@Anonymous wrote:Time for a funeral ... this is my first go to card. Yes, I know it was established for college students and Sallie Mae Student Loans but, like the Chase AARP Card others could apply. The 2016 year has been hard ... Citi gutted the Citi Forward Visa Card (closed mine) and now the retrofit of the Barclay's Sallie Mae Master Card. Conversion to a Barclay's Commence Master Card for 2% why bother and didn't include the "World Mastercard" benefits and the "Flexible Spending" Option will be gone. Barclay's even reduced my Apr to 10.24% and my CL was $14K (more than I really needed) but, hey! May be time to move on from Barclay's ... way to much drama with them anyway!!! In the final days, Barclay's says they will allow the redemption of rewards into any US bank checking or savings account along with statement credits however no deposits will be permitted to UPromise Accounts. For college students and small spenders the card will be very tough to replace.
And in a year where they are making record profits, they wanted to give more to the shareholders Im sure, to heck with the customer, its the usual way.
@kdm31091 wrote:The Prime card is nice if you are a devoted Amazon shopper with a Prime membership anyway. Just keep in mind that by signing up you are committing to the Prime membership and fee. Is is justifiable with your spend volume on Amazon?
As far as Penfed, it really depends. Is it worth maintaining a savings account just to get 5% on gas? The answer probably lies in the amount of your gas spend. For me, who fills up once a week, so maybe $100 a month in gas spend, it wouldn't be worth it.
BCP is a somewhat replacement on the grocery end of things, but you do have the AF to consider. You can buy Amazon and gas gift cards but at least to me, that would get old. Some people don't mind the extra steps. It really just depends how much you are spending on these things.
In summary, try to figure out what you are losing in raw reward dollars before opening a bunch of cards to replace Sallie. You may find it really isn't anything worth too much worry. $5 a month, as an example, isn't gonna make or break anyone, and you may not want 3 new tradelines to cover that job.
Agree Kdm...
This closure didnt affect me at all. I rarely spent on the card anyways, and if you remember correctly, Ive posted a few times about it being one of cards to close. I spend maybe $20-$80 a month on it....maybe, if I can remember to use it! I dont shop on Amazon, I fill up once every 10-12 days, and groceries are usually Target now with my Target card/cartwheel app.
eh..I know some posters use it heavily, and really did gain a lot from the card, and of course its unforuntate for them, and the new reward structure is just like any other cards we currently have in our lineup.
Still unclear if Ill close or not, I might just keep it and use it like I currently do, or even a little less. They have afterall kept me intact for 2 yrs thru insane app sprees/excessive INQ. Least I could do I suppose, LOL. 
@longtimelurker wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Struck me that the Barclay's Sallie Mae MC nerf sure does mirror the Citi Forward Visa nerf. Seems awful similar. Timing too. Both were for college students and both had a serious focus on Amazon spending and points. CC I really don't see a card with Barclay's that is exciting. My history goes back to the early 1970's and I always stayed away from Barclay's until I fell for the Sallie Mae. Glad I had it but, what to move to or tell Barclay's to go chase up a rope and be sure to pay the share holders!
Don't think they are that similar (except both very unwelcome!) The Forward nerf was what I would expect in an "honest" nerf, a reduction in reward rate from 5 to 2, with categories staying the same. In the Forward case, if there weren't easy to get 2% everywhere cards, the Forward might still be useful for some people who used it before. With Sallie Mae, the replacement is a different set of categories, just 1% in gas and bookstores, so it doesn't make much sense. (Though I guess those without 2% everywhere cards can be delighted that the card now gets 2% on utilities whereas the old one only got 1%!)
Good evaluation ... was just being emotional rather than business like. Acquired the card due to reading posts on this website or I would never have heard of it or found it. My spend is overall small so finding cards that fit has been tough where the student Sallie Mae fit for my lifestyle today. My gas spend is quite small so no big deal groceries was good and an occassional Amazon. In the end one of the posters mentioned for small spenders the net effect will be minimum and I will owe up to that. Just sad when I get a credit card that actually satisfies my needs. This past year I eliminated six cards and paid off a mortgage and my high FICO Score took the big dip so life goes on and I will not be jumping off any tall buildings in a single bound 
@pizza1 wrote:
@kdm31091 wrote:The Prime card is nice if you are a devoted Amazon shopper with a Prime membership anyway. Just keep in mind that by signing up you are committing to the Prime membership and fee. Is is justifiable with your spend volume on Amazon?
As far as Penfed, it really depends. Is it worth maintaining a savings account just to get 5% on gas? The answer probably lies in the amount of your gas spend. For me, who fills up once a week, so maybe $100 a month in gas spend, it wouldn't be worth it.
BCP is a somewhat replacement on the grocery end of things, but you do have the AF to consider. You can buy Amazon and gas gift cards but at least to me, that would get old. Some people don't mind the extra steps. It really just depends how much you are spending on these things.
In summary, try to figure out what you are losing in raw reward dollars before opening a bunch of cards to replace Sallie. You may find it really isn't anything worth too much worry. $5 a month, as an example, isn't gonna make or break anyone, and you may not want 3 new tradelines to cover that job.
Agree Kdm...
This closure didnt affect me at all. I rarely spent on the card anyways, and if you remember correctly, Ive posted a few times about it being one of cards to close. I spend maybe $20-$80 a month on it....maybe, if I can remember to use it! I dont shop on Amazon, I fill up once every 10-12 days, and groceries are usually Target now with my Target card/cartwheel app.
eh..I know some posters use it heavily, and really did gain a lot from the card, and of course its unforuntate for them, and the new reward structure is just like any other cards we currently have in our lineup.
Still unclear if Ill close or not, I might just keep it and use it like I currently do, or even a little less. They have afterall kept me intact for 2 yrs thru insane app sprees/excessive INQ. Least I could do I suppose, LOL.
Yeah but I was averaging somewhere around $1,000 per month on Sallie at least looking at the 2015 annual statement (though that was an expensive year, will be interested to see on 2016); gas eh, I'm OK at 4%, grocery I'm a complete and utter fool on for the past 4 years, it's beyond embarrassing. I really should be dumping grocery cards if I can't pull my head out of my tookus on that front.
Amazon though a replacement is needed. I don't quite know what that looks like, the store card is an obvious and good solution which I will probably go with but if I'm doubling down with Chase over the next two years (after sitting down and napkin mathing, I should be applying for the CSR even without the travel gig with my current habits), I should test the waters on the gift card side. Doesn't help I find Synchrony to be distasteful, even if my primary irritation with them would be absolutely obliterated with my Amazon habits anyway so that should be a non-issue rationally.
