This offer is simple: register your card, spend $200 in any 2 of the participating merchants in NYC Feb 1-29 and then get a $50 statement credit.
http://www.nycgo.com/mix-n-match
Costco is on the list along with Banana Republic so it won’t be too hard for me to earn the credit.
A few weeks ago I read about Square (SquareUp.com) which allows people with iPhones, iPad and Android devices to accept credit cards. The way it works is Square will send you a small swipe extension which you attach to your device’s audio jack.
The service charges a flat fee of 2.75% for all major card types. The fee structure is simple but rather expensive and makes it great for small volume users who will use the device on the rare occasion.
In my test trials with 10 transactions it takes about 2 swipes to get the card to read. Once the charge is authorized the customer can then sign right on the touchscreen using a stylus or their finger. The application also uses your device’s location services to log where the transaction is taking place.
All in all the Square setup is executed pretty well but then I get an e-mail from a Square’s risk/fraud staffer asking me about the nature of my transactions. I explain to them what I’ve been doing and the transactions are 0% risk in terms of chargebacks or fraud.
I then get an e-mail back stating that they are terminating my account and cite a clause in their user agreement that allows them cancels user accounts at their discretion for no reason.
I understand and respect their right to cancel any account at any time for any or no reason at all but doing so without any warning or any real reason means that people who intend to use this for real business purposes should stay far away. They also state the funds in the account will be held for 30 days which is fine by me as the amounts aren’t that much but could have serious implications for anyone doing major sales and counting on the funds.
Square at the moment is too small of a company with very rash risk personnel to take seriously. Up next I’ll be reviewing their competitor ChargeSmart Mobile.
A lot of airlines have million mile lifetime elite status programs but the AAdvantage million mile perk has always been a bit different in a way. For one the program was unofficial but AA did acknowledge your passing the million mile marks with some perks.
People who passed the first million mile mark were given lifetime Gold status and Platinum status at the second million mile mark. What made AA different from other airlines was that miles from any source counted towards the million mile program even miles from credit card spending. That’s all about to change.
Here’s a snippet of the announcement from AA.
We are announcing a new AAdvantage® Million MilerSM program which recognizes and rewards AAdvantage members when Million Miler thresholds are reached. Starting December 1, 2011, AAdvantage base miles earned by flying on American Airlines, American Eagle® or the AmericanConnection® carrier or any eligible AAdvantage program participating airline will count towards Million Miler status.
Check out aa.com/millionmiler for more info.
Starting Dec 1st, 2011 only base miles earned from flying American Airlines will count towards the million mile status. There’s a limited time offer for those with the new Citi Executive card to continue earning miles that count through December 2012 but that card comes with a $450 annual fee.
So if you’re interested in million miler status then the race is on to accumulate non-flying miles until December 1st.
I got an e-mail that effectively ends the deal where you could rack up free credit card spending by purchasing dollar coins at face value and free shipping.
Here’s the e-mail:
Dear United States Mint Direct Ship Customer:
The United States Mint has eliminated the credit and debit card purchase of $1 Coins through its Direct Ship Program effective July 20, 2011. Customers who wish to purchase $1 coins through the Direct Ship Program can still do so by using a wire transfer, money order or check. Customers who wish to purchase the coins by wire transfer may fax their order to (202)756-6585. Customers interested in purchasing by money order or check may do so by submitting your request in writing to the following address:
.
United States Mint
PO Box 71192
Philadelphia, PA 19176-6192Please download the order form which includes wire transfer information and follow the instructions provided on the form. http://www.usmint.gov/
downloads/directShip/orderform
If you currently have an open $1 coin Direct Ship order placed with the United States Mint, that order will be cancelled. Please resubmit your order by wire transfer, check or money order using the order form. The Mint has determined that this policy change is prudent due to ongoing activity by individuals purchasing $1 coins with credit cards, accumulating frequent flyer miles, and then returning coins to local banks. Local banks, in turn, return coins to the Federal Reserve. While not illegal, this activity is a clear abuse and misuse of the program which was intended to facilitate the use of $1 coins in cash transactions.The Mint has undertaken several aggressive internal and external actions to mitigate this issue, including restricting chronic and repeated use of credit cards, contacting customers who frequently placed large numbers of orders to ensure they were using the coins for legitimate business purchases, and other measures. While these efforts eliminated a significant amount of misuse in the program, we believe some abuse still exists. Eliminating the credit and debit card purchase of the $1 coin is the next step in our efforts to root out abuse in this program and ensure it is better targeted toward fulfilling its intended purpose – which is to get the $1 coin into greater circulation.
