Updates: Earn $100+ In Free Money Trying Out Financial Services

Posted on April 27, 2008 // 16 Comments

Here’s an updated list of companies willing to pay you to try out their services. None of these listed require a credit check. See links for more info.

RevolutionMoneyExchange $25 Bonus. Offer extended to May 15th, so get in by then if you haven’t already. Just sign-up with this PayPal alternative and grab your $25. You don’t even have to make a deposit or buy anything. More details here.

Ebates $10 Bonus (+$18 possible). Ebates offers rebates on online store purchases. After your first transaction, you’ll get a $10 bonus. Just sign-up with your e-mail and you’ll see the $10 in your account. One suggestion: sign-up for a free trial of Netflix through Ebates and get another $18, and they’ll send you $28 during their next cycle. (Looks like you have to become a paying member, cheapest plan is $4.99/month.) Just remember to cancel in time. More details here.

Prosper $25 Bonus. Peer-to-peer lending means you get to earn interest by lending to people you choose. Make a loan of $50, and you’ll receive a $25 bonus on top of your interest rate. More details here.

Capital One 360 $25 Bonus. One of the earliest online-only savings accounts, Capital One 360 will pay you $25 immediately if your initial deposit is at least $250. The account currently earns 3.0% APY.

ShareBuilder $50 Bonus. If you open an account with this brokerage and make any one trade, you will earn $50. In the application, say you are responding to a promotion and use the promo code “50GO28“. More info based on a previous similar offer.

I have applied and received all of the bonuses above successfully except for the Prosper one, as I had signed up before the promotion started. You can also get $100 all at once by applying for one of these credit cards, although applying will require a credit check (and some spending restraint, I suppose).

Filed Under: Banking, Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

ThankYou Points: Double Your Redemption Rate With The Fixed Flight Option

Posted on April 17, 2008 // 30 Comments

If you have a Citibank credit card and are collecting ThankYou points, you are probably familiar with the various gift cards available at approximately a 1 point to 1 cent ratio, or 10,000 points = $100 gift card. You may even be familiar with the Fixed Point redemption option for travel. This not-so-publicized option allows you to redeem 20,000 ThankYou points for any domestic coach flight up to $400 in value (per Expedia.com). That’s nearly twice the value, with no blackout dates, no seat availability issues, no 14-day advance booking requirement. You do have to pay the taxes and fees, however, which can be up to $50 if there are multiple stops. (For details see the FAQ, click on Travel Rewards.)

It’s actually quite nice, and I have booked a ticket before this way before. The problem is, they have been gradually restricting which credit cards are eligible to redeem this options. The list went from virtually all Citi cards to only a select few.

This only left me with either gift cards or the variable point flight option, which is not horrible but much worse in comparison. Essentially one point = 1 cent, so 20,000 ThankYou points would only cover a $200 ticket on Expedia.com. Double-checking, I see that one way to qualify for the fixed point redemption is to have or open up a bank account at Citibank, specifically the “Citibank Account” which has a minimum balance of $6,000 across your accounts.

However, there is another easier way. I missed the Expedia Account part! What did that mean? Surely this was some sort of special account, and not just that simple free account that tracks my itineraries at Expedia? Well, it was. But merging your Expedia account to your existing ThankYou account was very tricky, until I stumbled across this post at the FlyerTalk forums. Here is my simplified version, which worked great for me:

1. Create a new Expedia account. Unless you really use your Expedia account, this makes it easy. When you are signing up, do not enter your existing ThankYou account number. Have them generate a new one, and write it down.

2. Now log into your ThankYou Network account that you wish to redeem points from. From the menu bars at the top, click on My Account » My Sponsor Accounts » Add a Sponsor Account. Type in your new ThankYou account number from above, and confirm. You should now have merged the two accounts together, with this result:

altext

Voila… now you have an Expedia Account as a sponsor account, and the fixed point redemption option is available to you. I just hope this window stays open long enough for me to use it again.

(Update: This option is set to go away at the end of February.)

