www.FedPrimeRate.com: Credit-Card Debt Hits A Record High of $1.21 TRILLION!

• Here's  a clip from the Federal Reserve report:

"...Credit card balances, which now total $1.21 trillion outstanding, grew by $45 billion during the fourth quarter [of 2024] and are 7.3% above the level a year ago...."

• Click Here for the full report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

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Installed the Bank of America App; Got A New Source for A Free TransUnion® FICO® Credit Score.

Free TransUnion® FICO®
Credit Score.

I just installed the Bank of America (BofA) App on my "goto" mobile devices, and was very pleased to discover that BofA offers free access to my TransUnion® FICO® credit score.

The free score that I used to check @ Citi® no longer works -- and I have no idea why -- so this is a good thing.

Installation was easy on my iPad 4 Mini and my iPhone 7 Plus.  I didn't bother installing the app on my old Samsung phones because I only use them as backups and for some gaming; they are both way too slow anyway. And I can't stand slow machines.

So my FICO score is 721, as of March 23, 2022.  I thought  my score would be lower, since I've been going through some very major life changes lately... And big changes tend to be expensive.

I still use Credit Karma too; in my life, in general, I like to use as many free resources as possible. One reason for this is to monitor things for consistency.

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From Bank of America®: The U.S. Postal Service Is Changing First-Class Mail Delivery Time Frames

 A heads-up from the good folks at Bank of America®:

The United States Postal Service Began Changing First-Class Mail Delivery Time Frames In October

Bank of America This change may result in mailed statements, new or replacement cards and payments you mail taking longer to arrive. For fast and easy access to your account information and to schedule payments 24/7 for your Bank of America credit card and loan accounts, use our Mobile Banking app1 and Online Banking digital solutions. Make payments quickly and easily using Mobile and Online Banking. You'll get immediate confirmation that your payment has been scheduled. Go paperless to securely view your statements online or from our mobile app. Get Payment Reminders when you set up payment due alerts Help reduce the risk of lost, stolen or delayed mail Receive email notifications when new statements are ready Request a digital card for debit through our Mobile Banking app to use with your digital wallet, if waiting for a new or replacement card.

If you haven't already, enroll today to get started.

Download the Bank of America Mobile Banking app   Enroll or sign in to Online Banking

Watch our guided demos if you need help getting started.

Legal disclosures and information 1 Mobile Banking requires that you download the Mobile Banking app and is only available for select mobile devices. Message and data rates may apply.

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The Apple® Credit Card: Beware

If you're thinking of applying for the Apple® credit card (Apple Card), you should check out the comments section of this Twitter ad before you apply:

            >>>> https://bit.ly/Apple-Credit-Card <<<<

Many of the comments are total garbage, but some are both insightful and actionable...

===============

The Apple® Credit Card: Beware

===============

See if you are approved with no impact to your credit score. Apply in minutes and use Apple Card right away on your iPhone.

— Apple Card (@AppleCard) January 8, 2021

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How To Freeze Your American Express Card

Here's a short but useful clip on how to freeze your American Express card, by the good folks at AmericanExpress.com:

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How To Negotiate Credit Card Fees

How To Negotiate Credit Card Fees; a segment produced by Nightly Business Report (CNBC):

=============

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Credit-Card Promotions Improving, And Here's The Proof...

Citi® Credit Cards

The Fed lifted the U.S. Prime Rate from 3.25% to 3.5% at the end of last year.

While the U.S. economy is still not as healthy as it should be this far into the post-Great-Recession recovery, the Federal Reserve may still opt to raise short-term rates again as soon as the December 14, 2106 FOMC monetary policy meeting.

And when the Fed demonstrates confidence in the U.S. economy, big banks tend to respond by making their loan products more attractive.  American banks are more profitable when the short-term interest rates controlled by the Federal Reserve rise.

In the credit-card zone, I'm seeing the return of some very consumer-friendly promotions, including extended zero percent introductory APR offers, on both balance transfers and new purchases, and balance transfer offers that don't charge balance transfer fee.

I'm old, and I'm a very responsible borrower, so I always expect the banks and credit unions with which I have an established relationship to offer me nothing but the best. 

According to Equifax®, my FICO® credit score is 814 out of a possible 900.  A brief, FICO credit-score history is a new feature I noticed when I logged into my Citi® credit card account today.