Thank you for your understanding and your continued support of the $1 Coin Program.
The United States Mint
I only wish I took advantage of the program earlier. I had been ordering coins here and there but nothing in serious volume. I’ve heard of people churning in volumes of $10k+ per week.
Last month I joined a website called Offermatic that gives you targeted offers based on your credit card spending patterns. For example I got a $25 off $50 Drugstore.com offer for spending money at Rite-Aid. I also took advantage of a $10 Starbucks card for $5. Other offers I got were $5 for a $10 Subway card and $20 for $50 worth of stuff at VitaminEmporium.com.
The only caveat is that in order to track your credit card patterns you need to give Offermatic the online login credentials to your credit card account. They use your login to download your transactions on a regular basis. The site claims it is safe and uses bank level encryption.
Given that security of user information is critical to the survival and of the site I would hope they take it very seriously. I don’t have a problem supplying my credentials because there’s a limited amount of damage a person could do if they found out your online login and you’re responsible for $0 of fraud.
Offermatic is still very new so there’s issues they need to work out with their system and currently the offers seem to be rather rare. I haven’t received any new offers in the past 3-4 weeks. I feel that if the site doesn’t roll out more offers on a sustained basis they may have trouble retaining users.
Reward checking accounts are checking accounts that typically pay higher interest on your deposits but require certain conditions to be met to earn the higher rate. One of the most common conditions is using the check card attached to the account.
Look into Amazon gift cards if you need an easy way to meet the transaction requirements typically required of reward checking accounts. The gift cards can be applied to your Amazon balance which never expires. You can then use the accumulated balance to buy something off Amazon once or twice a year and enjoy the higher interest rates.
Bookmark this link to the gift card page since chances are you`ll be buying multiple orders often.
I recommend buying at least $1 in gift cards as not to raise any red flags with Amazon and/or the financial instition. However it has been reported that amounts as low as $0.15 will work. Personally I don`t want to compromise
Enjoy the higher interest rates!
Chase recently unveiled a promotion where you can get 5% cash back on everything you purchase for 6 months. To the unaware, this is a huge opportunity to rake in some serious savings and money. All you need is a membership from AARP.org (you don’t need to be over 50 and membership is well worth the $16) and apply for the card here. Here are some ideas on how to maximize the value of this promotion.
Put every purchase you can on this card. This one is pretty obvious. You’re technically getting 5% off everything you buy. So put everything from common everyday purchases at the supermarket, gas stations, etc. to eating out, bars, etc. Don’t spend more money just because you’re getting 5% cash back (that’d be silly) but just try to put every purchase you normally make can onto the card. In a given month I’ll have at least $1k-$2k in general spending so at 5% cash back that’s$50 to $100 right there.
Put other people’s purchases on the card. If you hang around people who like to pay cash for things, put the purchase on your card and take the cash! More people pay cash than you’d think for lots of things. Once at Sam’s club the lady in front of me paid for $800 worth of groceries and misc purchases with cash! When I’m out with my friends having dinner people usually pay cash at the end of the meal. I recommend collecting the cash (try to make sure everyone paid their fair share first though) and put the whole bill on your card.
Buy Dollar Coins from the US Mint. For purchases that you have to pay in cash you can use dollar coins purchased from the US Mint. The Mint takes credit cards and has free shipping for the direct ship $1 coins. This means you are getting a 5% discount on the face value of cash. You can order $1k every 10 days so in a given month you’d be able to get about 3 orders in. That’s a $150 cash back on $3k worth of coins.
Use Amazon Payments to send money to people. The internet retailer has been rolling out a new payment service called Amazon Payments. At the moment there are no fees to receive and send payments with a credit card. However there is a monthly limit of $1,000 for sending and receiving. This is a great way to send people money for debts, gifts, birthdays, etc. and get 5% cash back.
