occurs if the debt is sold and resold a number of times to different collection companies. In order to understand what’s going on with your debt, you may want to wrap your head around how the collection process actually works.

How the Collection Process Works

Usually creditors do not turn accounts over to collections until at least 90 days has passed without payment. If you are trying to pay on your account or have at least made an effort, you are probably safe. What people don’t realize is that creditors do not want to have to give your account to a collection agent. Most of the time, the debt collector purchases the account for far less than is owed, meaning the original creditor takes a loss.

For this reason, it is not in a credit card company’s best interests to sell your account to a collection agency unless it absolutely has to.
Once the debt is purchased from the creditor, the collection company begins attempting to collect on the debt. If your account has already been transferred to a collection agency, you will want to be aware of your rights. For instance, collectors are not permitted to harass or intimidate you, nor can they call you at inconvenient times, usually not before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. Additionally, if you notify them in writing to stop contacting you, they have to cease contact.

Negotiating Debt Settlement With Collection Agencies
If your intention is to pay the debt that is owed to the collection company, keep in mind that the collection account will still remain on your credit report for 7 years. When settling with the collection agency, you may be able to negotiate removal of the collection account from the credit report completely.
Most important when negotiating however, is the settlement payment. The collection agency usually pays pennies on the dollar for the account. For a recently charged off account, about 6 – 7 cents per dollar; older accounts that have already been sold a couple times 1.5 to 2 cents to the dollar. This means if the collection agency is attempting to collect a debt of $5000.00 from you, they may have only paid $300 for the account and would be more than happy to settle on $1000 for a profit of $700. Remember that each time the account is sold, it is sold for less. The collection agencies are only interested in turning a profit and will settle for far less than they are asking.
Who do you pay when your debt gets sold to a collection company?

A reader recently sent us this question:

I had an HSBC credit card in 2002 for $200. My account was sold to FFPM Carmel, LLC. FFPM filed for bankruptcy. FFPM sold account to LVNV. FFPM is still suing me for almost $2000.00. Am I to payFFPM eventhough they filed bankruptcy and sold the account to LVNV? Incidentally, I have not received any correspondence from LVNV.

Valerie
To make matters even more confusing than the collection process already is, often accounts are sold and resold and even when consumers go to file bankruptcy, they may not have any clue who it is that they owe for the debt. In this case where the consumer is unsure of whom to pay for the account, I would recommend contacting the most current. If FFPM sold the account to LVNV, this means they no longer own it, regardless of filing bankruptcy. However, being that a lawsuit has been filed for $2,000, I would check with a collections or debt attorney to find out how to handle the lawsuit.

An attorney could possibly just send out a letter requesting the lawsuit is dropped as well as the information for the current holder of the debt. It is possible that while filing bankruptcy, the lawsuit remained as an error or was forgotten about.
You will also want to check the statute of limitations on debt in your state. If it has been sold a few times already, the debt may be passed the statute of limitations and too old to still be collected.

Student Loans offered through Discover Card

By: Jacqui Stewart
11/24/2011

So, apparently Discover card is no longer just an ordinary credit card company. They have taken a step into the world of student loans. I know that with the way the economy is, private student loans are very hard to come by. The government is now running the show for the federal loans, which is certainly the easier loans to get, as pretty much everyone qualifies should you complete your free Federal Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). When the economy started to tank a few years ago, private loans hit the road to splitsville because banks were no longer willing or able to finance them. This was a big hit to students who used private loans to supplement what they didn’t get from the government. These loans usually covered living expenses while attending college. Necessity items such as food, gas, car payments/insurance, rent, etc.

After a little bit, schools decided to try and help students with their school finances. Some students were invited to apply for private loans with some student loan companies. However, not like in the past where the student loan lender guaranteed the loan in case of default, the schools took that responsibility and were the ones to guarantee the loans as no financial institutes were willing or able to do so.

As they should, Discover highly recommends that you start your financial goals with the federal Stafford Loans and PLUS loans. If you need additional monies, they offer the private loans to help supplement the amount you need. Their certified private loans have a 0% origination fee and a 2% graduation reward.

From Discover Cards website:

Graduation Reward Eligibility

– You will be eligible to receive a Graduation Reward if:
– You graduate from the degree program (undergraduate program or graduate program) that the loan was used to fund, and
– Your graduation date is more than 90 days and is less than six years after the date of the loan’s first disbursement, and
– Your loan is not in default on the graduation date
– You are the student borrower for a Certified Private Loan (also called Private Education Loan) from Discover Bank
– You are the student borrower for a Federal Stafford Loan or Federal Grad PLUS Loan from Discover Bank, and you submitted the loan application between July 1, 2007 and October 9, 2007
– You are the parent borrower for a Federal Parent PLUS Loan from Discover Bank, and you submitted the loan application between July 1, 2007 and October 9, 2007; for Federal Parent PLUS Loans, “you graduate”, “your graduation date” and “your school” refer to the student’s graduation and school

If you have multiple loans, they said that you MAY be eligible for as many rewards. However, you will not, of course, be able to redeem more than one reward per loan.

