Debt & Money Discussion at CreditMoneyBlog.com

Discover Card has made what some may call a fatal mistake in the credit card industry.  Discover was known for its small bank-like friendliness until now.  They gave you a real cash back onto your statement which was the most non-hassle of them all.  The credit crisis has made all the banks greedy including the friendly credit card issuer Discover Card.

Discover now is making you wait until you get $50 in reward to get cash back instead of the $20 previous.  This is more than double the increased time to have to wait and to have to make more and more purchases which some people may have to wait years to add up the small under 1% payouts from Discover.  This is a sad change to Discover policy that recently changed.

I have been with Discover Card for over ten years now and never have they pulled a fast one on me like this.  The fact that I could go online and redeem my $20 to my account was the ONLY reason I had a Discover Card instead of a Citi ThankYou or a Chase Points card where there is much more hassle involved.

The customer service rep acted as if we could earn more in their shopping mall called ShopDiscover.  ShopDiscover is nothing more than a site where they get paid the more you buy online from the links they send you.  EVERYONE has one of these now including Chase and Bank of America Add It Up.  This service is similar to Ebates and online shopping malls with the airlines.  This is certainly not the answer to the steep increase of redemption at Discover Card.

My friends, family, and co-workers will all be in shock when they sign into their account online and find that they will no longer be able to redeem cash at $20.  Of course, there will be the $20 redemption of gift cards that no one wants for these companies that are all going out of business like Red Lobster (I mean really?).

Call Discover at 1-800-347-2683 and complain.  Get this changed now!!

If you like catching sports games in person, watching movies at the theater, and eating some taco bell on your date then you may be in luck.  The new Capital One card ad I saw today from a MTV community website is definitely targeted to young males who spend lots of money at these places.

There are two card offers for the MTV Visa Card from Capital One.  One is for Limited Credit and the other is for Good Credit.  I do not really see any mentions of Student card but I supposed that is saved for the Citi version MTVU card which mainly targets College students.

Give me the rewards!

• 5 points per $1 spent on entertainment like music, movies, video game rentals, and sporting events
• 2 points per $1 spent at restaurants, fast food places, and coffee shops
• 1 point per $1 on everything else
• 25 bonus points each billing period you keep your account in good standing by paying on time - These are special rewards for those who “do good” similar to Citi’s Myspace Forward Card.

The only difference in the MTV good and limited credit card is that the good credit profile’s get 0% until April 2010; after that, 16.9% variable.  The bad dudes who have limited credit get the high interest of 24.9% variable stoned into their billing statement.

The MTV credit cards have no annual fee and neither offer balance transfer fees.  There are 4 hip hoppin MTV rockin cards to choose from.

How do you get your no hassle rewards?

You may Redeem for MTV stuff, events and shows, or create your own MTV experience.  You can get gift cards from retailers,  give points to a charity,Trade points for cash and save up for your next purchase, or Fly for free on your next vacation for as few as 15,000 points.  The latest MTV rewards are always posted on the No Hassle Points^SM website, which you can access once you get your MTV Visa card.

Capital One seems to hate me they deny me every time I apply for a credit card even though I make over the required amount and have a great credit score.  They claim I apply too often.  Maybe they will let me attempt to be cool with this MTV generation Visa Card.  This card has 4 designs with one of the moon man, one all access and some other fun colored cards.

Just think of all you can do with $300.  American Express is probably thinking you will pay off your balance faster with the extra $300 if you decide to take them up on their latest offer to certain cardholders.  The credit card company under attack from the bad economy and customers with job loses could be getting desperate to get some of its money back.

The offer from American Express is that they will give you $300 to pay off your entire balance between now and March 31st.  AMEX is calling this a promotional offer instead of a more blunt "account closure."  if you are like me you may have more than one cards with this card issuer and canceling one account may not be too bad of a thing.

The catch is that you have to pay off your balance or you will not get the $300 gift card.  I call this offer marketing at it’s best when it talks you into the gift card for pharmacy purchases, grocery, or virtually anywhere.  Do people need to be informed where to use a gift card?

Another catch may be that most of these prepaid cards have charges monthly and may expire.  Most likely, you probably won’t get an offer..  I am sure I won’t either.  I have three American Express cards.. one for Hilton, one for business purchases, and another for Starwood hotels for airline rewards.  If they want to pay me $300 - I’ll cancel one of them.

Chase Bank is offering a Summer bonus to stimulate your spending in July, August, and September. This is a welcomed bonus at a time that everyone is cost cutting and looking for ways to save on summer travel.

The 2% bonus came in the mail to me as a folded up mailer but it made me jump up and down when I saw I could save 2% back – at that time I thought it was on everything I spent. I should have known Chase was not in that good of a mood when they sent me the mailer. I looked at the fine print and discovered that it is only 2% back or double rewards on “Vacations” such as airfares, car rentals, and hotels. Which is better than nothing.

Although it does get worse. When I looked more at the fine print I noticed that my Chase Freedom card double promotion was only good up to $50 in bonus rebates which is close to $5,000 in spending. I was hoping to use the card in Europe so that will help some with the huge transaction fees that Chase and Visa/MasterCard allow compared to a Capital One card.

The up to $50 back is better than the Summer offer from Discover card which only gives you up to $400 in spending at the 5% Cash Back or maybe it kind of equals out since the Discover offer is at 5% but allows less.

The cards featured in the Chase Summer promotion of double rewards are the AARP, American Kennel Club, Chase Freedom Card , Disney Rewards, Sony Card, Amazon, British Airlines, Mary Kay Visa, and various Chase rewards cards.

If you have been seeing charges for rewards on your credit card you may want to call your credit card company immediately and dispute them.  There are a few things the charges could be including a charge from the actual card you are using.  Chase credit cards allows a third party to bill your credit card for rewards programs that really amount to nothing and their are other offers that are really dirty.

If you have went to the movies recently using Fandango or MovieTickets.com or maybe on some other sites there may be a pop-up window that asks you to save $10.  Advice from The Consumerist warns users not to enter your email address because the fine print sets you up on a Webloyalty monthly subscription service.

Your credit card statement may say RESERVATION REWARDS NORWALK
SHOPPERDISCOUNT.COM NORWALK, or WLI*.   You may call to cancel at 1-800-889-8776 and they will issue you a refund.  If that does not work then contact your credit card directly and dispute the charge.