Barclays Credit Card

Don't ever apply for Barclay's credit card (or cards managed by Barclays - such as US Airways). They need proof of citizenship or permanent residency.

chase credit line transfer

Chase does not transfer credit line from one account to another anymore.

Secret History of Credit Card

NARRATOR: But what really attracted Citibank to South Dakota was an obscure Supreme Court decision that said a bank could now export its interest rate to other states. It was called the Marquette decision.

BILL JANKLOW: The Marquette Bank decision was a U.S. Supreme Court decision that said, forget where the bank is chartered. Wherever the credit decision is made, in whatever state, that's the place where you can apply interest, wherever you make the loan. In other words, if South Dakota had a 25 percent ceiling, then you could charge 25 percent, even to a loan in Florida.

BEN STEIN: The credit card companies hate people like me, who pay off our bills every month. And I know that because I ran into a fellow I went to high school with on the street, and he told me he worked for a credit card company. And I told him about how much I use credit cards and how I pay them off every month, and he said, "Oh, we hate you. We hate you guys. We call you deadbeats."

NARRATOR: "Deadbeats," in the upside-down world of the credit card business, are the people like Ben Stein, who pay off their bills on time. The industry's best customers are the 90 million Americans who don't pay off their credit card debt. They're called the "revolvers."

PAT WALLACE: Providian, for example, was accepting payments from consumers on their accounts, depositing the checks but not crediting the account for sometimes up to several weeks. What was the net result of that? Invariably, the consumer got a late charge.

LOWELL BERGMAN: They were holding payments so that they could charge late fees and they could charge overdraft fees and—

Prisoners of Debt

A fresh start with bankruptcy? Big lenders keep squeezing money out of consumers whose debts were canceled by the courts

Credit Card terms - India

For the traveller: In case you are travelling, please pay up your bill amount before you leave the city. In case you drop your cheque in any drop box outside your city, you will be charged a processing fee of 1 per cent of the bill amount, subject to a minimum fee of Rs 100. Some banks don't even accept outstation cheques.

Forex payment: While cards offer you the convenience of carrying out foreign exchange transactions, you are charged a mark-up of 3 per cent for this privilege.

Crossing the limit: You might be happily surprised when your bank honours a payment that crosses even you credit limit. But then, there is a catch, you will be charged 2.5 per cent for the amount that is in excess of the limit. Yes, your reputation is protected in front of the merchant establishment. But it comes at a price.

Drafting dues: The facility of dialling in and ordering a demand draft against your credit limit is available. But it comes for a pretty packet as well, another 2.5 per cent of the draft value, subject to a minimum of Rs 300.

Picture imperfect: Beware of additional frills such as "image cards". Banks charge an amount of Rs 150 or so for affixing your image on the card. However, this does not apply to "photo cards", which are free.

Nothing is free: You might be tempted to transfer from one bank to another under zero per cent balance transfers. However, remember that there are "handling charges of 2 per cent" in the fine print.

Of course, these are some general fine print and can vary from bank to bank. But then here is something that is common to all, since May 11, 2007, most of the above charges will also attract a service tax of 12.36 per cent.

Chase card change in terms

IMPORTANT NOTICE OF CHANGE IN TERMS

This Change in Terms notice contains the details of upcoming changes to your Cardmember Agreement (“agreement”). These changes will be effective the first day of your billing cycle that includes January 1, 2007. They will apply to current and future balances on your account. Please read this notice carefully. If you have questions about it, please contact us at the number on the back of your card.

Summary of Changes:

• In calculating finance charges, the date when transactions are added to your daily balances and begin to accrue periodic finance charges will
be as early as the transaction date

The change described in this notice will apply to your account automatically. If you were previously notified of the change described in this notice and it is already in effect on your account, it will continue to apply. Any other terms on your account not described in this notice also continue to apply.

Again, please read the enclosed information, and keep this notice for your records.

AMENDMENTS TO YOUR AGREEMENT

Please note that some terms in your agreement or any amendment may appear with initial capital letters or all lower case letters. Such terms have the same meaning. For example, “Account” means the same as “account”.

If you have any questions about these amendments, please call us at the number on the back of your card.

The following changes will apply automatically:

FINANCE CHARGE CALCULATION. The "Periodic Finance Charge Calculation" or "Finance Charge Calculation" section of your Agreement is amended to replace, in the portion that explains how we calculate the daily balance for each transaction category or feature, the sentence(s) that describes when new transactions are added to the daily balances and begin to accrue finance charges. The revised terms are as follows:

We add a new purchase, cash advance, balance transfer or overdraft advance, if applicable, to the daily balance as of the transaction date, or a later date of our choice. We add a new cash advance check or balance transfer check to the daily balance as of the date the cash advance check or balance transfer check is deposited by a payee, or a later date of our choice.

GRACE PERIOD. The "Grace Period" or "Grace Period and Accrual of Finance Charges” section of your Agreement is amended to replace the sentence that describes when periodic finance charges begin to accrue on transactions, fees and other finances charges. The revised sentence is as follows:

We accrue periodic finance charges on a transaction, fee, or finance charge from the date it is added to your daily balance until payment in full is received on your account.

ADV2931 11/06
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Cash back cards

Capital One No Hassle Cash
- 2% cash back on gas and groceries, 1% on rest


Amex Blue Cash
- 1%, 0.5%
- 5% on everyday, 1.5% on rest (above 6500)
-- Doesn't seem to have any limits on how much you can earn.
- 6500 ==> Almost $550 on your card every month. Might be slightly difficult to reach that. Because its not accepted everywhere.


MBNA Cash Back
- $25 for every $2500 - no limits ==> equates to 1%

Chase Cash Plus Rewards Visa (firstusa)
- 5% grocery, gas, drug, 1% rest (5 points for every $1, 1 point for every $1)
- option of rewards/cash. Good for 3 years. 5000 points => $50.
- max 30,000/year ==> $300

Mergers:

Bank Of America: Fleet, MBNA
Chase: BankOne, FirstUSA

Recommendation:

Use AmEx Blue Cash if you are gonna spend more than 6500. Else, use Chase.