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express – Rewards Card Review

Posted on April 11, 2008 // 42 Comments

True Earnings Card from Costco and American ExpressHere’s another solid all-around rewards credit card that is much better than all those generic 1% back cards out there. The TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express offers the following:

  • 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations and on gasoline at Costco  (up to $4,000)
  • 2% cash back at U.S. restaurants
  • 2% cash back on eligible travel purchases (airline, lodging, car rental, cruise line, travel agency and tour operators)
  • 1% cash back on other purchases, including Costco

I’m pretty sure this is also better than their previous offer, I don’t remember there being a gas rebate before (I might be wrong). If eating out and gas are your biggest expenses after housing (like us on many months), then this looks pretty good. There is also no limit on the cash back you can earn. Might go nicely with the 2% cash back from Executive memberships. Terms and restrictions apply.

There is no annual fee, but you must have a Costco membership to apply. (The TrueEarnings card can also replace your Costco Membership Card. ) Regarding getting the cash back:

“Rebate is awarded annually in the form of an in-store coupon redeemable for cash or merchandise at any U.S. Costco Warehouse.”

Why not cash in the coupon, and then charge your Costco purchase to get another 1% back? 😉

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Reasons All Homeowners Should Get A HELOC? (Home Equity Line of Credit)

Posted on March 10, 2008 // 46 Comments

With my new fat mortgage, I’m considering whether to also take out a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELoC). This is not a home equity loan where you take out a lump sum at a fixed rate, but is a line of credit usually at a variable rate. I think of it as a credit card that is secured by my house (!). I don’t plan on actually using it, but I think it might nice to have around as long as the upfront costs to me are minimal. Here’s why:

Safety Net / Emergency Funds
Although having adequate emergency funds in cash is always preferable, it is nice to know that you have a HELOC as a backup in case of prolonged job loss or health problems. It’s always better to line up credit ahead of time while you have good credit rather than when you are already desperate. Using a HELOC can be preferable over paying sky-high credit card interest or falling behind bills (late fees, damaged credit score). Ironically, you might even use it to temporarily keep current on your mortgage to avoid penalties or even foreclosure. Let’s hope not.

Cheap and Flexible
The nice thing about a HELOC with no fees is that if you don’t take any money out, you don’t pay anything. And because the money is secured by your home, this assurance makes your interest rate relatively low. The rate is usually close to the WSJ Prime rate, which is currently 6% APR. On top of that, your interest paid might even be tax-deductible.

The interest is accrued daily, which makes it good for quick loans. So if you do need to take out $10,000 on short notice and you don’t have the cash on hand, using a HELOC might be the most economical way to do it. At 6%, your interest owed on $10,000 is only $1.64 a a day. Of course, for many folks this convenience might just provide too much temptation. All debt can turn into a double-edged sword. Know thyself, is all I can say.

Tool for Credit Card Profit Games
Here’s a trick to go along with making money with 0% balance transfers that is a good example of that flexibility. With certain credit card issuers it can be difficult to turn your balance transfer into cash in your pocket, especially when you have no existing balances. But here’s an example of how to use your HELOC to extract $10,000:

  1. Request a balance transfer from your 0% APR credit card for $10,000 directly to your HELOC. Since this is loan they won’t mind at all.
  2. Shortly before the balance transfer is scheduled to arrive, write a check for $10,000 from the HELOC to your interest-bearing bank account. Now you have created a temporary $10,000 debt at 6% and $10,000 bank balance earning ~4% (minus some possible lost days of interest).
  3. When the balance transfer payment arrives a fews days to a week later, your HELOC debt will be paid off.
  4. A week’s worth of interest at 6% APR ion $10,000 is only $11.50. And that is partially countered by interest earned in your savings account.
  5. Voila! For around ten bucks, you now have $10,000 at 0% APR in your bank account to do as you wish. 😉

Finding a HELOC – What To Look Out For
Now, I don’t want a home equity line if it’s going to cost me a bundle. Here’s a quick rundown of important factors when looking for a HELOC, based on an article by the Mortgage Professor.

  • Introductory rate and period. Temporary teaser rate to suck you in.
  • Margin. This is usually how your non-teaser interest rate is determined, relative to the Prime rate.
  • Minimum draw. How long can you take money out?
  • Required average balance. Do you have to take some money out?
  • Upfront lender fees. These days, you should be able to eliminate these.
  • Upfront third party fees. Harder to get waived, but try.
  • Annual fee. Just say no, again. Sometimes only waived for first year.
  • Cancellation fee. Many have these, I guess so you don’t bail and go to another bank. This is especially the case if they waive all the upfront costs above, since they are losing money on you so far. As long as you can keep your balance at $0 with no fees, just keep it open and don’t use it.

