chase sapphire

Six years ago, I was penniless and unemployed, with less than three weeks until rent was due. I was frantic to find a job – anything that paid would do – and I picked up a Greensheet because I couldn't even afford the Houston Chronicle. I browsed through the Office/Clerical section first, because I was hoping to find at least temporary employment as a clerk or secretary, and when nothing jumped out at me, I turned the page to the Marketing section.

At that time, I had no idea that Marketing and Sales were not the same thing. My mother had always cautioned me against taking a job that paid by commission only, so I was loathe to even call on any of the listed positions. Most offered instant wealth and incredible business opportunities – ads for jobs that I knew were scams – so I ignored those and called on an advertisement for Marketing Representatives at Bush Intercontinental Airport.

As it turns out, it was the best call I ever made.

For over a year, I worked as a Marketing Rep for Trendline Marketing, Inc. My job consisted of standing at a booth in the airport, talking to people and inviting them to sign up for the Chase Continental Credit Card. We offered free t-shirts and stuffed airplanes as premiums, and targeted business people who traveled thousands of miles a year for their jobs. I was paid $10.00 an hour, or $2.00 an application, whichever was greater. Most days, I averaged between 90 and 100 applications a day, which translated to $22.00 to $25.00 per hour.

And all I had to do was sit at a booth!

After that, I was able to move on to bigger and better things. The following year, I traveled with Nascar to thirty-two different cities, marketing the MBNA Nascar Visa. The company paid for my airfare, my meals, my rental cars, my hotels, and my gas. I made $1.50 per application, and averaged about 1,300 applications per weekend. I was traveling for free, living with very few expenses, working two days a week, and pulling in close to $80,000 per year. It was amazing.

The next year, I traveled with the PGA Champions Tour, and after that, I worked with Toys 'R' Us, Shell gas stations, and Kohl's department stores. It was an amazing experience, and I met hundreds of wonderful people.

If you are afraid of marketing, and unsure of your future when it comes to commission pay, you might want to try the credit card marketing industry. Companies all over the U.S. are looking for new marketing representatives who have no problem talking to people and who have excellent communication skills. There is a large market for people who are bi-lingual, and people who have extremely flexible hours.

chase sapphire

 

Chase Sapphire – Zero APR Credit Card

chase sapphire

The Credit Card Fair Fee Act (HR5546/S 3086), which will put an end to credit card price-fixing and provide an open process to negotiate interchange fees by the credit card industry, is not happening fast enough for some credit card holders. The act will not take effect until July 2010, causing many credit companies to act now on getting their money. Chase Credit Card notified its customers in December that it was adding a $10 monthly fee and raising their minimum card payment from two percent to five percent beginning in January for some cardholders. These changes were mailed in the form of a notice, which many cardholders said they failed to read due to multiple reasons, one being the volume of mail they receive during the month of December. Whether it was intentional on Chase's part to send these notices knowing consumers might be caught unaware during the Holiday season or not is up for debate. Either way, with the current economy, cardholders are running into problems paying the current minimum amount due on their statements.

Many Chase cardholders saw the minimum payment on their credit card bill double. When contacting Chase, and questioning the monthly balance due, they were confronted with the following options, pay the amount due, be “coerced” into paying a higher percentage rate with lower payments, or paying the entire amount on their remaining balance. With the high jobless rate and the dwindling economy, the option that most cardholders will have to choose is a 'no-brainer'.

The Federal Reserve, the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the National Credit Union Association received over 60,000 complaints last year prompting them to issue regulations regarding raising credit card fees and interest rates.

Some of the specific new rules are:

-Ban on raising the interest rate on a current balance unless cardholder is more than 30 days late on a payment or are the holder of a variable rate card. However increases are allowed on future purchases with a 45-day advanced notice.

-Credit card issuers will not be able to raise rates on future purchases within the first year of a new account unless stated rates are revealed when the account is opened.

-Issuers must provide ample time for cardholders to pay their bill by mailing the statement at least 21 days before its due date, thus avoiding late fees.