My FICO® Credit Score - Brief History

What My 814 FICO® Score Means To Lenders

FICO® Scores At A Glance

Right now I'm taking advantage of three concurrent Citi promotions with my Citi® Dividend World MasterCard®:

• 0% APR on all new purchases until June 1, 2017.
• 5% cash back on purchases I make at department stores (Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Dillard’s, Kohl’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, etc.) and includes the electronics retailer Best Buy, which suits my geeky lifestyle just fine.  This particular promo lasts from October 1 through December 31, 2016.
• And last, but certainly not least, I am currently getting 5% cash back on all online purchases I make with my card, until November 30, 2016.

I understand the timing with the above incentives, with the holiday shopping season in the offing, but I won't be doing much spending.  I'm not rich, and I never spend for the sake of spending. 

Move Free® ULTRA

But I did use my Citi card to purchase some Move Free® ULTRA Triple Action Joint / Cartilage / Bone supplements, which the CVS.com website had discounted at buy one, get one free.  I'm an avid quad skater, and my knees have been complaining so much lately that I had to find a solution.  Move Free ULTRA has lots of very positive reviews online.

I like to use my Citi card every once in a while, just to let the folks and computers at Citi know that I'm interested in keeping the card alive.  The card offers the kind of value I appreciate, so I don't want some algorithm and/or employee to close my card due to inactivity. 

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One-Year Anniversary for EMV (Chip) Cards

A segment from the folks at Nightly Business Report on the status of EMV cards (also known as chip cards) in the United States:

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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.

======

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.

======

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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Where's My Smart Card?

Citi® MasterCar®d with PayPass® Sticker

I was so envious reading about people getting their new smart credit and debit cards from card issuers, and I was starting to wonder why the banks I deal with hadn't sent me new smart cards automatically (smart card, also known as smart chip cards, EMV cards and chip-enabled cards.)

The tiny chips in smart cards work together with smart-card terminals to create a unique and secure transaction at the point of sale, which makes shopping with these cards much safer than cards that only have a swipeable magnetic strip. 

I'm not interested in having a radio-frequency identification (RFID)-enabled chip in my credit and debit cards, because of this, but I am interested in upgrading to smart credit and debit cards without the RFID.

OK, so it seems that banks like +Citi® have figured how to keep wary cardholders like yours truly happy by separating the RFID from the EMV, via a sticker (pictured, top left.)  You can attach the sticker to your smart phone, or to your credit or debit card, or to anything you'd like to use for contactless payments (like your car's key fob.)  This system lets cardholders use contactless payment technology (either RFID or near-field communication [NFC]) if they want to, and opt out very easily if they don't.

I Just Ordered My Citi EMV Card

With my Citi Dividend World MasterCard®, I clicked the Account Management link in the top left navigation bar, which took me to a page where I found a link for Replacement Card/Chip Upgrade.  Alternatively, I could have waited for my current card to expire, at which point Citi would have sent me a new smart card automatically.

I'm looking forward to the arrival of this smart credit card, as it means no more handing over my card to strangers who may do bad things with it while it's away from my eyes.

=======

Note that:

• Even with smart cards that have no RFID technology in them, the system can still be hacked, but it's still much safer than the fading standard of magnetic-strip swiping.

• I've read of people complaining that they can't execute a convenient cash withdrawal on top of a purchase when using their smart debit card.

• Also heard that some merchants are rejecting the old magnetic-strip cards now, because if the transaction turns out to be fraudulent, it's likely that the merchant will have to eat 100% of the cost, whereas before the cost would often be shared between the card issuer and the merchant.

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How To Disable An RFID Chip In A Debit / Credit Card

Having an RFID chip in your credit or debit card can be a security risk, as posted here, so here's a YouTube clip explaining how to disable these chips permanently...

Cards that use RFID chips include Visa® PayWave®, MasterCard® PayPass®, American Express® ExpressPay® and Discover® Zip.

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Credit-Card Fraud, Xmas Shopping Seasons 2013

Target card swipe machine

40 million was the initial estimate of Target customer card accounts accessed by scammers.

Now the estimate has been raised to 110 million!

Yikes!

I used to shop at Target many years ago.  It's been at least 4 years since I've been in a Target store.

But this news still makes me a bit nervous, because I have no idea how long Target keeps credit card info in their databases.

Most of my cards have new numbers now, but who knows.  These scam artists are scum, but they are not stupid.   

--

Back in 2008, I treated a new friend to lunch at Red Lobster.

I paid the bill with my Chase debit card, a card that's linked to my business checking account.

