Help picking a credit card company?

[balamw]

I like Citibank. They use Mastercard though - but I've hardly found a place that would take Visa and not mastercard.

Don't count on what a bank currently offers.

Citibank used to be aligned with Visa, but switched. We dumped them when they made us switch. MBNA attempted to switch us from Master Card to AmEx and also was summarily dumped. My current bank has switched us from Visa to MasterCard and back to Visa over the past 10 years. We stay with the current bank, just 'cause we have other accounts we're happy with there...

B

 

[yippy]

I don't get those bashing credit cards. They have a bad rap because a lot of people just don't understand how they work. If used properly, like the original poster says he does, they can be good.

My credit card has rewards and since getting it a year ago I have made $200 from it without paying them anything. Plus, my debit card charges international transaction fees when used over seas (and yes, it is labeled VISA) and the credit card doesn't so it also saved me some money there.


RECOMENDATION:

Chase. I have the Amazon.com card through Chase and really like it. I get 1% back in gift certificates and they have a very good online account access. I can pay bills, pay off the card through a direct withdrawal to my checking account, view my statements for the past 6 months or a year in PDF form and it links well with financial management software. In Moneydance I can directly download my account activity without even going to their website (Quicken does this too).

It is a VISA and mine is from Amazon but I go through the Chase website to get to it so I assume that all Chase cards are the same.


As for CITI, I hear good things about them but their marketing has turned me off. Twice they opened an account for me and sent me cards without my permission that I then had to cancel. They only had $500 credit limits so were worthless to me.

 

[EricNau]

RECOMENDATION:

Chase. I have the Amazon.com card through Chase and really like it. I get 1% back in gift certificates and they have a very good online account access. I can pay bills, pay off the card through a direct withdrawal to my checking account, view my statements for the past 6 months or a year in PDF form and it links well with financial management software. In Moneydance I can directly download my account activity without even going to their website (Quicken does this too).

It is a VISA and mine is from Amazon but I go through the Chase website to get to it so I assume that all Chase cards are the same.

I know someone who had a Visa Chase credit card which she used very responsibly and never carried a balance on. After many, many years with Chase they called her up one day and let her know that they were cutting her rewards in half because she didn't carry a balance on her card (i.e. they weren't making any money from her).

I will never use chase just because of that.

 

[yippy]

That is pretty nasty, had no idea any credit card company would do that.

Ironically, the best way for me to hurt them it so keep using them as they will lose more money that way. I'll try to drain as much money as I can before they pull something like that on me and then I will switch to a new company.

 

[adk]

I don't care about rewards or whatever, I just want a credit card to pay for stuff. I always pay the bill completely when it comes, so APR% isn't terribly important.

Even though you say you don't care about rewards, you might as well get a card that offers some sort, since most of the rewards cards don't have fees these days. That being said, I'm a big fan of my citibank card right now. I get tons of reward points and as useless as they may be (spend $1700, get a free DVD!) they're free. Also, I used to have a chase card and their online baking system was great, worked like a charm with safari.

 

[Timepass]

That is pretty nasty, had no idea any credit card company would do that.

Ironically, the best way for me to hurt them it so keep using them as they will lose more money that way. I'll try to drain as much money as I can before they pull something like that on me and then I will switch to a new company.

JNot they still make money off of you. Every time you charge something they get a cut out of it or they make so much per transaction. Just they dont make as much because you dont carry a balance.

 

[ravenvii]

Thanks guys for all the suggestions. If only Apple has a rewards-based credit card

 

[Gil Bates]

I like the BMW card because it gives me money toward maintenance and an automatic $5000 off the purchase of my next BMW.

BMW Card? That sounds cool. Can I get one even if I drive a Cavalier? But it's UP TO $5000, right?

To the OP, I now do everything on-line. I don't have any paper bills anymore, including phone, electricity, etc. All bills (e-bills) come to my bank (Bank of America) and I can pay everyting with literary with a few mouse clicks. Many credit cards can send e-bills to my bank, including Citi and Amex. All I need to do is to check my bank account on-line once a week or so.

I use a Citi Plutinum Dividend card (or something like that). 5 % cash back for gas & grocery. 1 % for everything else (not including cash advances, I think).

I'm not sure why some people think check/debit cards are better than credit cards.

 

[medea]

My only Visa outside of my check card is through Washington Mutual. So far I've had no problems with WaMu. There are several sites that show you comparisons in cards to help you pick the best on for you, just google for the cards and something is bound to come up.

 

[Lyle]

I'm not sure why some people think check/debit cards are better than credit cards.

A credit card's not a bad thing as long as you have the discipline to keep your spending under control and not get yourself too deep into debt.

 

[slooksterPSV]

Here's my dime, nickle, and two pennies.

I feel bad that you've had a bad experience with Capital One, I've had a great experience with them with their credit card specifically. Anyways, now onto my other spiels.

Wellsfargo was a great bank when I went through them with a Savings account. Never had a problem.

USBank - ok get ready to see a lot of !@#$%^&* characters ok?
--I open up a checking account because I just got a job and the bank is right there where I work so I sign up for an account. They throw a few papers at me, put $50 in my account and I get started. I sign up for online banking and all that. Still with me? Seemed pretty good considering that if I used my debit card as credit I could get cash rewards. At least that's what they told me.
So I go and deposit a $125 so i can pay for my housing at CEU. They tell me that the $$$ will be in there the next day. It was, well $100, they held $25 for 5 days, which i thought i could use, but I couldn't. So I got 2 over-drafts my second week of having the account. So I went in and they straightened it all out and explained that if I'm in the negative balance (even though that money has been set aside to pay those places) that if something finishes processing and I'm in the negative balance, I get an overdraft charge $@%# wtf they didn't $%#@@#$ tell me any of that $@#$ + the overdraft fees are $35 #$#@ #$#%@ those stupid @#$-%#-@#$%@!$ they didn't tell me a @#$#%@% thing about that. I was so #%@# %###$@.

