Welcome to the post-recession credit market, where banks are paranoid about lending, consumers are wary of fees and everyone’s keeping a closer eye on their credit rating. In this new dawn of shell-shocked borrowing, many card carrying consumerists are reconsidering revolving credit, while others are merely treading very, very carefully. What do you carry? Credit? Debit? Charge? To a cashier, it’s all the same (as long as you punch the right button when prompted) – but depending on your spending habits, it can mean a world of difference to your bank account and your credit score. Read on for a brief guide to all the latest fall fashions in plastic…
Last week, I told you about a Bank of America customer, Ms. Ann Minch, who made a YouTube video in protest of her interest rate being hiked. At that time, I applauded her for her strategy of making a public appeal to executives, yet criticized her for encouraging people to default on their credit card debt in protest.
Last year, the Credit Union Skeptic and I had a relatively public debate about the appeal of the credit union structure to the public. The Skeptic’s take was essentially (paraphrased), “who cares what your structure is? People care about the products, services, and experiences you offer them.”
Last spring, when the CARD act was being debated, I discussed a horrible amendment that would have allowed merchants to add surcharges to all transactions made with a credit card. Currently, they are forbidden from doing so by their merchant agreement with the processors, Visa, Mastercard, Amex, etc. Had it passed, I would have radically changed my credit card usage as merchant fees are almost by necessity going to be greater than any reward. Thankfully, that amendment went down in flames as the CARD act was signed into law without it.
As we mentioned earlier, Chase has rolled out some new financial tools to help you track your finances and conquer your credit card debt. All in all, these simply amount to fancy ways of looking at your balance – but as anyone who regularly reads personal finance blogs knows by now, the road to a debt free (or at least a manageable amount of debt) is paved with discipline moreso than breaks from credit card companies. Blueprint offers Chase customers some flashy systems for motivating yourself. It’s completely optional, but it’s also completely free – so you may want to give it a shot. Earlier, we covered Full Pay, which lets you separate out certain categories to pay down first. Today, we’ll go over the rest: Split, Finish and Track It.
Have you ever seen an ad for the Jitterbug phone. It is a mobile phone that does something remarkable; it only makes telephone calls. It offers no instant messaging, no web browsing, and no cameras. The idea is that many people, myself included, only want to use their phone to call people, and are happy using their cameras and computers when they want to take pictures and use the internet.
JP Morgan Chase is rolling out a whole new approach to getting card users to pay up – make it easy. Unlike Bank of America, which is pissing people off until they refuse to pay, Chase credit card holders with a Chase Freedom, Chase Platinum, Chase Sapphire or Chase Sapphire now have sleek Web 2.0 apps to manage their credit card debt by budgeting and tracking and dividing and conquering. The whole thing feels very Mint-y and Thrive-y – which means this could be pretty cool.
It wasn’t long ago that I lamented the near-death of the credit union blogosphere. Boy, was I wrong. In the past few months I have discovered a wealth of new blogs that have revitalized the online conversation.
As part of our weekly credit card review series, we’ll be looking at the Discover More(SM) Card, which has long been the best cashback card available. With the recent changes to credit card laws, there’s been somewhat of a shakeup in the hierarchy of the best cashback credit cards. Chase Freedom has always been a popular card, but now Discover More(SM) is looking increasingly attractive.
Legislation like the Credit CARD Act may protect you from exorbitant fees, bait-and-switch marketing and sudden increase in your interest rate, but who will protect you from rampant spending, irresponsible borrowing and living beyond your means? You, that’s who. With the credit card industry duly restricted by the recent CARD Act, it’s easy to forget that we are often guilty of hurting the ones we love with our credit cards. So, the big lenders are begrudgingly shouldering their punishments for an era of irresponsible credit – how can you do your part? For one, you can get certified.