Credit Cards — Page 37 — My Money Blog

Pay Your Mortgage On Credit Cards, Buyer’s Agent Rebates Are Not Taxable, Japan’s Real Estate Bubble

Posted on May 25, 2007 // 17 Comments

Buyer’s Agent Rebates Are Not Taxable
It struck me that the buyer’s agent rebates I am seeking may be taxable income. That would stink. But it seems that Redfin, another company that does rebates in selected areas, received a private letter ruling from the IRS that states that such rebates are not considered income. 1099s are not submitted, and nothing is reported to the IRS.

Japan’s Real Estate Bubble
Got Bubble? I stumbled upon this article comparing the Japanese real estate bubble with the situation in the US. Did you know that residential real estate in Tokyo dropped for 17 straight years? Definitely will be reading more about this.

Pay Your Mortgage On Credit Cards
It had to happen one day. Although there are some hoops to jump through (you can’t be sub-prime) and it’s only available through specific lenders, American Express is letting people pay their mortgages with a credit card. There’s a $395 initial fee paid at closing, but the potential rewards might let you break even after only a few years.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Real Estate //

Last updated: August 9, 2018

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Are 0% APR Balance Transfer Offers Coming To An End?

Posted on May 14, 2007 // 23 Comments

If you are making money off of balance transfers or have been considering it, the following observations might be of interest to you. Otherwise, it probably won’t 😉

The Bad News
A few months ago, Citibank started saying “Balance transfer fees apply with this offer” on certain applications, even though the Terms and Conditions clearly stated that there was still no fee for initial balance transfers. Then, a few weeks afterwards, the longstanding Citi Platinum Select card, which used to offer a sweet deal of 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for years, started charging a fee.

More recently, on May 1st, Discover stopped offering no-fee balance transfers on all their cards, instead implementing 3% fees with $50 to $75 caps. The Miles Card by Discover still offers 12,000 bonus miles, which is worth $100 in travel credit to offset the fee.

The Good News
Still, there are plenty of Citibank cards that remain which offer 12 months of 0% APR on balance transfers with no initial balance transfer fees: (none anymore)

For alternatives, please see my list of updated
best 0% APR balance transfer offers.

Should I Save Some For Later? (SFL)
Also, if you are concerned about having less 0% APR offers in the future, you can actually “tuck away” one or two of them for later. In the Terms and Conditions for the cards marked “SFL” above, you will see this:

Balance transfer APR: As long as first balance transfer is completed within 12 months from date of account opening, 0.00% for 12 months from date of first balance transfer. After that, XX.XX% variable.

So, you can actually wait 12 months from the date of account opening to start the balance transfer, and then still enjoy 12 months at 0% APR. Some of the cards also offer rewards programs (marked “Rewards” above), which can give you cashback on everything from utilities to restaurants, whatever fits your spending the best.

Got questions? Please read my details series of step-by-step posts on how I and others do this first. Lots of good stuff there!

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Last updated: January 31, 2012

Surprising Truths (and Half-Truths) About Credit Card Debt

Posted on May 12, 2007 // 20 Comments

You’ve probably heard that the average American has over $8,000 of credit card debt. It’s been quoted all over the place. But does that single stat accurately explain the whole picture?

A popular source of this data is CardWeb Inc., which tracks such credit card data. Let’s take their 2002 data, which says that American households had average credit card debt of $8,940. Wow! But look closer. This figure is arrived at by dividing total credit card debt outstanding at the end of 2002 ($750.9 billion) by the number of American households that have at least one credit card (84 million). So not only are you counting balances that will be paid in full within the grace period, you are also only dividing by just the households that have a credit card. There are 21 million families with no credit cards at all.

Instead, I think you should only take the the amount of debt that Americans actually paid interest on, and divide it by all American households. To me, this is a more accurate definition of “average credit card debt per American”. This is $612 billion divided by 105 million, or $5,829 per household. And that’s not all.

Another source of information is the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). Here, the 2004 survey found that the average (mean) balance for those carrying a balance was $5,100, but the median was only $2,200. The large difference between the mean and median values indicates that the debt is not spread around equally – a small amount of borrowers have the majority of the debt. In addition, only 46% of families actually carried a balance, and 25% of families don’t even have any credit cards at all.

