Citi® Quick Lock

Citi Quick Lock

Citi® Quick Lock: A new and very welcome feature for my +Citi MasterCard®.

And because it is my habit to test everything, I tested it, and it worked perfectly.

I received a very rapid email from Citi when I locked and unlocked my card.

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I have a business debit card with Chase®, and it would be great if the powers at Chase added this feature to it.  The card is connected with my business checking account so security is of the utmost importance.

And ditto for my Bank of America® business credit card.

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Somewhat unrelated, but I just want to add a strong kudos to +Bank of America, because during the worst of the 2008 banking crisis and the subsequent Great Recession, my favorite of America's big banks exercised decent and responsible banking with my credit-card accounts.  They did not:

• Lower my credit limit(s)
• Cancel my active account(s)
• Force an interest-rate increase

During the worst of everything, my FICO® credit score either continued sideways or moved up, so I did not appreciate being treated like a subprime borrower by other credit-card banks, some of which no longer exist (go figure.)

Here's what my credit scores look like right now, provided by CreditKarma: TransUnion (808) and Equifax (811.)

Credit Scores

 Responsible banking.

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Chase Makes The Best No Fee Balance Transfer Card Even Better

The Slate from Chase credit card has been tweaked. The card still offers a zero percent introductory rate on new purchases and transferred balances for 15 months, with no balance transfer fee. What's new is that you now have up to 60 days to transfer your balance(s) to the card, and pay no transfer fee. In other words, the fee-free transfer window has been extended.

You can the Slate from Chase credit card here.

Enjoy!

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0% Intro APR Scaled Back on The Chase Ink Classic and Ink Cash Business Credit Cards

Chase has scaled back the zero percent introductory period for the Ink Classic and Ink Cash business credit cards. For both cards, the intro period was 0% on both new purchases and transferred balances for 12 months. It's now 6 months on purchases and balance transfers for both cards.

A bit of a buzzkill, but both cards still offer a lot of value.

For example, Ink Classic offers:

• As a sweet welcoming gift, 10,000 bonus points after your first purchase
  
  
• Spend $5,000 in your first 3 months with Ink Classic and you'll receive an additional 15,000 bonus points
  
  
• No cap on the amount of points you can earn, and your points never expire
  

And Ink Cash offers an extremely competitive cash back rewards program.

Both Ink Cash and Ink Classic have no annual membership fee.

If you have zero interest in carrying a balance, you can always opt for the Ink Bold charge card, a card with which you'd pay your entire balance in full at the end of each statement month. Ink Bold offers:

• Welcoming gift: 20,000 bonus points after your first purchase
  
  
• Spend $10,000 or more in the first 3 months and get an additional 25,000 bonus points
  
  
• No foreign transaction or overlimit fees (flexible spending limit)
  
  
• No annual fee for the first year.
  

We all know that the go-go days of easy credit are long gone. With this in mind, be sure that both your personal and business credit profiles are in tiptop shape before applying for any Chase business credit card or business charge card.

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All Chase Ink Business Credit Cards Now Offering Very Easy $100 Cash Back

I don't know anyone who doesn't love a cash back credit cards. So today's news is pretty exciting: All the Chase Ink business credit cards now feature a $100 cash back bonus. It's a very sweet benefit, as cardholders qualify for the $100 bonus simply by making just one purchase with a new Chase Ink business card. Sweet.

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Half Glass Full: Business Credit Cards Better Than Ever for Responsible Borrowers

If you perform an internet search on “business credit cards”, you will more than likely return a myriad of results that paint them in a bad light simply because there are no added protections for card holders under the Credit Card Accountability and Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD). The legislation was designed to protect not-so-savvy consumers who may experience drastic, unexpected interest rate hikes by not-so-honest card issuers willing to take advantage of them. Many business credit card holders were surprised to learn that CARD does not protect them, and so journalists far and wide are shaking their fingers at business credit cards, warning possible applicants against the ‘pitfalls’ of applying for business or “professional” credit cards.

These naysayers are not telling you the whole story.

