Archive for October, 2008
Card Comparison: Best and Worst Credit Cards, according to BusinessWeek
Recently, BusinessWeek ran an interview with Greg Doherty, editor with Consumer Reports, a prominent consumer products rating agency. When asked about his pick of a credit card best for all situations, Greg pointed out the fact that there is virtually no such credit card which is best for every one under every circumstances. Greg also pointed out that even for a relatively good card, “it may not stay a good card forever“. The rankings of credit cards always are dynamic.
He broke down best credit cards to two categories that serve people with different needs best. For those who regularly run a balance/debt, they should consider low rate/low fee credit cards, for those who don’t run a balance/debt, best cash back rewards credit card makes more sense. As of now these are his picks of best low rate/low fee credit cards:
| Card Name | Regular APR and Credit Needed | Fee and Intro APR | |
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Capital One Platinum Prestige |
8.9%, requires excellent credit | No annual fee, 0% intro APR until Oct. 2009 |
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Capital One Platinum Prestige – Visa |
8.9%, requires excellent credit | No annual fee, 0% intro APR until Oct. 2009 |
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Clear from American Express |
as low as 10.99%, requires good credit | No fee of any kind, 0% intro APR for 12 mths |
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IberiaBank Visa® Platinum Rewards Card |
9 – 11% depends on creditworthiness, requires good credit | No annual fee, 0% intro APR for 6 mths, earn 1 bonus point for every $1 in qualifying net retail purchases |
As for best cash back credit cards, Greg picked these:
| Card Name | Reward on each $1 spent | Fee and Regular APR | |
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Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards |
2% on purchases at gas stations and major grocery and drug stores, 1% cash back on others. Requires good credit | No annual fee, 13.9% regular APR |
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Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards – Young Adults |
2% on purchases at gas stations and major grocery and drug stores, 1% cash back on others. Requires good credit | $29 annual fee, 16.9% regular APR |
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Chase Freedom Visa |
3% in Your Top 3 Everyday Spending Categories, 1% in others. Requires good credit | No annual fee, 14.99% regular APR |
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Discover® More Card |
5% Cashback Bonus® in categories like travel, home improvement stores, gas, groceries, restaurants, movies… 1% on others. Requires good credit | No annual fee, 10.99% regular APR |
And here are his picks of the “worst” credit cards, the reason I am listing them out is in case you are holding a contrarian view… 
| Card Name | Regular APR, Credit Needed and Fee | Grace period | |
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HSBC American Dream Card |
14.99% or 21.99%, requires fair credit, no annual fee | 20 days after the previous billing cycle provided you paid bal in full. |
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New Millennium Bank Secured Platinum Visa® |
19.5%, bad credit OK, $59 annual fee, $99 application fee | NO grace period |
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New Millennium Bank Secured Platinum MasterCard® |
19.5%, bad credit OK, $59 annual fee, $99 application fee | NO grace period |
Important Disclaimer: the credit cards information in this post were accurate as of the date of publishing, some or all of the card programs may be discontinued, their terms may be changed after wards.
Card Comparison: Low/No Fee 0% Balance Transfer Credit Cards – October 2008
In the past few months, people are seeing a declining volume of 0% balance transfer offers. By 0% balance transfer offers, I am referring to not only 0% introductory rate, but also with low balance transfer transaction fee. For this reason, Clear from American Express Card doesn’t fall into our list, although it charges no balance transfer fee, it does charge a fixed 5.99% BT rate.