Now, what is the relationship between debt and income level?

(This is actually based on Cardweb data, but the SCF data is very similar.)

Here, we see that as income increases, people are more likely to both use credit cards and also carry higher balances. But from a recent Gallup poll, while the overall debt-to-income ratio among credit card holders is 8.0%, it is over 10% among people earning less than $40,000 a year, and much smaller among people with higher incomes.

Also, I observed that the Federal Reserve total debt numbers are lower than the Cardweb numbers, but the other stats like card ownership and the distribution vs. income are very similar. I suspect that one major reason for this is the self-reported nature of the SCF: People are underestimating their debt due to either denial or embarrassment. So that $2,200 number above may be higher in reality, but still not as high as $5,000 or $9,000.

Summary
On one hand, you cannot refute the fact that credit card debt is indeed a huge problem for many families. Any way you cut it, $612 billion is a big number. And the families with the highest debt-to-income ratios are earning less than $40,000 a year. I think better education and more transparency in credit applications should be implemented.

However, many of the sound bites thrown around about credit cards are very misleading. The majority of households don’t pay any credit card interest at all. None. Zero. Zilch. Of the families that do carry a balance, the median amount owed is in the neighborhood of $2,000-$3,000. Paints a different picture, doesn’t it?

(Yes, people like me who profit from credit card debt probably skew the stats a little tiny bit as well. 😛 )

References
The idea for this post was taken from an older MSN Money article, which used 2001 data. You can find the 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances here, and the Cardweb data here.

Filed Under: Credit Cards //

Last updated: January 28, 2013

Got Good Credit? Rent It Out For Cash!

Posted on April 27, 2007 // 41 Comments

You have bad credit. You want to buy a house. Why bother with such old-fashioned ideas like paying off debts and slowly building back your credit? You want that McMansion now! All those other sub-prime defaults are just crimping your style. Well, now you can simply buy good credit! Or more accurately, rent it.

It’s been a well-known practice for parents add to their kids as authorized users on their credit card accounts. Besides letting them buy textbooks, this can boost their credit scores because that larger and long-standing credit line will show up on their borrowing history as if it were theirs. Now add three critical facts:

1. Authorized users don’t have to be related to you.
2. There is no limit on how many authorized users you can.
3. There is no law against the rental or sale of authorized-user designations.

You see where this is going? From a recent Washington Post article titled Credit Scores for Sale:

Exploiting that loophole, numerous companies have popped up on the Internet offering to buy and rent out the credit card “trade lines,” or accounts, of credit card holders with high limits and perfect payment histories.

The person seeking a higher credit score does not obtain access to the credit card. Within 30 to 90 days of being added to the account, the national credit bureaus incorporate the primary cardholder’s ongoing account information into the files of the authorized user. The score-raising attributes of the primary cardholder’s stellar payment record then flow through to the new user.

One example site mentioned is AddaTradeLine.com. The site screams shady. Still, I wanted to see how much my “seasoned” credit lines were worth.

2) How much will I get paid?

The amount varies, and it depends on the age of the card, and the credit limit. We pay the most for old cards (30-40 years old) and high limits (100k or more) We do pay for any cards you have with a limit of at least 1k, and at least 6 months old. If the card is less than 6 months old, but has a credit limit of $5,000 or more, we can rent that as well. We are currently offering 25% payout on what our customers pay. Based on our current pricing, you would receive anywhere from $125 to $625 per transaction. To get paid at the higher tiers, you need to have a more attractive credit card account. An example would be a 30 year old Visa card with a reported limit of $150,000. A typical example of an $125 tradeline payout would be one 3months old, with a limit of $7,500.

They report people adding upwards of a hundred authorized users per card on a desirable credit line! That’s over $10,000, with no direct hit to your credit score.

But is this really safe? (Let me put on my evil thinking-cap.) If you add a stranger as an authorized user, they can get your credit card number from their credit reports (some have them partially blocked out, but not my old Transunion one). Since you’re having the extra card sent to your own home, your address may even show up on their credit reports as an alternate address. If they do a reverse phone book lookup on that address, they would have your name. So now they have your name, address, and credit card number. There are a very finite amount of possible expiration dates. And they are an authorized user. Hmm… even with ethical considerations aside, this doesn’t seem like a good idea. Thanks to Nathan for the tip.

