topic Re: Better Balance rewards scam in Credit Cards

Better Balance rewards scam

Subexistence — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 17:22:38 GMT

I have not received a single reward from my BBR card. I called today to ask why and one rep claimed that I was paying before my statements were due but I checked my statements which showed $10 balance each month.

My minimum payment is $10 which the same as the entire balance. I called another rep and she told me that I have to pay more than the minimum balance so I have to pay $10.01 which is more than my balance. I have never heard this happening so is that true?

In either case, I've been pumping plenty of swipe fees into BBR and will dump them if they do not provide me my $30 per quarter.

Re: Better Balance rewards scam

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 18:13:38 GMT

OP...as the card implies, you must have a balance at the end of your statement cycle date.

Paying to a ZERO balance BEFORE that date leaves NO balance (hence NO bonus reward).

Many setup recurring subscriptions and autopay; there are other threads which cover this.

FWIW, I too missed my first Quarterly Bonus due to PIF but it works once you get the gist!

Happy New Year!

Re: Better Balance rewards scam

HeavenOhio — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 19:04:17 GMT

Sub's letting his statements cut with a positive balance. If he didn't, there'd be no minimum payment due.

"Paying before statements are due" is something everyone's supposed to do. If that didn't happen, you'd be late.

Paying more than the minimum is clear. But when the minimum is equal to the statement balance, you can't really pay more than the minimum. This could be addressed by leaving statement balances that are higher than the lowest possible minimum payment, but I don't think the terms of the card require that.

Re: Better Balance rewards scam

Subexistence — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 22:42:16 GMT

@HeavenOhio wrote:
Sub's letting his statements cut with a positive balance. If he didn't, there'd be no minimum payment due.

"Paying before statements are due" is something everyone's supposed to do. If that didn't happen, you'd be late.

Paying more than the minimum is clear. But when the minimum is equal to the statement balance, you can't really pay more than the minimum. This could be addressed by leaving statement balances that are higher than the lowest possible minimum payment, but I don't think the terms of the card require that.

What solution do you suggest?

Re: Better Balance rewards scam

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 23:07:42 GMT

1. Leave a higher balance, such as $50. The minimum payment will be less that $50, then pay it off.

2. BOA allows you to make payments larger than the balance. You could try paying $11 when your balance and minimum payment is $10. (I know this because my CR card was used for Netflix and I overpayed my card for 6 months so I wouldn’t have to deal with the small amount every month.)

Re: Better Balance rewards scam

happypill — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 02:07:48 GMT

Not sure what your problem might be. I have a recurring charge of about $4.50 on my BBR each month and it automatically PIF on the due date. No problem getting my $30 each quarter.

Re: Better Balance rewards scam

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 02:50:01 GMT

How long have you had the card for?

Re: Better Balance rewards scam

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 02:52:00 GMT

Hmm.. something is off here. If there is definitely a statement balance on your statement, then you are paying that statement balance, then you should qualify for the BBR.

How many months have you had the BBR for? You need to fulfill 3 months to get $30, as it is $30 per quarter.

Re: Better Balance rewards scam

uswala — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 04:18:33 GMT

My DW was told the same when she did not get her rewards for Q1 in 2017. Talked to other rep and he did add bonus manually after undertsanding the issue but he suggested to just pay 1 cent extra every month to avoid any issues. So she pays an extra cent every month. She is not putting too much on card though only about $10 a month. Her rewards for next 2 quarters posted fine. Expenting the Q4 bonus now in few days.

Re: Better Balance rewards scam

Subexistence — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 10:45:07 GMT

How much do u guys have as your minimum?

Re: Better Balance rewards scam

Subexistence — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 10:48:02 GMT

I got it may 24th 2017 which was last day it could be applied for.

Re: Better Balance rewards scam

Subexistence — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 10:55:19 GMT

I’ll try paying extra 1 cent more than my balance each month.