-A 45-day notice will be enacted before a penalty rate can be applied.

-Stop maintenance fees to make up the issuers lost of interest revenue.

-Ban double cycle billing, which is the issuer charging interest on balances already paid.

NOTE: Chase said the increase would only affect one-half of one percent of their account holders.

Sources: Consumer Action, Unfair Credit Card Fees, Dallas News

chase sapphire

 

Chase Sapphire – Chase Freedom Credit Card

chase sapphire

I have been increasingly frustrated with Chase credit card company.
I have two credit cards with this company. One I have had for over six years back when it was Washington Mutual, which I loved until they merged with Chase. The other I got as a result of purchasing on Amazon.com and decided to get the credit card almost two years ago for some bonuses and whatnot…

Recently I decided to write a cash advance check for $300 because I had an extra bill to pay this month and wanted to make sure I had plenty of cash in my bank account… Two days later I get a call from the fraud department of Chase. Mind you, I always pay my account off on time and make more than the minimum payment, and do not have a high balance, and I use the card regularly so it's not as though it hasn't been in use or anything. Also, I have thousands of dollars of credit still available to me with this card. They said there was suspected fraud on my account so I talked to them and cleared it up right away saying I did write the check, etc.

They decided to decline the check anyway.

I DO UNDERSTAND a credit card cash advance check may be declined at any time, but I have over plenty of credit available in my account and wrote a check for $300, not like I wrote it for $1500 or $3000 or anything… Two days later I get a call saying there is suspected fraud on my account. I called immediately and spoke to a representative.

My check was returned unpaid, which is fine, but, because of this, I have incurred a fee from my bank which I don't think is fair. I tried calling people at Chase and telling them why I feel this way:

* I have a good history of uses and payments with this card
* I have never had fraud on my account
* I called the fraud department right away as soon as I received their recorded message to clear up the situation.

I don't think I should be responsible for paying any fees I was charged from my bank because of this and am seriously considering closing my account. I know others have had problems with this company and they have also been raising interest rates, which would be fine if it were the ONLY problem… But of course there are several others, so I am very very frustrated right now I just want to scream! UGH!

chase sapphire

 

Chase Sapphire Card – Best Credit Card Interest Rate

chase sapphire

You've probably heard the commercials, “I'm free to do what I want…at any old time.” For the last several months now, Chase has been spending millions of dollars in ad-buys on their new Chase Freedom Card. From all of the discussion online, it seems that many people are now using it as their primary card. The question remains, does the new Chase Freedom card live up to the hype and make-up for it's excessive use of a classic Rolling Stones song? The short answer is no, it's just another credit card with a fancy ad-campaign.

The only feature the card has that most major credit cards do not is that cardholders can choose what form their rewards come in. They can either have cash back, rewards points, or airline miles. The rewards themselves are passable, but nothing to write home about. You'll get a paltry 1% cash back should you chose that rewards option. If you move over to points, you can get about 3% back if you redeem them at the right place. Fortunately you can get gift certificates to Amazon.com with the card, which is about as close to cash as any rewards come.

The card it self is a Visa, so it'll be accepted just about everywhere, that's definitely a plus. It features a 20 day grace period which is fairly standard in the industry these days, but there are longer grace periods to be had if you do the looking. If you decide to carry a balance, you're going to be paying a lot more in interest compared to some of the competitor's cards. The best interest rate available on the card is 14.24% variable, which less than fantastic. That means if you have a credit score of 800, you'll still be paying 14.24% on your credit card. If you have less than perfect credit, you're likely to be paying even higher on the card.