Besides, I already profit from my good credit score by sacrificing a bit of it to borrow money for free and earn interest off it.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Real Estate //

Last updated: May 29, 2014

Redeeming Citibank ThankYou Points For Free Flights: A Great Option

Posted on April 23, 2007 // 32 Comments

I just redeemed a bunch of ThankYou points and I think I got some great rewards for doing things I would have done anyways. Consider this:

I have had the Citi Driver’s Edge MasterCard (one of my main rewards cards) since July, which gives you a 6% rebate back on supermarkets, drugstores, and gasoline for the first 12 months. These are everyday needs, not frivolous items. The Purchase rebates can either be redeemed by sending in auto care receipts, or converted directly to Citi ThankYou points by calling 1-800-308-4158. $1 in Rebates = 100 ThankYou Points.

In addition, you can also get Drive rebates for miles driven, at the rate of 1 mile = $0.01. You have to send in an enrollment form to start the counting, and then a mileage update form whenever you get an oil change or other service that logs the odometer. You can only redeem as many Drive rebates as you have Purchase rebates.

For us, we have averaged $400 per month in groceries and gas so far, racking about $220 in Purchase rebates on $3,670 of spending. We just send in a mileage update for 6,000 miles, adding another $60 in Drive Rebates, for a total of $280 or 28,000 ThankYou points. My original plan was just to convert ThankYou Points to Target gift cards (already getting me ~7% cash back), but then I discovered their Fixed Flight Travel option:

Eligible Citi? cardmembers can also take advantage of our fixed flights option for air travel by calling one of our ThankYou Network Travel Specialists. You can count on getting a ticket for the date you want to fly. For example, only 25,000 points are needed for flights anywhere in the continental U.S. and Alaska, any time of year. With no black-out dates. Simply book 14 days in advance and plan for a Saturday overnight stay.

Am I eligible for fixed flight options for airline tickets?
Currently, ThankYou Members with the following Sponsor accounts are eligible for fixed flight airline tickets at fixed ThankYou Point amounts: Citi PremierPass? Card, Citi PremierPass? Card – Elite Level, Citi? Diamond Preferred? Rewards Card, Citi Simplicity Rewards Card, Citi Professional Card with ThankYou Network, CitiBusiness PremierPass Card, CitiBusiness? Card with ThankYou Network, AT&T Universal Rewards Card, Citi? Platinum Select? Card with ThankYou Network, Citigroup Chairman? Card and Citi? Driver’s Edge? Card. This Sponsor Account list is subject to change without notice. Fixed flight option Travel Rewards are only available when you call the ThankYou Service Center. Agents will work to offer you the best deal on available flights ? you are not required to select the fixed flight option.

I am eligible for fixed flight option Travel Rewards. What are the current prices and destinations?

Fixed Flight Option Travel Rewards
(Restricted, Round-Trip)

Coach Business Class

Continental US & Alaska 25,000 60,000

Canada 25,000 60,000

Mexico 35,000 60,000

Hawaii & Caribbean 40,000 75,000

Europe 60,000 165,000

Asia 60,000 165,000

Middle East & Africa 80,000 130,000

Australia & South Pacific 100,000 180,000

Central America 35,000 60,000

South America 60,000 160,000

Puerto Rico to Continental US 40,000

This is actually a lot better than using regular frequent flyer miles, as basically if there is a flight available, they will let you have it for 25,000 ThankYou points (You pay any taxes and fees). You can book the flight for anyone – yourself, friends, or family.

After calling 1-877-773-3336 and talking to their travel agents, I found out that they won’t let you have any flight, but restrict you to the cheaper options for the dates you want to fly. I wanted a cross-country flight in July, which cost anywhere from $500-$1,000 online depending on the schedule and number of stops. They let me pick basically from the flights $600 and under. Still, this was a time period with no 25,000 mile award flights using normal frequent flier miles.