For responsible credit card users, now is a great time to apply for a business credit card and use the current economic slump to your advantage. The Wall Street Journal reports that after CARD was enacted, credit card issuers mailed out 47 million professional offers in Q1 of 2010, a 256% increase from the same period last year. Why the huge jump? Because business owners are tightening their belts and postponing expansions, causing credit card issuers to lose profits. In a scramble to increase their own bottom lines, card issuers are relaxing certain application criteria for business (or “professional”) credit card applicants and beefing up the card reward programs. For instance, the Ink From Chase business credit card application has been changed to help make approval easier. The same Wall Street Journal article reveals that January 2010 mailings for the Ink From Chase card required applicants to provide the name of their company, the nature of the business, its address and its federal employer identification number. Solicitations in July, on the other hand, only required applicants to check a box that said ‘Yes, I am a business owner’ or ‘Yes, I am a business professional with business expenses.’ A Forbes blog also reports that the Ink From Chase card pays 3% back on fuel, home improvement, dining, and office supplies, as well as 1% on everything else. Small and home business owners are well able to combine personal and business expenses, making this and other similar business credit cards a very attractive option for business and even personal finance.

So, despite the lack of added protection by the Credit Card Accountability and Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD), these new and improved professional and business credit cards with expanded rewards programs can actually prove to be advantageous for the right kind of card user.

But who is that, exactly?

If you have a good credit score, pay your balance off every month, and do not usually incur late payment fees, the current economic climate has blown the winds of opportunity in your direction. Since the lack of added consumer protection in CARD only affects credit card users who tend to carry balances and are at times delinquent in their payments, these penalties are not a major source of concern for business owners who are conservative in their spending, keep good records, and pay off their credit card bills by the end of each month (at least most months). Getting a new business credit card now, while issuers are still looking to woo new applicants, can help build your business credit score and set you up nicely for the time when banks begin offering better business loans and you are ready to expand.

Don’t let the mainstream media tell you that this glass is half empty - it’s really half full.

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Chase "Forces" Me to Close My Favorite Business Credit Card

It's the old credit card bait 'n switch. The credit card banks bait you with attractive terms and generous rewards programs to get you to signup. Then, they wait. They wait for you to accumulate a large enough balance, then jack up your interest rate. I've been reading about this a lot on other websites recently; now it's happened to me, with my Chase business credit card.

Just got a snail mail notice from Chase informing me that the company is going to raise the interest rate on my favorite business credit card, from a fixed rate of 9.9% to a variable rate of (Prime + 11.99%) = 15.24%. 15.24% is now the interest rate floor for this card, since Prime is not likely to go any lower. Of course, I have the option to opt out of the change. This would cause my account to be closed, and I would then continue to pay the balance down to zero at the original 9.9% APR.

Thankfully, I'm prepared for this contingency. I plan on paying the balance off with some cash from savings and a small loan via Lending Club


I don't have to borrow any money via Lending Club to payoff my Chase business card, but I really like the idea of Lending Club -- bypassing the banks and borrowing from regular folks across the country -- and I want to go through the process of borrowing through Lending Club myself so that I can report on my experience here in this blog.

To be perfectly honest, I really like my Chase business card, but, clearly, it's time for us to part ways. With the U.S. Prime Rate at 3.25%, any rate above 10% is a subprime rate, in my opinion, and I'm not a subprime borrower. I took advantage of an excellent 0% intro APR offer with this card, and, when the 12-month, interest-free period ended, I used the cash back rewards program to lower my cost of borrowing to a nominal level.

I really like the cash back rewards program with this card. I spend money on it and reward points accumulate. Then, when points reach a certain threshold, I simply login to my account and request a statement credit. With a few business days, the statement credit is posted to my account. Easy. No forms to fill out, No waiting until the end of the year to get my cash back reward and no waiting for a snail mail check. I will miss this rewards program.

I have to hand it to Chase for being honest. In the change of terms notice they sent, they explained the change as a, "response to market conditions," and they also added that the company wants to "maintain profitability." I'm hating the change but I respect the honesty. Contrast this with the Barclay's notice I received when that credit card bank closed my BJ's Visa Card. The company wrote that it was to, "...help [me] better manage [my] credit accounts..." In other words, not only did they close my account without consulting me first, they also felt it necessary to insult my intelligence.

In other business credit card news: Citi® closed my inactive CitiBusiness® card recently. I will miss this card because:

• it had a decent credit line (~$10,000) which enhanced my business's credit profile, and
  
  
• the account was aged which, again, contributes to my business's credit rating. It was my first business credit card.
  