Ok so I calm down after that. So anything over $100 you have to wait 5 days to get the rest - you get the first $100 the next day. All because its a "new account". So that's ok. Well, I accidently am in the negative balance and I linked up my card with it, so they take out 3 over-drafts on me for something else, processed in the negative so I go battle it out with them again. THOSE STUPID %@#$@@#$, didn't explain more stuff to me. They still expected me to know everything.
So they fixed that. I have to have the account till I go to college cause after the first week I'm at college, I'll have one paycheck coming on the 25th? and I set it up for direct deposit.

So here's all I have to say about US Bank - 5 star service? A LOAD OF $%@#, they suck so bad, so $@%^{ badly that I wish I would have never went with them.

So that's my @#$@%^^# spiel, sorry for the @$#@ cuss words.

 

[yg17]

Here's my dime, nickle, and two pennies.

I feel bad that you've had a bad experience with Capital One, I've had a great experience with them with their credit card specifically. Anyways, now onto my other spiels.

Wellsfargo was a great bank when I went through them with a Savings account. Never had a problem.

USBank - ok get ready to see a lot of !@#$%^&* characters ok?
--I open up a checking account because I just got a job and the bank is right there where I work so I sign up for an account. They throw a few papers at me, put $50 in my account and I get started. I sign up for online banking and all that. Still with me? Seemed pretty good considering that if I used my debit card as credit I could get cash rewards. At least that's what they told me.
So I go and deposit a $125 so i can pay for my housing at CEU. They tell me that the $$$ will be in there the next day. It was, well $100, they held $25 for 5 days, which i thought i could use, but I couldn't. So I got 2 over-drafts my second week of having the account. So I went in and they straightened it all out and explained that if I'm in the negative balance (even though that money has been set aside to pay those places) that if something finishes processing and I'm in the negative balance, I get an overdraft charge $@%# wtf they didn't $%#@@#$ tell me any of that $@#$ + the overdraft fees are $35 #$#@ #$#%@ those stupid @#$-%#-@#$%@!$ they didn't tell me a @#$#%@% thing about that. I was so #%@# %###$@.

Ok so I calm down after that. So anything over $100 you have to wait 5 days to get the rest - you get the first $100 the next day. All because its a "new account". So that's ok. Well, I accidently am in the negative balance and I linked up my card with it, so they take out 3 over-drafts on me for something else, processed in the negative so I go battle it out with them again. THOSE STUPID %@#$@@#$, didn't explain more stuff to me. They still expected me to know everything.
So they fixed that. I have to have the account till I go to college cause after the first week I'm at college, I'll have one paycheck coming on the 25th? and I set it up for direct deposit.

So here's all I have to say about US Bank - 5 star service? A LOAD OF $%@#, they suck so bad, so $@%^{ badly that I wish I would have never went with them.

So that's my @#$@%^^# spiel, sorry for the @$#@ cuss words.

I have a checking account (w/debit card) and savings account with US Bank, been with them for a few years, and have NEVER had a problem. The only issue I had was when I first opened my account, I was promised free checks. They charged me for the checks, which resulted in me having an overdraft. I went into the bank and in 2 minutes, they reversed the check and NSF fees. Everything since has been excellent. When I deposit something, the first $100 is available immediately, and the remainder is available the next business day (or the day after if I make the deposit late at night at an ATM). The only exception to this was when I deposited a $20,000 student loan check into my savings account. They held it for a week to make sure it cleared through the issuing bank, and for a check of that amount, that makes sense.

My only complaint about US Bank is they don't seem to have any locations outside the midwest, so occasionally when travelling, I rack up fees at other banks ATMs if I ever need cash.

As for credit cards? I have the Amazon/Chase Visa and HSBC Mastercard. Never had a problem with either of those either. The HSBC has 0% APR for 12 months which is definitely nice (although I always find myself wanting to use it to finance crap I don't need )

 

[krimson]

i have/had a bunch of different cards...

BoA: $35/yr fee which i dont like.
Discover: they're alright, call me too much, even though i ask them not to.
Chase: F**ked over me and my credit a long time ago, and then they bought out my Sony Card, which i promptly cancelled... I will NEVER use them again.
HSBC: no complaints
Citi: have/had numerous cards, never had a problem.
Amex Optima: low credit limit, but that's fine, otherwise no complaints.
Amex Plat: connected to my Costco account, only use it at Costco.
Bank One: card got changed to Chase, no complaints while i had them either.

I've seen an Amex w/ a visa logo, haven't looked into it yet.

I suggest checking out http://www.best-card.com once you find a company that suits you.

 

[KingYaba]

I had been using credit for ~7 years now. This isn't new to me. I do find credit useful at times - when I don't have the cash, and have nothing in the bank, I can use credit in a crunch - but only when I know I will have the money by the time the bill comes along. And I like the fact that it's safer than debit for the fact that if someone charges your credit card without your permission, you can dispute it. With debit, the money's gone, just like that.

Please don't feed me the "CREDIT IS BAD" line, I just need recommendations/feedback on which banks are good.

I thought I recomended Visa

 

[BAspecialCake]

Your credit score is highly influenced by how you use your revolving credit...

It's better to have the option to go into debt, then actually being in it. Don't cancel the card if it's been in good standing. Longer Revolving credit history will add points to your score. Canceling a card that's in good standing would hurt you in the long run.