In the end, I got a flight that would have cost me $560 on Expedia for 25,000 ThankYou Points and $40 in taxes. I still get to earn frequent flier miles for the flight, too. So I saved $520 after spending $3,670 on groceries and gas we needed anyways. That’s a cashback return of 14.2%! (And I still have 3,000 points left.) On top of our recent Vegas winnings, I’m pretty happy with myself right now 8)

If you have ThankYou points and fly at all, using the Fixed Flight option can be a much better redemption rate than gift cards or even putting it towards student loan balances. Also, if you want a flight less than $250, you can book via their Variable Flight option; a $150 flight would cost only 15,000 points.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Last updated: April 29, 2014

Are You A “Maestro Of Money Management”?

Posted on March 25, 2007 // 26 Comments

A friend of mine sent me this link, and I think he was trying to mock me! 😉 It’s an article from the Wall Street Journal entitled Nickel-and-Diming Your Way To Riches, if That’s Your Thing Here’s an excerpt:

I thought I was fairly deft at handling money. But that was before I met the maestros of money management.

We’re talking here about the legions of Americans who manipulate their monthly cash flow like chess masters, along the way snagging frequent-flier miles, cash rewards and interest income.

Am I such a maestro? Are you? Let’s see:

Maestro Activity #1: Maximizing Bank Interest

Consider Dan Goldzband, a cost accountant in San Diego. He has his paycheck deposited directly into a high-yield savings account, where the money sits until he transfers it to his checking account to pay bills. His reward: $35 to $85 in interest each month.

“My checking-account balance rarely exceeds $100,” Mr. Goldzband says. “If it does for more than a couple of days, I am doing something wrong. Of course, only a compulsive like me could make this work. But the general idea, less rigorously applied, would still work for many people.”

Well, my checking account usually hovers around $500-$2,000, because we often have to write paper checks for weddings/graduations/baby showers/birthdays/donations. It’s not writing the checks that’s the problem, it’s that we can never tell when people are actually going to deposit them. Shrug. I also have one free overdraft per year on my Washington Mutual free checking account (review) as a backup anyhow.

But someone is exaggerating… At $35 a month in a 5% APY account, that is suggesting that he would otherwise have $8,000 sitting around earning 0%. ($85 would be $20,000+!) I doubt he needs that much for everyday cashflow. I would bet a good chunk of that is considered his emergency fund or other cushion. Not putting that away into a high-yield saving account would just be silly. The author agrees:

Meanwhile, if your checking account is on the plump side, keep enough there to avoid triggering fees and move the rest into a high-yield savings account or a money-market fund. If you shift $5,000 into an account paying 5%, you will pick up $250 in interest over the next 12 months.

Maestro Activity #2: Credit Card Arbitrage

Don’t have much money in your savings account? No problem. Maestros will borrow from credit cards with 0% introductory rates and then use the money to earn a little interest, often stashing the cash at EmigrantDirect, HSBC Direct or one of the other banks with high-yield online savings accounts.

Okay, I’m definitely guilty of this. I even got so many questions about it that I wrote a detailed, step-by-step Guide On How To Make Money From 0% APR Balance Transfers. Don’t miss the introduction though – this is definitely not for everybody.

Maestro Activity #3: Using Credit Cards But Paying In Full To Reap Rewards

When the maestros aren’t gaming those 0% offers, they’re hunting for the credit cards with the best rewards. Thanks to this strategy, Mr. Bilker says he hasn’t paid to take his family to the movies for two years. He’s also got $500 in convenience-store gift cards, and he garnered a $1,700 discount by charging $17,000 in kitchen remodeling expenses.

For many cardholders, the prize is frequent-flier miles. Bob Smith, a retiree in rural Michigan, has 30 credit cards. He charges everything, from groceries to utility bills, to whichever card is currently paying the highest reward. He figures he and his wife have collected more than 100,000 frequent-flier miles over the past year.

Yes, yes, I do this too. Here are the three cards that I keep in my wallet. The article even admits this may be worth the effort on a smaller scale:

Forget shuffling back and forth between your checking account, your savings account and the latest, greatest credit-card offer. Instead, go for the easy money. Pile your expenses onto a good rewards card and be sure to pay off the balance every month. Let’s say you charge $1,000 a month to a credit card that earns frequent-flier miles. That should give you enough points every two years to get a domestic round-trip ticket worth perhaps $400 — and maybe two or three tickets if the card pays double miles and gives you a sign-up bonus.