Buy American Express Gift Cards at a discount. You can effectively get 6.6% cash back on all your purchases by buying American Express Gift Cards through Big Crumbs. Big Crumbs nets you 1.6% cash back on Amex Gift Card purchases. Add the 5% cash back from Chase and that’s a net of 6.6% cash back. Since the Chase promotion runs 6 months you can load up on these gift cards for use after the promotional period. You’re limited to $5k in personal gift card purchases every 14-15 days so plan accordingly.
Take advantage of the card’s 0% APR on purchases and balance transfer for 12 months. The card comes with a promotional offer of 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers. Therefore the best way to take advantage of this is to pay off your card in full each month and get 5% cash back, then on the 6th month rack up charges you’d normally pay off but just carry the balance for the term of the 0% apr offer. It’s essentially a 6 month long free loan. Just remember to pay it off in full to avoid any interest charges.
I’m sure there are more ways to get value out of this promotion but hopefully these will get you started. If you have questions or have a private comment feel free to use the contact form to get in touch with me. Don’t worry I don’t ever publicize things that are discussed (unless you want me to).
In my top five credit card myths post I listed “you must show ID if merchant requests it” as the #1 myth. It’s true, while a merchant can ask for ID, they cannot make it a requirement to process the transaction. Recently at Wal-mart, a cashier and her supervisor gave me the choice of either showing ID for my purchases or they would cancel the transaction.
A week ago I made some purchases at my local Wal-mart and paid using one of my MasterCard credit cards. After the cashier finished ringing up my items she asked me for ID. I tried to explain to her my card is signed and valid so there is no reason for her to check my ID. She said my transaction is over $100 so she has to see ID and explains if I don’t show ID she’ll cancel my transaction.
At this point I’m really curious as to if this is something the cashier enforces on her own or is a store policy. I ask to see her manager and another woman comes over and they chat about the situation. She then goes “How do I know it’s you if you don’t show ID?”. I told her she doesn’t know it’s me, but that’s not my problem. She then explains how they are protecting me by asking for ID. I tell her I’m not liable for fraud and they’re actually inconveniencing me. I tell her it’s my right as a credit card user to not have to show ID and it’s in the Mastercard merchant agreement. They then tell me either I show ID or they cancel the transaction.
I ask the supervisor if it’s written anywhere and she informed me it is not. I relented at this point and showed them my driver’s license because I didn’t feel like arguing anymore.
Honestly it would have been faster to show ID to begin with but the problem is I shouldn’t have to just because a local Wal-mart supervisor decides to implement this policy. The credit card companies want using your card to be more convenient than using cash hence the no ID rule. The ID rule is easy to circumvent in that it’ll just require a $20 fake ID to use a stolen card at Wal-mart. Essentially all legitimate credit card customers are inconvenienced as a precaution against a few credit card fraudsters.
Here’s a tip for anyone who wishes to avoid showing ID at Wal-mart: just break up your transactions to be less than $100.
So this past week I was doing a little bit of shopping at Target and saw a sign promoting the Target REDcard. Communist thoughts and jokes aside, the card gets you 5% off everything at Target and on the online website. The discount can be stacked on top of coupons and other discounts. The card is available as a credit card or a debit card.
I decided to get the card as I do a fair bit of shopping at Target. I got the credit card and was instantly approved on the spot. You’re given a paper receipt that you can use temporarily until your card comes in the mail.
This is actually my first store credit card. In the past I’ve never gotten one as no store credit card has had attractive enough rewards for me to consider them.
Upon checkout I realized the discount is taken off immediately. It’s not like the cash back rewards model where you get the money rebated at the end of the month or whatnot.
You can find out more and apply online or in-store.
Amazon is rolling out with a payment service similar to that of PayPal’s called Amazon Payments. You can pay merchants, friends, etc. with funds from your bank account or credit card. For the time being you can only send and receive up to $1,000 per month in credit card initiated transactions. Also at the moment you do earn credit card rewards on the transactions based on my experience thus far.
This is perfect because when I owe friends money I can send them funds and still earn credit card rewards. The only trouble is convincing your friends to sign up for amazon payments and add/verify a bank account. However if they already have an amazon account there’s no need to sign up but you still need to add/verify a bank account.
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