As is the custom in the USA, the waitress took my card, disappeared with it, then returned to my table for a signature.  She was acting a bit strange; shifting eyes and somewhat hurried, but I thought nothing of it.

And that was the first time I've ever been a victim of a credit-card scam.

That waitress used one of the widely available, and very portable, card readers, to get my digits.

I got my money back, after faxing a reasonably simple, but still annoying, form.

But the incident was a real wake up call for me.  Using the debit card attached to my business checking account for such transaction was something I would never do again, I pledged to myself.  Way too risky!

Now here's a very interesting difference between Europe and America: when you're ready to pay your restaurant bill with a credit or debit card, the server will bring the credit card terminal to your table!  Your card never leaves your line of sight.

         And that's the way it should be.

Europeans are also ahead of the game with their adoption of smart cards.  Comparing magnetic strip payment cards to smart chip cards is like comparing audio cassette tapes to a digital music player full of MP3's.

Neiman Marcus

American credit-card banks have been resisting the smart card thing, which really doesn't make sense to me.  Surely the cost of upgrading is less than the cost of dealing with payment-card fraud!

--

Fast forward to today: luxury retailer Neiman Marcus reports a serious payment-card related breach.  All this card fraud seems to be focused on the 2013 Xmas shopping season.

Credit-card rewards be damned!  I think paying with cash will be king for many months to come...

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A Very Nice Thank You from Bank of America

Bank of America Reward Debit Card

Apparently, Bank of America is very happy with the interest income they are making from me with my business credit card.  They sent me a generic, $25 debit card (Reward Card.)  Domestic use only!

How did I use it?  Some sushi for my daughter and yours truly.  It was nice.

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How to Keep Your Credit Card Numbers and Other Private Information Safe When Shopping Online

credit cards

Submitting credit card numbers and other sensitive information online shouldn't be cause for cold sweats and sleepless nights. Despite the efforts of identity thieves and other Internet criminals, shopping online is still safe, as long as you stay informed about the tools and tricks Internet crooks use to scam the unaware.

Shopping online using credit cards has become so mainstream that it's hard to remember a time when Internet shopping didn't exist. Shopping online makes perfect sense: it's efficient and convenient, and it makes comparison shopping much easier. Though most online retailers utilize sophisticated systems to keep their servers safe from hackers and other Internet fraudsters, there are still a numbers of best practices consumers should heed to ensure that each and every online shopping experience is as safe as possible.

• If your credit card company offers virtual credit card account numbers, then use them. A virtual credit card number is a temporary, randomly-generated number that's attached to your credit card account. You can use virtual numbers to pay for goods or services online, instead of your real credit card account number. If you generate a virtual account number for use on a particular website, the virtual number will be valid for that website and only that website. If you want to buy 3 items at 3 unique sites, you would generate 3 unique virtual numbers.
  
  Having read the above, you might be thinking that it would be a hassle to generate a virtual number every time you arrive at the checkout page of an online retailer. But considering the peace of mind that using virtual numbers affords you, it's worth it. Credit card companies don't charge a fee for generating virtual numbers, and the process of generating a number is quick and painless.
• When shopping online, never submit your social security number, your mother's maiden name or any other secret question/secret answer-related information that credit card companies use to verify your identity. A legitimate online retailer will never ask you for your social security number, your mother's maiden name, the name of your first grade teacher or the name of your favorite pet.
• Purchase an anti-virus software package if you don't have one already, and consider installing an anti-spyware package as well. If you have anti-virus software running on your computer, get into the habit of downloading the latest virus definition files at least 3 times per week, and run a full scan of all your hard drives at least once every week.
  
  Computer viruses, trojan horses, worms and other types of malware can cause all kinds of headaches, but when it comes to serious security threats, it doesn't get much worse than a keystroke logger (also known as a keylogger.) If your PC isn't protected by anti-virus software, you computer could get infected with a particular type of trojan horse called a malicious keylogger, a program that will record all your keystrokes, save them to a file and send the information to a criminal. If you get infected with a malicious keylogger, a huge chunk of your sensitive information, like credit card numbers, your social security number, the usernames and passwords you use around the Internet, etc. could end up in the hands of the crook who orchestrated the attack. Your private information could then be used to steal you identity, or worse.
•  Never initiate any online shopping by responding to a spam email message. Bottom line: legitimate online retailers don't send out unsolicited mail. Besides, if you respond to a spam email message, you are supporting the spammers, and you don't want to do that!
• If you want to purchase an item from a website, but you're not 100% confident about the site's trustworthiness, then search Yahoo!, BING and Google to see if you can find any reports of security issues, bad conduct or poor customer support.