Maestro Activity #4: Keep Your Investment Expenses Minimal

Most important, focus first on your portfolio rather than your monthly cash flow. Suppose you revamp your $300,000 mutual-fund portfolio, cutting your annual fund expenses by half a percentage point. That would save you $1,500 a year — without the ongoing hassles that come with juggling credit cards and bank accounts.

Sure, that would be great, except my mutual fund portfolio expenses are already under 0.30% annually. 😛

Nickel and Diming, Huh, Punk?
Actually, I pretty much agree with the premise of the article. As I’ve said before, the time I spent talking about a subject is not directly proportional to how important I think it is. Mentally, I divide them into the big things that help guarantee I’ll reach my goals, and also the small things that will make those goals arrive earlier. Besides, it’s fun to have a profitable hobby. (My other hobbies aren’t cheap!)

Filed Under: Banking, Credit Cards, Frugal Living //

Last updated: August 9, 2018

Credit Card Foreign Transaction Fee Settlement

Posted on February 24, 2007 // 33 Comments

I just got a letter regarding a class-action lawsuit claiming that “Visa, MasterCard, their member banks, and Diners Club conspired to set and conceal markups and fees, typically of 1-3%, on foreign transactions.” I guess the companies settled, and “those persons who made a foreign transaction using a Visa-, MasterCard-, or Diners Club- branded credit, charge or debit card between February 1, 1996 and November 8, 2006 are members of the Settlement Damages Class.”

Don’t hold your breath for these settlement claims. They can take years to process. Just file a claim and hope for a nice surprise somewhere down the line.

I spent over a thousand dollars this year on foreign transactions, but I used my Capital One card, which didn’t charge me any exchange fees at all. See more in my post about the Best ATM or Credit Card For Foreign Travel?

Filed Under: Credit Cards //

Last updated: February 9, 2017

Making Money From Balance Transfers – What Happens After The First Year?

Posted on February 20, 2007 // 56 Comments

This is a follow-up to my series on How To Make Money From 0% APR Balance Transfers, where I discuss borrowing from credit cards for over a $1,000 in profit last year. (If you’re curious about this, I highly recommend reading it first – It’s all carefully laid out, step-by-step.) Now, several people have already done this and were wondering what to do after the initial 0% period is up – Do you cancel the old card? Apply for another one right away? How do you keep the gravy train running?

First of all, do not cancel your existing cards. Why not?

Canceling won’t help your credit score, and can even hurt it. Once you’ve opened the account, closing it will not help. You could have 100 credit cards and still have a top credit score if you use them responsibly. I have over 15 cards and my scores are just fine.

The only time I ever cancel a card is when I reach the maximum amount of cards per issuer. (Added: I also cancel when faced with an annual fee that can’t be waived.) For example, Citibank allows three or four cards per person. If you want to open another one, they will make you close an existing account.

Your card has a credit line attached to it, which can hopefully be moved to another card. Let’s work from the examples I’ve already talked about in the previous steps. Let’s say you already have the Citi® Platinum Select® Visa Card®, you’ve made your money, paid it off, and the intro period is now over. Now it’s just a $10,000 line of credit just sitting there.

Now, you can close the Platinum card if they ask. It may hurt your score a bit, but the trade-off of getting a new card may be worth it.

You could also try for an automatic credit limit increase on your old line first before moving the lines over.

You could keep the card for it’s rewards perks. For example, the Discover More Card (another no fee 0% APR card) also has a rewards program where it offer 5% cash back on a specific category every quarter. Right now it has 5% back on hotels, airline tickets, and car rentals. Even though you might not have gotten this card for that reason alone, since you have it, why not use it?

Same thing with the Citi Professional Card with ThankYou Network, I got it for the bonus and 0% APR period, but I now use it for 3% back a restaurants. I even put a little sticker on it that says “Restaurants” so I remember.

You could be offered another 0% APR period later on. Sometimes if a card issuer notices inactivity on your card, they might try to lure you back with another low-rate offer.

When should you start applying for new cards? This depends on how your credit score is doing. The problem with credit scores is that they are a complex formula (hidden intentionally by FICO so you’ll buy their scores) and different people’s score react differently to the same event. But as very general rule of thumb, if you have more than your gross income level of credit card debt, it is going to be difficult to be approved for another card. For example, if you make $50k a year and have $50k of credit card debt, even if it is at 0% APR and you have it socked away safely in a savings account, it will be tough to get another card.