I see a lot of competition out there now that rates are low, so definitely shop around. As a data point, I just saw a special offer from Bank of America for a no closing cost, no application fee, no annual fee HELOC. Don’t forget to try your local credit unions as well.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Real Estate //

Maxed Out: Movie About Credit Cards – My Cynical Review

Posted on March 5, 2008 // 50 Comments

The big McMansion picture in my last post reminded me that I had to finish watching Maxed Out, a film about the credit card industry. You can watch it for free (albeit in low quality) on Google Video [90 minutes long]. The very first scene includes a real estate agent selling homes with crazy stuff like elevators, two dishwashers, and wine caves.

My Twisted Review
The purpose of the film was to “raise awareness of how credit and lending issues are affecting society.” I think this is a admirable purpose. However, as someone who is familiar with credit card companies and all their practices, my primary thought on this film was “duh”. Please watch out for large amounts of sarcasm and cynicism ahead.

Gasp! Credit card companies target the stupid, the poor, the rich, and everyone in between. They charge huge fees and enormous interest rates if you pay late. They will even offer credit to those who just filed bankruptcy recently, because they know (1) they can’t file bankruptcy again for several years and (2) they are already shown an inability to handle their spending. You could be dead or fictional and still be receiving card applications in the mail.

However, too often in the movie I heard phrases like “Yeah, I did sign it without reading…” or “I figured if they offered me money, it meant I could handle it” or “I never talked my kids about credit cards before sending them off to college” or “I know, I know, I should have read the fine print”. Don’t make it so easy for them, please…

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Credit Cards //

Credit Card Foreign Transaction Fee Refund: $25+

Posted on December 12, 2007 // 49 Comments

Back in February, I received a mailing about a class-action lawsuit claiming that Visa, MasterCard, their member banks, and Diners Club conspired to set and conceal markups and fees, typically of 1-3%, on foreign transactions. It appears that the settlement amounts have been agreed upon. Here are some selected excerpts from the official settlement website and FAQ.

Am I a member of the settlement class?
Those persons who made a foreign transaction using a Visa-, MasterCard-, or Diners Club- branded credit, charge or debit/ATM card between February 1, 1996 and November 8, 2006 are members of the Settlement Damages Class.

How do I complete the claim form?
You need to complete and submit a claim form prior to the deadline, either on-line at www.ccfsettlement.com/claim, or by mailing or faxing in the form.

Option 1 is an Easy Refund of $25 and is recommended if you travel outside of the U.S. for less than one week or had foreign transactions of less than $2,500 using your eligible cards during the class period.

Option 2 is a Total Estimation Refund that is based on typical spending during travel and answers to the few questions listed on the claim form. This option is recommended if you traveled outside the U. S. for more than one week or had foreign transactions of more than $2,500.

Option 3 is the Annual Estimated Refund option. It is recommended if you had extensive foreign travel or foreign transactions and are willing to provide year-by-year information.

Seems like a pretty huge settlement class! You don’t even need to have gone anywhere, maybe you just bought something online in a foreign currency. If you choose the simple $25 option, you will need to provide your name, address, credit card number, issuing bank, and the last 4 digits of your Social Security number. This site has been reported in various new outlets, so I believe it to be legitimate. Also, thanks to the readers who reminded me about this.

Filed Under: Credit Cards //

Discover Card Holiday Mall Promotion: 10% Back + $100 Loophole?

Posted on October 30, 2007 // 24 Comments

Discover Holiday Mall BannerThe Holiday SeasonTM seems to start earlier every year. Discover Card has already announced their 2007 Holiday Mall Promotion, which essentially give you $20 back for every $200 that you spend at limited mall locations:

Head to one of over 160 participating shopping centers from November 1 – December 31, 2007, and you’ll get a $20 Discover Gift Card for every $200 you spend on your Discover Card*. Just take $200 in Discover Card receipts from any store(s) at a participating mall or shopping center to Customer Service (or the Discover Card Booth) and redeem them for a $20 Discover Gift Card.