Should you be nervous about submitting your credit card information over the Internet? No, you shouldn't. Just remember to use common sense and observe best practices before whipping out that credit card.

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Capital One Bank Behaving Like The Defunct Advanta

Capital One Credit Card

Four years back, I had an Advanta small business credit card.  Interest rate and other terms were reasonable, and it quickly became my #1 business credit card.  In fact, I was so fond of it that I decided to transfer my Bank of America (BofA) business card balance to it, via a 0% balance transfer offer.

Months later, I regretted that transfer.  That's because Advanta decided to breach our agreement, and started charging me interest on the transferred balances many, many months before they were supposed to.

Advanta eventually --more than a year later! --  fixed that breach, but my faith in the company was wiped out.  By the time I was ready to cancel my account, the company was out of business.

Now it seems that Capital One may be trying to emulate Advanta's nonsense.

Many Capital One customers have been complaining that the company has been breaching attractive 0% balance transfer agreements.  According to a current class action in federal court, Capital One would offer 0% intro APR on both transferred balances and new purchases, but would start charging interest on new purchases almost right away.

Here's a clip from the Courthouse News Service:

"...Unbeknownst to plaintiff and classes, however, once a cardholder accepts Cap One's '0% interest' balance transfer offer, Cap One unilaterally, and in breach of the cardholder agreement, eliminates the grace period and begins charging interest on all new purchases from the date of the balance transfer forward.

     'Cap One did not disclose that it would eliminate the grace period for cardholders who accepted Cap One's 0% balance transfer offers and subject them to high interest charges. Cap One did not disclose that the only way for these cardholders to avoid interest charges on new purchases once they accepted the 0% balance transfer offer was to pay the full amount of these purchases plus the full amount of the balance transfer - in the same month that the cardholder accepted the balance transfer, even though the promotional period on the 0% percent offer was for 6 or 12 months...Contrary to the simple 'chance to save' that Cap One represented the balance transfer would provide, and that cardholders paid for, many cardholders who accepted these offers found themselves worse off than they were beforehand.'..."

We at www.FedPrimeRate.com stopped recommending Capital One cards years ago because new accounts would invaribly have very low credit limits associated with them.  The typcial new account would have no more than $500 available for both purchases and tranferred balances.  Not good if, by our records, the typical balance transfer request is around $3,000.

 My advice to Capital One: don't do the Advanta thing.  Stick with what you promise!

We'll keep posting on this story as the case develops.  Stay tuned.

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American Express® Prepaid Card: $25 Gift Card; Limited-Time Offer

For a limited time, American Express will send you a complimentary $25 gift card after you load $200 or more onto a new American Express® Prepaid Card.

If you plan on taking advantage of this deal, please don't procrastinate. This free gift card offer ends on August 31, 2012.

You can find this prepaid debit card at the top of this page.

The American Express Prepaid Card also offers these excellent benefits:

• No fee for direct deposit
  
  
• No overdraft, inactivity, foreign exchange, annual, monthly or purchase fees
  
  
• No fee fraud protection
  
  
• No credit check

We @ www.FedPrimeRate.com are big fans American Express financial products. The company is very well known for providing exceptional value and first-class customer service. Yup.

Enjoy!

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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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Three New RushCards Will Soon Be On The Market

RushCards are some of the most popular prepaid debit cards in the United States. Today's news: 3 new RushCards are about to hit the market. They are:

Prepaid Visa® Original RushCard

Prepaid Visa® DYNASTY RushCard

Prepaid Visa® Baby Phat RushCard

RushCards are very competitive in two important ways:

1. Every RushCard comes with a free prescription drug discount card
2. With every RushCard, you can modify your fee plan at any time.

You can review a complete list of the best prepaid cards here. Enjoy!

NB: Always review the fee schedule for any prepaid you're interested in. The annual cost for the unnumbered prepaid cards on the market vary greatly.

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Funniest Credit Card YouTube Video Clip Ever

Here it is folks: the funniest, credit-card related YouTube video clip ever:

Thanks much to Eddie Lawshea for posting this one.

Reading the comments attached to this clip is a must.  Way too many people actually thought Mr. Lawshea was stupid enough to post a real number for all to use.  Ha!

I hope those Nigerian email scammer don't start posting video clips on YouTube.  They'd make a killing.

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