My suggestion? Wait until most or all of your current cards are paid off for a couple of months. Then, your low debt levels will be reflected in your credit report and your score will rebound. Then you can re-apply for more cards and start up again. If this is your first time around, you can use this period to confirm for yourself that all this stuff only hurts your credit score temporarily.

You may notice that I only have about $30,000 borrowed for profit. This is mainly on purpose, because at this level my credit score is still good enough to be approved for new cards (like this one). Others prefer to go all out, apply for a ton of cards, put off all new applications for a while, wait, and then go all out again. I have nothing against that, but I prefer my way because I am holding a steady but reasonable amount of debt with respect to income, and it doesn’t necessarily raise any big flags with card companies. To them, I’m just another consumer with some credit card debt. I like to keep this a low-stress activity. Once I start making more income, I’ll probably borrow more.

What if I run out of good cards to apply for?
You can have 3 or 4 Citi Cards and you can have 3 or 4 Discover Cards at at time. If you reach the max, just follow the example in the main post and move your limit to the new card, and close the old card. If the card is already at a low limit, just close it out and then apply. That’s 6-8 cards at a time, I’m pretty sure that’s enough for most people.

You can find several options with both no fees and 0% APR at my best no-fee balance transfer offers list, please refer back there for an updated rundown.

Finally, I know that at least Citibank let’s you have multiples of the same card. If you have a high enough limits, a 3% fee capped at $50 or $75 really isn’t that bad.

Armed with discipline and information, you should be able to consistently increase your credit limits and make money from credit card companies for many years to come. 😀

Skip To Another Part
I. Introduction and Warnings About 0% Balance Transfer Offers
II. Scouting For 0% Balance Transfer Offers
III. Application Tips and Getting Cash From 0% Balance Transfers
IV. Setup And Management of 0% APR Balance Transfers
V. Best Pre-Screened No Fee 0% APR Balance Transfer Offers

Filed Under: Credit Cards //

Last updated: April 1, 2015

My Favorite Business Rewards Credit Cards

Posted on February 9, 2007 // 23 Comments

I’ve written about my favorite rewards cards already, but someone asked about my favorite business cards. On top of the extra rewards, I like these because they can also help you track and separate your business expenses. Remember, individuals can also sign up for business cards under their own name.

For Big Spenders: The Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express OPEN
I forgot about the The Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express OPEN (which I also got for the rewards), that also offers a good deal of Membership Rewards points during the first year. Limited Time Offer: Get 50,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend $5,000 in the first three months of Card membership. Terms and restrictions apply. Points are earned only on eligible purchases. Bonus points limitations apply.

It’s a bit hidden – if you click on the ‘Learn More’ link on the application page, you’ll see the bonus points offer:

3X points on airfare
2x points on purchases in the U.S. for advertising in select media, gasoline at U.S. stand-alone gas stations, and shipping
1X points on other purchases

————————————————————-

10,000 points is equal to $100 in gift cards or 10,000 frequent flyer miles, so roughly 1 point = 1 cent.

Let’s say you spend $60,000 in the first year. You’ll get 1 point per $1 spent, so 60,000 points. You’ll also get all 30,000 points above. That’s 90,000 points (~$900) for $60,000 in spending, for an overall 1.5% back.

You can get another 10,000 points for the one-year card renewal, getting you to their 100,000 point level, but you’ll be charged the $125 annual fee, so you’ll have to decide if it’s worth it. The first year’s annual fee is waived.

Here are some fine print details for the cards:

Chase Business Cash Rewards Card

You will earn 1 point per $1 for new net purchases totaling $0 to $2,000 each billing cycle. New net purchases totaling over $2,000 and up to $2,500 will earn 5 points per $1, and new net purchases totaling over $2500 will earn 1.25 points per $1. To determine the level of points earned for each billing cycle, only new net purchases are used in the calculation, and net purchases spending thresholds will reset to $0 at the start of each new billing cycle.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers, General //

Last updated: January 31, 2014

Google Checkout Now Free Until 2008

Posted on December 7, 2006 // 4 Comments

Google has extended their free credit card processing until December 31st, 2007. Not only is Google’s normal commission of 2.0% + $0.20 already better than PayPal’s base level of 2.9% + $0.30, but now you can get a whole year fee-free. If you accept any non-eBay payment via PayPal now, this is a great incentive to switch. I’ve already accepted a few payments through the service, and it has been very smooth. You simply send your clients an invoice, much like you would through PayPal, and they can pay with any major credit card. Most still pay me with checks, but now I don’t have to think twice about losing 3% to fees.