So now I'm left with 3 business credit cards: two from Bank of America and one from Advanta. The Advanta card is about to be anointed as my "goto" card, because I'm still enjoying 0% intro APR on purchases, and the purchase APR will jump to a somewhat reasonable 7.99% when the interest-free period ends . I have been reading some horror stories about this particular Advanta business card (unwarranted rate hikes), but so far I've all is well. If Advanta tries to pull some funny business by raising my rate, I'll just pay the card off (my credit limit is under $3,000, and my balance isn't anywhere near that.)

As a final note: it's really no wonder that American Express is consistently rated as the best credit card bank. Right now the company is offering some high-risk cardholders a $300 payment (in the form of a prepaid gift card) in exchange for these accountholders paying their balance down to zero within a certain timeframe, and closing their account. Now that's my kinda' credit card bank!

NB: In that same JD Power & Associates Credit Card Satisfaction Study(1), Discover Card placed second.

Chase, on the other hand, has identified certain credit card accounts that may be at risk for default, and has responded by imposing a $10 per month fee. Yikes! I'm not a public relations professional, but I do have some sage advice for JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon: stop doing that!

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Twice The Victim of Fraud, In As Many Weeks

When it comes to my credit and debit cards, I'm very paranoid. I check my accounts daily; I scan for any charges I didn't make (I love Internet banking.) I've never been a victim of credit card fraud, until recently.

Last month, I noticed a charge on my Chase debit card for flowers which I never ordered. The charge was over $100 and the purchase was made at an online florist in Europe. As soon as I noticed the charge, I got on the phone with Chase to report it. I assumed that this type of claim was routine for a big bank like Chase; I also assumed that the process would be efficient and hassle-free. I was disappointed to learn that Chase would need to email me a claim form which I would have to fill out and fax back to Chase. Thankfully, the claim form was one page and it only took me a minute to complete, but I was still disappointed. Why was I being forced to use an inefficient technology that was hot back in the 1980's to make this claim? Why didn't Chase have a secure webpage I could visit to file my claim online?

Chase needed my signature on the form and that's why I needed to fax it. OK, I can understand that. Form completed, I scanned the document then fired up my fax software (Symantec's Winfax 10.0) and initiated the send. At the end of the send, Winfax indicated that the fax was successful, but it also returned an "unable to communicate with modem" error. I'd seen this error many times before and it never caused any problems, so I ignored it.

According to the instructions on the claim form, Chase would credit me the full amount of the disputed charge as soon as they received my signed claim form. Two business days passed and I still did not see a credit for the disputed amount in my account. I called Chase to ask them why they hadn't credited my account. They told me that they hadn't received my fax. I became irate at this point and demanded to speak to a supervisor. After waiting a few minutes, a supervisor came onto the line and told me that he had investigated my situation. He said that Chase had received my fax, but the portion of the document that contained the signature line was not transmitted, so the claim was not processed. Assuming that the error was their fault, I gave this guy a bit of a hard time, demanding that they process my claim immediately. He assured me that the problem was at my end and asked me to resend the fax. After taking a deep breath, I acquiesced.

I sent the fax two more times, and Winfax returned the same communication error despite simultaneously indicating that the fax was sent successfully. OK, so the problem could be my good old reliable Winfax 10.0. I really like Winfax, and you know how it is when you're in love: the object of your affection can't do wrong.

I conducted a quick Yahoo! search for "send fax free" and found FaxZero.com. Never used it before; never heard of it. FaxZero is free, intuitive and fast. The site is supported by ads. You can use the site to send and receive, though there are some restrictions if you choose not to pay anything. A few hours after I used FaxZero to send my claim form, I saw a credit in my Chase account for the disputed amount.

OK, so Chase wasn't at fault. It was stupid Winfax. The software had all the latest updates installed. Symantec wanted me to pay money to upgrade to a newer version of Winfax to get rid of this problem. No way, José. The software should not be telling me that a fax was sent successfully when in fact it wasn't. I deserved a free upgrade, but I wasn't going to get one. Bye-bye Winfax.

