Posts tagged credit card rewards

Visa Black Credit Card Review

Jul 20th

Posted by Finance in budget

1 comment

Billing itself as “The World’s Most Prestigious and Versatile Credit Card,” Barclays’ Visa Black Card has garnered a lot of attention in recent months. What does this card offer to its users and who can benefit the most from it?

If you like the idea of exclusive deals, then the Visa Black Credit Card might appeal to you. Barclay claims to limit this particular card to 1% of U.S. residents. And it’s made of patent-pending carbon, which makes it stand out from the plastic cards up for grabs elsewhere.

How much will this exclusivity cost you? You can expect to pay an annual fee of $495. Since this annual fee is substantially higher than run-of-the-mill credit cards, it’s worth noting that membership gives you access to a rewards program and 24-hour concierge service.

Visa Black Credit Card Review: Concierge Service & Rewards

First, the good: the concierge service can help you with travel arrangements, restaurant reservations, and more, whether you need it for your business or not. For instance, you can learn more about local events, arrange for gifts or flowers, set up conference services, and gain assistance in tracking down the right gifts.

This can be of help when you’re away from home or vacationing — you won’t have to pay extra for flaky Wi-Fi access or waste time hunting for a place to eat if you can call the concierge service. You can email in your requests if that’s easier than phoning, too.

As for the rewards program, how does 1% cash back on your purchases or airline points without blackouts or restrictions sound? To be honest, it may be hard to make up or justify the annual fee on this card unless you use it often. At any rate, you can redeem your rewards by logging into your account or by calling customer service for a Redemption Specialist.

For alternative cards that offer better rewards and/or no annual fees, check out this list of top rewards cards:

Credit Card
 Rewards Type
 Notes
American Express Blue Cash Cash Back Up to 5% cash back, No annual fee, 0% for 6 months
Discover More Card Cash Back Up to 5% cash back bonus, $75 cash back bonus, No annual fee
Discover Student Card Cash Back Up to 5% cash back bonus, No annual fee
Discover Motiva Credit Card Cash Back Up to 1% cash back rebate, No annual fee
American Express True Earnings Card Cash Back Up to 3% cash back, No annual fee, $25 cash bonus
Citi Dividend Platinum Select MasterCard Cash Back Up to 5% cash back, No annual fee
Citi Dividend Platinum Select for College Students Cash Back Up to 5% cash back, No annual fee
Chase Freedom(SM) Cash Back Up to 5% cash back, No annual fee
Chase Sapphire Credit Card Point Rewards Unlimited points, Bonus: $100 cash or 10,000 points, No annual fee
Citi Forward Card Point Rewards Rewards card, No annual fee
Citi Forward Student Point Rewards Rewards card, No annual fee
Citi® mtvU™ Platinum Select® Visa® Card Point Rewards Rewards card, No annual fee
Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards Card Point Rewards Rewards card, No annual fee
American Express Zync Card Point Rewards Bonus: 10,000 points after 1st purchase, $25 annual fee
American Express Gold Card Point Rewards Earn points for every purchase, $125 annual fee

For additional options, here’s where to check out some great cash back credit cards; most of these have no annual fee!

Visa Black Credit Card Terms

To sweeten the deal, the Visa Black Card offers luxury gifts and a Travel Lounge Priority Pass. If you spend a lot of time in the air, you’ll be able to stop by airport lounges in more than 100 countries, over 600 airport lounges total.

What about the APR? It’s going to be 13.24% at the account’s opening. Not necessarily the lowest rate card out there. The APR will vary based on the Prime Rate. For cash advances, the APR is 21.99%, variable based on the Prime Rate.

In the event you’re already carrying a balance on another card, you have the option of transferring that balance over to the Black Card. For six months, that balance won’t accrue any interest. After the introductory period, your APR for balance transfers will rise to 13.24% based on your credit history. Now if you’re interested in seeing other cards of this sort, here’s where to check out some top balance transfer cards.

Additional Benefits of the Visa Black Card

Book your travel fare with the Black Card and you’ll receive worldwide travel insurance worth $250,000, if your travel’s eligible. Afraid of losing your bags? There’s baggage delay insurance, which covers $100 a day for 3 days. And if you’re renting a car, there’s a collision damage waiver. No one expects trouble when they book their travel itinerary, but the Black Card has you covered with trip interruption/cancellation insurance.

Your purchases have some coverage, too. Purchase Security means that you have 90 days to make a claim on eligible items; you’ll see the item replaced or repaired, or you’ll be reimbursed, up to $500 per eligible claim. With the Warranty Manager Service, you’ll be able to access warranty registration and Extended Warranty Protection for things you purchase. For the Extended Warranty Protection service, that means your purchase’s original warranty period will be doubled, up to a year’s time.