As you might expect, some people are trying to use this promotion to gain free frequent flier miles and whatnot, but I’m staying clear of that. My taxes are already messy enough, without thousands of dollars running around in circles. Still, now you can pay your friends back and also earn some credit card rewards at the same time.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Entrepreneurial //

Last updated: August 9, 2018

Potential $100 in Gas Rebates For Citi Credit Protector Trial

Posted on November 11, 2006 // 17 Comments

I’ve written about those $15 checks that credit card issuers send you to try out their overpriced credit “protection” programs, so when I ran across this offer from Citibank for $100 in free gas rebate coupons for enrolling in a free 30-day trial, I was a bit suspicious.

I’ve gotten these before, but they were broken up into $10 rebates, one a month, and only valid if you stayed with the service. On top of that, they take months to fulfill, and if by the time they finally decide to stop stalling and process the rebate you’ve already cancelled, then oops! no money for you. In other words, it was a pain. Would this be similar?

Probably, but maybe not as bad – According to recent reports on Fatwallet, the rebate coupon they mail you is for $100 all at once. One catch is that you must submit gas receipts within 30 days of purchase. So if you can’t spend $100 on gas in 30 days, you may not get the full $100. Others suggested just picking up old receipts off the ground to satisfy the $100 requirement. I also asked if you still need to be enrolled for the rebate to process, and will update if I get an answer.

As will most of these credit protector trials, you are automatically enrolled after the initial period unless you call to cancel. For my own memory, the number to cancel is 1-888-592-7344. The program fee is 85 cents per $100 of your monthly balance. Thus, you should always try to sign up with an idle credit card with no balance. That way, even if you forget, you won’t be charged anything.

Thanks to Reader Paul who reminded me of this and also reports that you can’t use the Citi Professional Card, which a lot of people have from the $100 bonus, have to sign up. I tried too and it didn’t work. I did sign up successfully using another Citi card. I’ll try my best to remember to update here when I get the forms, and also post again in 30 days to remind people to cancel.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Last updated: April 22, 2015

Best Business Credit Cards With 0% APR Offers

Posted on November 7, 2006 // 24 Comments

I hate it when I just plain forget to post things, which is I’m glad I did that survey 😉 One of the main reasons why I brought up the fact that anyone can apply for business credit cards is that you can take out 0% APR balance transfers (see my detailed posts on how I do this first) and because business accounts and balances don’t show up on your consumer credit report, it won’t dink your personal credit score. The only problem is that business credit card offers tend not to be as juicy as the best consumer card offers. Still, here are some of the better ones. Again, I’m looking for 0% APR for the longest time, applying to both purchases and balance transfers, no annual fees, and lowest balance transfer fees.

Advanta Platinum Rewards BusinessCard MasterCard – No annual fee, 0% APR fixed for 15 months on balance transfers, balance transfer fee of 3% (min $5, max $50). This probably the longest one I’ve seen. There is also a cashback program, but don’t use this when you have a balance transfer.

Chase Platinum Business Rebate Card – No annual fee, 0% APR fixed for 12 months on purchases and balance transfers, balance transfer fee of 3% (min $5, max $75). 3% Cash Back on for purchases at restaurants, gas stations, office supply stores, building supply stores, hardware and home improvement stores

Chase Business Cash Rewards Card – Similar to above; No annual fee, 0% APR fixed for 12 months on purchases and balance transfers, balance transfer fee of 3% (min $5, max $75). Somewhat confusing tiered cashback program up of to 5% back. May be worth it for big spenders.

CitiBusiness Card with ThankYou Network – No annual fee, 0% APR fixed for 12 months on purchases, see application for balance transfer fee detail. There is also a $100 Gift Card after you make $250 in purchases!

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Last updated: October 27, 2011

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Best Business Credit Cards With 0% APR Offers

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