Who do you use when obtaining private student loans? Would you have thought to check with your credit card company?

See the below image for more information. I’ve highlighted some info that I felt was important for you to take note of:

The Complete Guide to Chargebacks

By: Christina
11/21/2011

At some point or another if you carry a credit card, you will be faced with either considering or requesting a charge-back. Here is your one stop comprehensive guide to everything you need to know when dealing with credit card companies and charge-backs.

What Is a Charge-back?

In its simplest terms, a charge-back is a refund of sorts. It is also referred to as a “reversal” and occurs when a credit card holder requests that a charge or transaction that has been made on their credit card is reversed or refunded, after it has been completed. When you charge something on your credit card, the bank that issued your credit card pays the merchant, and then sends you a bill. When you “charge-back” an item, the bank removes the total from your bill, and re-bills the merchant.

Some of the circumstances that may arise in which a consumer may request a charge-back include the following:

Although charge-backs may be requested for purchases made on credit cards and debit cards, this area is one which slightly tips the scales in favor of credit cards. If you request a charge-back on a purchase made with a debit card, you will most likely need to prove that the purchase was made fraudulently, whereas charge-backs on credit cards require the cardholder to simply contend that the product or service was never received. In short, if you are worried about charge-backs, it is an easier process with a credit card than a debit card.

How to Start the Charge-back Process

The process usually begins when you realize you have received something different than what you thought you had purchased, you have purchased something but received nothing, or you did not purchase something that is billed to your credit card. First, you will want to attempt to work out an agreement with the merchant. Often times, just mentioning a charge-back is enough to get the merchant’s attention. Most merchants would rather issue the refund or correct an error, than deal with a charge-back and potentially suffer penalties from the credit card processor because of the charge-back. Sometimes, they may even lose the ability to accept credit cards if there are too many charge-backs on their record. It is because of these potential repercussions that a merchant will most likely work with you if you are not satisfied with a purchase made with your credit card.

Sometimes however, you will not be able to work out a fair agreement with the merchant and will have to pursue the charge-back. You may even be dealing with unscrupulous or fraudulent merchants who aren’t concerned with any potential repercussions they may suffer from a charge-back and who will even deny the claim, hoping the consumer will not go through the process of requesting a charge-back. This is of course when you will have no choice but to contact your bank or credit card provider and actually request the charge-back.

Usually you will be issued a temporary refund or credit. The bank will then send you a form to complete and may ask for additional details, before approving or denying your charge-back. In order to raise the chances of approval, you will need to make sure you include all of the details of the purchase and return the requested documentation in a timely manner.

Can a Charge-back Be Denied?

Because of the direct negative impact that charge-backs may have on merchants, the entire process is taken quite seriously and will be investigated completely. There is a chance that your request will be denied for any of the following reasons:

You Have Not Given the Merchant a Chance to Correct – You have to give the merchant a chance to correct an error or send you the merchandise you purchased. It is difficult to prove that a merchant will not send you the proper item when you haven’t notified them or asked to receive the proper item. Also, if you return an incorrect item or flawed item, make sure you retain proof of the return for your records.

Insufficient Evidence – make sure you send in sufficient evidence to prove that you either did not receive what you ordered or a purchase was made fraudulently.

Untimely Response – It is important that you check your statements monthly to make sure there are no fraudulent charges. Timeliness also pertains to returning the evidence and forms required when you have requested a charge-back. Do not let the documents sit on your desk for a long period of time if you want your charge-back to be taken seriously. Remember also that many merchants have a department or team of legal experts whose jobs are specifically to dispute charge-backs. If they feel that you are attempting to defraud them, they may come after you for the charge-back.

What to Do If a Charge-back is Denied

If a charge-back is denied the disputed charge will be returned to the credit card and you will be responsible for paying it. If you still believe you should receive a charge-back after it has been denied, you could also file a lawsuit in small claims court. Even though it is small claims, it still ends up costing the credit card money to engage the legal department and travel to your hometown to defend themselves in your case. Small claims court is a fairly easy process that requires completing a form or two and pay a filing fee which is usually around $20. Sometimes just threatening to file a case in small claims court will result in an agreement that works for you. Otherwise, the company may decide to settle or just fail to show up at trial. If you live far enough from the company’s headquarters, they may decide as mentioned above, that it isn’t worth sending the legal team to your jurisdiction.

Sometimes in large companies, paperwork such as notices and small claims court matters are lost or misplaced. When the other party doesn’t show up in court, for any reason, a default judgment is issued so long as you have the slightest proof to back up your claim. If however, the company does appear in court, you may still end up with a positive outcome if you can prove that the company is at fault. In conclusion, there is really no reason that we, as consumers, should ever be stuck with merchandise we either didn’t order or are not happy with. Between working with the merchant, requesting charge-backs, and threatening with small claims court, consumers have a number of options when faced with fraudulent purchases or services that aren’t quite what we wanted. The protection that credit cards provide is just one more reason to shop with credit cards versus any of the other options.

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