In my August post, I promised to follow up with updated listing of good balance transfer offers. Here is our October list:
| Card Name | BT APR, credit needed and credit limit | Transaction Fee | |
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Bank of America PetRewards® Platinum Plus® Visa® |
0% for 6 mths, requires Good credit | None |
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Discover® Miles Card |
0% until the last day of the billing period ending during October 2009. Balance transfers must be made before Jan. 1, 2009, requires Excellent credit | 3% with a $75 cap |
|
Discover® More Card |
0% until the last day of the billing period ending during October 2009. Balance transfers must be made before Jan. 1, 2009, requires Excellent credit | 3% with a $75 cap |
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Discover® Open Road Card |
0% until the last day of the billing period ending during October 2009. Balance transfers must be made before Jan. 1, 2009, requires Excellent credit | 3% with a $75 cap |
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Advanta Platinum with Unlimited Rewards |
0% for 15 mths, requires Good credit, max credit limit: $50,000 | 3% balance transfer fee with a minimum $10 and maximum $90 |
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The Kiva BusinessCard from Advanta |
0% for 15 mths, requires Excellent credit | 3% balance transfer fee with a minimum $10 and maximum $90 |
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BP Rewards Visa® |
0% fixed APR for 12 months (Elite and Premium pricing) or three months for Standard pricing), requires Good credit | 3% with a $99 cap |
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Chase Business Rebate Visa®
|
0% for up to 12 mths, requires Good Credit | 3% with a $99 cap |
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Chase Free Cash Rewards Platinum Visa®
|
0% fixed APR for 12 months (Elite and Premium pricing) or three months for Standard pricing), requires Good Credit | 3% with a $99 cap |
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Chase Business Platinum Visa®
|
0% for up to 12 months (only those balances that are business expenses may be transferred), requires Excellent Credit | 3% with a $99 cap |
Important Disclaimer: the credit cards information in this post were accurate as of the date of publishing, some or all of the card programs may be discontinued, their terms may be changed after wards.
Card Comparison: High Credit Limit Cards – October 2008
At a time when housing market crashes, lenders are reducing home equity line of credit, also know as HELOC, a source of funding many Americans use during the boom of housing market.
Net home equity extractions fell nearly 60 percent from a year earlier to $205 billion in the first quarter, according to Merrill Lynch. The investment bank also notes that some $1.2 trillion in equity and housing wealth was wiped out in the first quarter alone because of plunging home values.
At the same time, revolving credit usage — which includes credit cards — accelerated sharply to a year-over-year growth rate of about 8 percent in recent months. That’s the fastest rate in seven years and well ahead of the 2 to 3 percent rate of growth from 2004 through 2006 when home equity lines of credit were a bigger source of cash for consumers, according to Merrill.
At a time like this, you might want credit cards with high credit limits. Usually credit limit is set at the time when credit card company approve your application, known as “initial credit limit”, then depends on your account activity, and your ability to pay bills, credit card companies can adjust it up or down afterwards. Initial credit limits for a certain credit card are usually a range depends on the credit history of applicant. Not all credit cards publicize their initial credit limits, for those that do publicize this information, I am listing those cards sorted by maximum initial credit limit and credit quality required.
| Card Name | Card Type, Credit Quality | Initial Credit Limit (Lower ~ Higher) | |
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Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card |
consumer card, require Excellent Credit | ~ $100,000 |
|
Advanta Business Platinum Rewards MasterCard® |
business card, requires Excellent / Good Credit | ~ $50,000 |
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Advanta Business Platinum MasterCard® |
business card, requires Excellent / Good Credit | ~ $50,000 |
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Capital One No Hassle MilesSM Ultra – For Professionals |
consumer card, requires Excellent Credit | $500 ~ $30,000 |
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Chase Business Cash Rewards Card |
business card, requires Excellent / Good Credit | ~ $25,000 |
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Chase Platinum Visa® Business Card |
business card, requires Excellent / Good Credit | ~ $25,000 |
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Chase Business Rebate Visa® |
business card, requires Excellent / Good Credit | ~ $25,000 |
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Capital One Visa® Business Platinum with Double No Hassle MilesSM |
business card, requires Excellent Credit | $2,000 ~ $20,000 |
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Capital One Visa® Business Platinum with No Hassle MilesSM |
business card, requires Fair Credit | $500 ~ $20,000 |
|
Capital One Platinum Prestige – Visa |
consumer card, requires Excellent Credit | $2,000 ~ $20,000 |
Important Disclaimer: the credit cards information in this post were accurate as of the date of publishing, some or all of the card programs may be discontinued, their terms may be changed after wards.
