Credit Card Deals: Rewards Programs
The Advanta Platinum Business Card with Unlimited Rewards is also open to individuals with very good and good credit. Card holders earn 1 point for every dollar they spend. The Advanta Platinum BusinessCard Unlimited Rewards also has 0% APR for 15 months on balance transfers and 7.99% APR afterwards. And it lets you redeem points in the form of air travel, cash back, and merchandize among others. There are no blackout dates for air travel. The card has no annual fee and it doesn’t put a limit on the amount of points you can earn.
Bank Card Babel: Choosing A Bank Card From A Bewildering Array Of Options.
Have you tried picking a new bank card lately? It is more than a little bit confusing choosing between all the different offers. Bank of America's web site says “Choose from more than 400 credit cards.” Banks offer so many choices it seems their goal is to have a different deal for everyone. Capital One even lets you design your own card, basically letting you pick your combination of the options instead of making you go through a long list to find the card with exactly the options you want. But even at Capital One, at the bottom of the web page that displays the choices, there is a link saying “Not finding what you want? Browse cards at capitalone.com”
Certificate of Deposit Deals
The most common promotion for CDs is a high introductory rate for new deposits. The CD usually renews at a lower rate, so it is good to go for the longest rate you are willing to lock in. Capital One offers 5.5% on a 10 year CD, if you are willing to lock up your money for so long. Capital One and Chase both offer 5% for 5 years. ING's highest rate is 3.75% for 12 and 18 month CDs, longer term CDs at ING Direct have the lower rate of 3.5%. CitiBank's special is a 6-month CDs with a 3% APY interest rate. Some banks are like Bank of America offering “No Risk CD's”. At Bank of America, the 9 month CD gets 2% interest, you have to deposit the money you withdraw into another Bank of America account, and you might be required to give 7 days notice before withdrawing the funds. Compare this to earning 1.39% on Bank of America's money market account or choosing another bank's money market account, or one of the short term, high interest rate offers.
Credit Card Deals
Capital One's TV promotion says you can choose your own features in their "Card Lab". The ad showing someone busy designing their own card online while they should be doing something else are entertaining and funny. But is the card a good deal? When I chose the lowest fixed rate of 9.9% and $0 annual fee, all the other options became unavailable. www.mybanktraker.com/credit-cards lists several cards with a 0% introductory rate (which would change to 9.99%-19.99% after the intro period based on your credit rating), $0 annual fee, and some rewards. Bank of America has the MyExpression program. This program lets you choose between alumni, charity, organizations, and sports programs. Organizations can be the generic “Nursing” or the specific “Veterans of Foreign Wars” Each sponsor has a different list of products you can choose from. In most cases, you get a credit card with the name or logo on it. Charity cards may make donations to the charity. Sports cards may let you earn VIP passes. The main attraction of this program is that the credit card options are related to the organization you choose.
Holiday Offers and Deals for Credit Cards
The holiday season is a time for family togetherness, warm reunions, great food and gifts. But it is also the time for financial stress. One of the biggest financial fears among consumers is to find their credit card bills on their mailbox come January. All the good times from the holidays seem to vanish instantly as they review all the money they spent buying the Christmas tree, the food, and the gifts. Consumers who experienced this scenario promised themselves that they would prepare better the next year only to find themselves in the same situation one year later.
Capital One Announces American Life Photo Contest
In search of the next generation of great American photographers, Capital One Financial Corporation and Newsweek in conjunction with Flickr today announced the "American Life" online photo contest, offering consumers the opportunity to share images that best capture the everyday moments of life in America - from amazing landscapes and sunsets to neighborhood landmarks and the family pet. From October 27 to January 5, consumers can submit their photos at www.capitalonephotocontest.com or via the "American Life Photo Contest" group on Flickr, groups/capitaloneamericanlife. Online consumer voting from January 6, 2009 to February 6, 2009 will determine the top 50 semi-finalists. At the conclusion of public voting, Newsweek Director of Photography, Simon Barnett, who has edited and selected for publication some of the most renowned images in American life and world news, will determine one grand prize winner and two runners up whose work will be featured on Capital One's Image Card site where cardholders can personalize their credit card. Winners will be announced in March 2009.
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