At the end of the day, the card's just not worth pursuing, especially if you ever carry a balance. If you're just looking for the rewards and don't care about the interest rate because you don't carry a balance, there are still a lot better places to put your charges. If you're looking for a good credit card, take a look at Citi's Driver's Edge Platinum select. You can use this card to easily get 3% or 4% back in rewards if you have any sort of commute at all.

chase sapphire

 

Chase Credit Card – Low Interest Rate Cards

chase sapphire

I originally applied for the Continental Chase card in 11/2007 and at this time I received about a month of calls from Chase discussing the application and why I had applied. I received about six calls regarding this only to be told that I would be sent a decision soon. After a lot of waiting I did not receive the actual card until 2/2008 and at this point I contacted Chase to inform them I had just gotten the card. They told me everything would be fine and they would adjust my account once I made the annual payment so that my renewal date reflects the month that I received the card. I paid 65.00 for the annual fee and an addition $15.00 fee for paying over the phone. This was fine until 12/08 when I noticed an additional $65.00 charge placed on my account. The representative that I spoke to informed me that this was for the membership fee and I explained the situation to her and informed her that I was not due for renewal until 2/2009 and that I had essentially paid $80.00 for a year that was not yet complete. She informed me that I could speak to a supervisor and this person then said she did not care about my situation and that I could file a claim with the BBB about the problem if I wished. I informed her that I would not be able to afford it and she said that it did not matter to her. The card comes at a monthly cost of $5.41 and was forced to renew 10 months early. I essentially paid 6.50 per month, which means that I overpaid by 1.09*12=13.08 total that I am owed.

I also asked for a $25.00 credit to be placed on my account because of the attitude that the representative gave me over the phone when I was asking for an adjustment. Well, a few days later Chase contacted me by phone and apologized for any problems this caused me. They also wanted to let me know that $25.00 was too much but they were willing to give me $20.00, which I thought was a pretty fair amount considering the situation. In total I got the full amount that I wanted plus a small amount. They actually made me feel like they care about my business, I was going to close my account if they failed in that respect.

chase sapphire

 

Chase Sapphire – Zero APR Credit Card

chase sapphire

Consumer credit has become so available and plentiful that often times credit card companies are offering good customers rates of 0% for over a year as a way to draw them in as customers. Some savvy consumers who do not need to borrow the money are borrowing it anyway and investing it at a higher rate and paying off the balance when the 0% introductory rate is over to make money.

A friend of mine introduced me to this game, and here's how he got started. He was approved for the Citi Dividend Platinum Select card which gives a discount of 5% off for fuel, groceries and pharmacies. When he activated the card the customer service representative told him that he could transfer the balance from another credit card for no fees and no interest for a whole year. My friend quickly told the CSR he had no credit card debt, and the CSR told him that he would be happy to transfer the money into his bank account! He now borrows money from credit card companies at 0% interest and invests the money in online savings accounts in order to earn decent interest rates and get free money. It's a form of financial arbitrage. If you are going to play some game there are some details that you need to know about, because often times credit card companies are very sneaky when it comes to the fees that they are charging.

First you have to find the right offer. Citibank is a favorite for many players of the balance transfer game. They have a lot of offers for 0% for 6 to 12 months and allow you to get a check which you can deposit at your bank. Chase and Discover also have a number of offers which are potentially lucrative. You need to be very well informed as to the terms you are agreeing to, making sure there are no fees for balance transfers, and that balance transfers are under the 0% rate. You will also have to learn how they calculate interest to be sure you are not charged any interest for your dealings. For example, Discover uses a two month cycle to factor interest rates, so be very careful.

Now that you have an offer and an account, you'll need to put the money into a savings account. This can be somewhat of a tricky part. Citibank will actually send you a check to deposit and you can request it online. Often times companies will give you balance transfer checks that you can deposit. Sometimes you might have to transfer a balance into a Citibank card and then request a check online.

Now we have to make sure our money is safe so that you can make some money. You'll want to put your funds into an account with a guaranteed rate of return. You can make about 5% in a high interest money market account right now, and this is probably the place to be. Don't put the money in mutual funds or in other non-guaranteed securities. If you had $10,000 borrowed for a period of one year and are getting 5%, you've made $500, for not much work at all, and that's how it's done!

chase sapphire

 

Chase Credit Card – 0 Interest Rate Credit Card

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