The fine print version:

*Get a $20 Discover Gift Card for every $200 in purchases made with your Discover Card at a participating shopping center between 11/1/2007-12/31/2007, while supplies last. Original receipts must be presented to a participating shopping center’s Customer Service Desk (or the Discover Card Booth) by 12/31/07. Limit five Gift Cards per account during the promotion period. See Gift Card terms and conditions for full details.

Doing the math, you can up to 10% back this way if you manage to spend an exact multiple of $200, with a maximum of 5 gift cards ($100) for $1,000 in total spending per Discover card account. Not too shabby if you’re gonna spend that much anyways.

But during last year’s promotion, a reader happened upon a loophole: If you return your purchase, there is no requirement to return the gift cards (and still isn’t one this year). Maybe you found something cheaper elsewhere, maybe you just decided against buying yet another iPod. Now, you may have some ethical problems with taking advantage of this loophole. In that case, you can try to hand them back to the Customer Service clerk. But be careful, because if you end buying stuff again later, you might not be able get that $20 gift card back again since they don’t have any official mechanism to return the gift cards. Found via Fatwallet.

This would go nicely with the Discover More Card, or the Discover Miles Card which offers 12,000 Miles (worth a $50 gift card + $25 cash) for making one purchase a month for a year. Both also offer 0% APR balance transfers.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Best Credit Card For College Students – 5% Back At Restaurants and Amazon.com

Posted on October 18, 2007 // 33 Comments

I ran across this article Best credit cards for college kids on CNN Money. I found it interesting that 75% of all college students have a credit card, when I see so much media attention to how credit card companies target students. Seems like students now are seen more as big kids instead of young adults (again, note the title of the article). Soon they’ll need lessons on how to feed and bathe themselves…

The article then goes on to list some good characteristics of a college credit card, which really didn’t seem any different than what anyone should look for in a credit card… Low APR? Less fees? Calling Captain Obvious! CNN did suggest out the best credit card for those select “responsible” students – the Citi mtvU Platinum Select Visa Card, which was interesting.

The goal of every rewards card is to give you just enough good stuff to have you use it for everything, and this card is smart. What were my two top expenses as a college student besides rent? Eating out and textbooks. So guess what, the card gives you 5 ThankYou Points for every dollar you spend at restaurants, bookstores, record stores, movie theaters and video rental stores. These points can be converted to up to 5% back in gift cards or 5% back in cash towards your student loans. Some may see this as sneaky way to prey on college “kids”, but I see it as another loss leader to take advantage of.

In addition, one big “loophole” is that everything you buy from Amazon.com gets 5% back as well, as it is categorized as a bookstore! They can’t tell if you bought books there, or went for 8 bags of groceries and an iPod Touch instead.

The only problem is that if you aren’t a student, some people report that they ask for verification. Some have gotten transcript requests, many others slip by. I know some people out there have this card; please report your experiences! Students can also earn 250-2000 points per semester for maintaining a good GPA, and 25 points each month for not exceeding your credit limit and paying on time.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Discover More Card Limited 5% Cashback

Posted on October 8, 2007 // 24 Comments

The Discover® More® Card has been on my list of top 0% APR offers for a while now.

5% Cashback Bonus “Get More” Program
As an overall cashback rewards card, this card is actually subpar. You need to reach total annual purchases of $3,000 just to get to the standard 1% cashback tier… yawn. What you have to do is take specific advantage of is the 5% cashback on certain broad categories that change each quarter – like travel, home improvement, gas, and restaurants. Here are the categories for 2012:

  • January – March: Gas and Entertainment
  • April – June: Restaurants and Movies
  • July – September: Gas and Summer Fun
  • October – December: Holiday Shopping

 

 

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Tips On How To Cancel A Credit Card… Profitably!

Posted on October 3, 2007 // 33 Comments

You may have already heard from me and other articles that canceling a credit card does not help your credit score. But sometimes, you just have to do it. For example, you may have an annual fee or some ongoing customer service nightmare.