Is this the right card for you? For the average consumer, it may be possible to find less exclusive credit cards with more favorable APRs, which is important if you tend to carry a balance. However, despite the substantial annual fee, you might be able to make the card pay for itself if you’re already predisposed to be a heavy duty credit user who pays off the balance each month.

I would suggest that you compare your credit cards against the services offered by this particular card. Will the upgrade in benefits justify leaving your other cards behind? Don’t forget to look over the Terms and Conditions, which will disclose the penalties as well as the benefits of the Black Card.

This is a post from The Smarter Wallet.

Visa Black Credit Card Review

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New Credit Card Statement Format

Jul 13th

Posted by Finance in credit

2 comments

Usually when I open my credit card statements, my eye goes right to the line that tells me how much I made during the past month in cash back and credit card rewards points. Recently, though, something else caught my eye when I opened my monthly statement: the brand-spanking-new statement format mandated by the Federal Reserve.

As of July 1, credit card issuers were required to conform with new rules approved by the Federal Reserve Board to protect consumers from what many have seen as unfair (or at least unclear) practices by the card issuers.

The new statement does a lot of things right–it’s now abundantly clear, for example, just how long it’ll take you to pay off even a small balance if you just send in the minimum payment required (and how much interest you’ll rack up in the process). Closing one of the classic traps of card usage that have ensnared many, the new statements must tell cardholders up-front just how much their credit card rates will jump and how much the late fee will be if you’re late with your payment. And interest fees and fee charges of all types are now labeled clearly–you’ll be able to see at a glance whether that zero percent balance transfer transaction was correctly implemented.

FiveCentNickel.com has a nifty infographic with mouseover details about the new Fed statement format.

Credit Card Statement Changes from Five Cent Nickel

Source URL: New Credit Card Statement Format

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Rewards giveth, and rewards taketh away

Jul 7th

Posted by Finance in spendings

2 comments

Customer reward programs go by a number of different names: customer loyalty programs, frequent flier programs, shoppers’ club, and so forth.  In exchange for some of your personal information and the ability to laser-target their advertising to you by tracking your purchases, you get discounts or rebates on your purchases.

Maybe it’s just my opinion, but haven’t rewards programs gotten a lot more restrictive recently?  Credit card rewards and store rewards alike seem, well, more effort to redeem than before.  Some cases in point:

  • Going from dollars to points. A 2% rebate on qualifying purchases is $2 for each $100 in purchases.  That’s easy to grasp.  But what about two points per dollar spent?  What does that mean?  It could mean the same thing if you get a $100 check for each 10,000 points you accumulate.  And if you get 10 points per dollar, that’s better, right?  Well, not if it takes 60,000 points to get that same $100 check.  The value of points are a lot easier to manipulate, and they’re a lot easier to devalue discreetly than a raw percentage.
  • Going from automatic rebates to rebates by request. My credit card used to give my cash back rewards as a credit on my next bill.  No waiting, no muss, no fuss.  Now, I have to put in a request to have my rebate sent to me.  More work for me, and more time that they keep my earned rebates.  My last rebate check was $200 — that’s a lot – because I dropped the ball and forgot to request the check when the point balance was lower.
  • Rewards that expire very quickly. A couple of rewards programs I’m in now have points that are only good for one month.  I earn gift certificates, and I need to spend them within a month, or else they vanish off the face of the earth, never to return.  I mean, rewards are rewards, but you’d think after dropping $1,000 and up at a store you’d get more time to use the earned rewards.
  • Higher rewards if you accept vouchers for purchases at the same merchant. One credit card application outlined their reward structure, and rewards redeemed in store credits were higher than for cash.
  • Rewards that are just a pain in the butt to redeem. At one merchant in particular, I have to catch the cashier with my rewards number before she rings up the purchase in order to get credit.  I’ve missed a few purchases because I remembered just a little too late. That, and I’ve needed to call their customer service because the website registration does not work.  The website designer screwed up the form, and it rejects valid input.  A pain!

When it comes to reward programs there is one axiom:  Retailers are quite happy if you never redeem your rewards. They will put obstacles in your way and hope that you forget about them until it’s too late.  So load up your favorite to-do list with reminders to get the rewards you’ve earned.

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Guide To Your Search For The Best Credit Card Rewards

Jul 5th

Posted by Finance in credit

3 comments

Credit card companies or banks thrive to offer their credit cards rewards program o attract more consumers to spend using their credit card.

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