By: Jason Collazo
2011 may be remembered, by some at least, as the year of the credit card’s big comeback. Yes, after the unspectacular events in the credit industry for the past few years, things seem to be bouncing up for the big credit card names out there, such as Visa and MasterCard. The reason? It’s one competitive market out there- consumers are more aware than ever before of the options available to them.
Each week it seems one card company is trying to come out to top-up another leading one. Incentives are being thrown at consumers, left and right! Take for example, the APR rate. As of last year, a good APR rate for a transfer card trying to gain some new customers would have been 0, at first, for a year. This, as well as a nice 5% balance transfer fee, thrown in to the equation.
Then, this past January, Discover Bank whipped out a no balance transfer fee card. In fact, at the time, it was the only one on the market. You bet those other credit card companies took notice. Even though it was discontinued as of February (only having lasted a month), debt-plagued consumers that were smart enough to take advantage of it discovered they could save themselves from unwanted burdensome fees with it. And the interest of the consumer was piqued.
However, that golden age is gone, because no major credit card company (Chase credit card, Mastercard, whatever card you can think of!) is offering no balance transfer fee cards anymore. It’s now just a sweet memory for the majority of us. But there are very similar offers out there. Take this into consideration: the best offer out there to customers right now is 24 months with an incredible 0% APR financing. That’s something to take notice of, by any stretch of the financially-knowing imagination.
In other news, cash back and travel programs have been affected by these developments as well. Ah, yes, those old standbys of the credit card world. Chase has really gone crazy on this front, offering consumers $50 cash bonuses, after their first hundred in purchases on their new card. Then, threatened by their vigilant competition, Chase bumped it up to 100. You bet consumers took notice. Most people would take notice. And not only that, Chase eventually went up again to $150, making their rivals more uncomfortable and the consumer much more interested.
Their Freedom card alone offers other incentives such as a good 5% cash back on the first $1,500 spent in certain purchasing areas consumers are prone to spending in most, like gas and entertainment. Most recently, they partnered with British Airways to tempt any otherwise unsure consumers with two free round-trip flights being offered with their “British Airways Visa Signature from Chase” (after approval and spending $2,500 their first few months). Furthermore: you get NO foreign transaction fees on this card, which can be a pain, as many world-weary travelers can attest to.
So with perks like that, and APR getting lower or just disappearing in some scenarios, it’s no wonder 2011 sees the credit card fighting its way to a needed comeback!
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