How was my account compromised? I have no idea. I use my debit card in both the online and offline worlds. Needless to say, I've modified the way I use my cards. Chase mailed me a new debit card within 3 business days of my initial phone call about the crime.

Two Weeks Later, My Chase Credit Card Is Compromised!

OK, so a little less than two weeks later, I get a call from Chase. They are calling to let me know that they detected a suspicious authorization on my Chase credit card. The charge was for less than $4, and the transaction was never captured.

Authorizing is when a merchant uses a credit card machine or software to tell your bank to set aside a certain amount against your account for a purchase. The merchant can then "capture" the charge later in the day in a batch process. Capturing is when the merchant tells the bank to process the authorized amount and complete the transaction. A merchant can authorize first then capture later, or the merchant can opt to do both at the same time. The merchant gets paid in step 3 of the credit card purchase process, when the transaction is "settled."

The 3 step process is all about security.

The folks at Chase have software that calculates the likelihood that a charge is legit, based on a cardholder's location, spending habits and other criteria. Red flags went up for this particular charge so Chase called me to ask if the charge was made by me. It was not. The Chase rep explained that criminals will often authorize a small amount first before attempting to rip off an account for a much larger amount.

The Chase rep told me that my credit card account number was no longer valid, and that I should destroy my credit card right away. A new card would be shipped to me within 5 business days. I explained to the rep that I had some important payments to make and I really wanted to use this particular Chase credit card (I'm in the middle of a 0% intro APR deal with this card, but I didn't tell that to the Chase rep.) She understood and offered to rush my replacement card to me; I would receive it within 2 days. I asked if I would be charged for the rush delivery and she said no, so -- a real no-brainer here -- I accepted the offer. Replacement card was delivered 2 days later, as promised.

Banks tend to be very frugal about things, so I was impressed that I was able to get my card in a hurry without being charged extra for the shipping upgrade. Kudos to Chase. I would expect the same from American Express, as they tend to go the extra mile to make sure that their customers are satisfied. I've read and heard good things about Discover as well, though I can't comment on the company since I've never had a Discover credit card account.

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So, Which Is The Best Gas Rewards Card Anyway?

If you look at our pages listing the best consumer gas rewards credit card and the best business gas rewards card, you will notice that we list a Chase and an American Express card for business, while on the consumer side we list a Discover card together with an American Express card. We do this because, for each category, these cards are tied for first place.

Reason for the tie on the business card side: American Express is a highly reputable bank which offers truly excellent customer service. The TrueEarnings® Business Card from Costco and American Express offers a generous 5% cash back on automobile gas purchases. However, with the Amex TrueEarnings card, you claim your earned rewards annually, which some cardholders find restrictive. Here's a snippet from the TrueEarnings terms and conditions:

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

With the Chase Business Rebate Card, you get 3% cash back on gas purchases, which is great. As a bonus, you can claim your rebate whenever you want. Once you've accumulated enough points, you can log onto Chase's rebate center website and browse their catalog. Among the items you can get with your rebate dollars is a statement credit, and a statement credit is as good as cash.


On the consumer side: The Discover® Open Road Card offers a 5% Cashback Bonus on gas and auto maintenance purchases. But there's a catch. From the terms and conditions:

"...Earn unlimited cash rewards on all purchases. Earn a full 5% Cashback Bonus on your first $100 in combined gas and auto maintenance purchases each billing period - up to $1,200 annually. In addition, earn a full 1% unlimited Cashback Bonus on all other purchases after your total annual purchases exceed $3,000; other purchases that are part of your first $1,500 earn .25% and other purchases that are part of your second $1,500 earn .50%. Combined gas and auto maintenance purchases in excess of $100 each billing period earn Cashback Bonus at the same rate as other purchases..."

We all know how pricey gas is these days. Getting 5% cashback on the first $100 in gas purchases each month is nice, but for folks who do a lot of driving, this may be a significant buzzkill.


With The TrueEarnings® Credit Card from Costco and American Express, which is a "personal" or "consumer" credit card, you get 3% cash back on gasoline purchases. You can also transfer a credit card balance at 1.99% intro APR for 6 months, and pay no balance transfer transaction fee.

With all other credit card categories in this site, there's a clear winner, and that' why we list only one card on these pages. As for the best consumer and business gas rewards credit card, we'll let you decide between the finalists.

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