What’s happens to my credit score if I cancel? While it won’t help my credit score, it likely also won’t hurt it very much either. As explored previously, the two factors that matter are credit limit utilization and average age of accounts. As long as this card doesn’t comprise a huge chunk of your total available credit limits, it shouldn’t affect your utilization ratio very much. In my case, this AmEx Gold card is a charge card and doesn’t even have a credit limit, so it won’t matter at all. As for the average age of accounts – your account is already opened! Closing it won’t make it any older.

Still want to cancel? Here are some tips to keep in mind:

#1 Consider simply switching to another type of card with better features or annual fees.
If the reason for closing the card is to avoid paying an annual fee, perhaps try to simply convert the card to another style offered by the same issuer. For example, I could ask to be transferred to a card which has no annual fee. They might say yes, they might say no, but it’s worth a try.

For example, the more heavily-pushed Citi Platinum American Airlines Card has an annual fee of $50, but the lesser-known Citi Bronze American Airlines Card has no annual fee (albeit with less rewards). So instead of canceling your platinum card, you could just convert it to a less valuable metal but still be able to earn a few quick miles when needed.

#2 Combine the credit limits with another existing credit card.
Similar to above, you can simply try to “move” your credit limit from the card you want to cancel onto another existing card you want to keep (within the same issuer.) This way, you can get rid of one card while keeping your nice credit limit and maintaining your credit score.

#3 Go fishing for some financial encouragement to stay
When you call to cancel, you will usually be transferred to a special person trained to handle cancellations. This may also be referred to as the “Retention”, “Loyalty”, or “Member Relations” department. The primary goal of this person is to keep you a customer, using whatever means at their disposal.

Accordingly, your goal here is to find out what they have to offer you. First of all, be nice! Help them to help you. Instead of asking sternly to cancel, you might say something like “I am thinking of canceling because my interest rate is too high.” This would encourage the rep to offer you a lower interest rate. For my situation, I might say something like “I don’t like this card enough to pay $125 next year, it seems a bit steep”. Ideally, this would lead to something like a $100 credit to stay, another annual fee waiver, or some other financial incentive. They may have a variety of things in their goodie bag, and it may change from time-to-time due to quotas or whatever.

I usually call early, usually as soon as I get the sign-up bonus and I know there are no other redeeming features. For example, I have been offered a $25 gift card to stay another 3 months by Discover. After that time period passes, I can call again.

#4 Sometimes you’ll just get lucky
One time while canceling another American Express credit card, I just didn’t like what they had to offer and simply canceled. To my surprise, I got a pro-rated refund of the remaining part of my waived annual fee with my final statement! Out of the $90 fee which I didn’t have to pay, I got a $63 credit. The only takeaway here is that if you really want to cancel, just go ahead and do it. If I had waited until the last moment, my prorated annual fee would have been just a few dollars.

Filed Under: Credit Cards //

Chase Freedom Cash Visa: 5% Back On Popular Spending Categories

Posted on September 24, 2007 // 44 Comments

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Cash Back On All Purchases With Citibank CashReturns MasterCard

Posted on September 13, 2007 // 67 Comments

There is yet another rewards card variation out there – the Citibank CashReturns MasterCard.

What’s special about this card is the promotional offer. It offers 5% back on all purchases for 3 months.(Update: as of 4/20, it only offers a 20% bonus on the standard 1% back on everything), with no caps or limits. This would be ideal for those that either regularly charge high amounts on their cards, or have any large purchases coming up. Got a home improvement project approaching? Christmas gifts? Vacation plans? Reimbursed work expenses? I know we really racked up the charges when we moved.

Doing the math, this has the potential to be better than any of the other sign-up bonuses out there. If you get 5% back on $10,000 during the intro period, that’s $500 of tax-free cash in your pocket! (Why credit card rebates are believed to be non-taxable).

The standard benefits are pretty average, but do offer more towards simplicity:

» Earn 1% cash back on all purchases
» No limits or expiration on the amount of cash back earned
» Checks sent automatically upon earning $50
» No Annual Fee

Update: Yes, there is also 0% APR on balance transfers for up to 12 months with this card, but note that it comes with a transaction fee of 3.0% of the amount of each balance transfer ($5 minimum). If this is what interest you, see this list for alternative cards with no initial balance transfer fees.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //
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