Re: Better Balance rewards scam

CreditCuriosity — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 14:53:37 GMT

Weird thing is I get bonus every 3 months and never even let statement cut with balance.. Shrug.. Something is certainly appears to be going wrong with yours. I am actually carrying a balance on the card now as a BT so expect to see quarter bonuses now as well since will be paying down balance and it paid for the BT.. Win-win.

Re: Better Balance rewards scam

HeavenOhio — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 15:09:03 GMT

@Subexistence wrote:
@HeavenOhio wrote:
Sub's letting his statements cut with a positive balance. If he didn't, there'd be no minimum payment due.

"Paying before statements are due" is something everyone's supposed to do. If that didn't happen, you'd be late.

Paying more than the minimum is clear. But when the minimum is equal to the statement balance, you can't really pay more than the minimum. This could be addressed by leaving statement balances that are higher than the lowest possible minimum payment, but I don't think the terms of the card require that.
What solution do you suggest?

Because others have stated that they're fine when their minimum payment is equal to their statement balance, I think it's fair to assume that something's amiss.

I'd dig out your terms of use and see exactly what they say. I can't look them up at this point because the card is no longer available, but, hopefully, you should be able to find them by logging into your account.

Then I'd call and hope for a better rep. If you're not getting satisfaction, ask for a supervisor. Explain what you've been told recently and explain that it doesn't seem to add up. "Paying before statements are due" is flat-out goofy, so I wouldn't zero in on that one. But if paying more than the minimum comes up again, ask how you could logically do that without overpaying when the minimum is the same as the statement balance.

If you become frustrated enough to close the card, consider a PC request to the Cash Rewards card. If nothing else, you'd get a 3% gas reward. And you'd be absolved from needing to cut a positive statement balance every month.

Re: Better Balance rewards scam

UpperNwGuy — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 20:10:56 GMT

My advice would be to use the card the way the bank intended it to be used:

— Make several charges each month, perhaps totaling $100-200, but certainly far more than $10.

— Make no payments whatsoever until after your statement cuts.

— Pay the full balance shown on the statement a day or two after the statement cuts.

The fact that Bank of America decided to stop issuing these cards is a pretty good indication that they didn’t like cardholders doing the bare minimum to get the reward. They realized that they were incentivizing different behaviors than the ones they had intended to incentivize.

Re: Better Balance rewards scam

Subexistence — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 01:51:02 GMT

Called another rep who said the same thing and suggested I pay $10.01. It looks like I'm not paying over the minimum which is ridiculous that the minimum is the statement balance.

I've been having horrible luck with this card and in fact, my first month I got the highest ever recorded balance adjustment credit!

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/BBR-5-Adjustment-credit/td-p/4983079

It seems like applying for a BBR on the last day it's available for application and having the bare $300 minimum in savings has got on their bad side.

Re: Better Balance rewards scam

HeavenOhio — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 03:16:52 GMT

I think what I'd do is find out what the lowest minimum happens to be for that card (I'd bet on $25), and charge something above that. That avoids the game playing.

Re: Better Balance rewards scam

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 09:21:28 GMT

HeavenOhio wrote:

I think what I'd do is find out what the lowest minimum happens to be for that card (I'd bet on $25), and charge something above that. That avoids the game playing.

^THIS. To add, why not just pay your monthly MyFico subscription on the card (like I do) and be done with it!

Re: Better Balance rewards scam

UpperNwGuy — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 11:22:46 GMT

@Subexistence wrote:
Called another rep who said the same thing and suggested I pay $10.01. It looks like I'm not paying over the minimum which is ridiculous that the minimum is the statement balance.

I've been having horrible luck with this card and in fact, my first month I got the highest ever recorded balance adjustment credit!

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/BBR-5-Adjustment-credit/td-p/4983079

It seems like applying for a BBR on the last day it's available for application and having the bare $300 minimum in savings has got on their bad side.

Wait! I just read the the thread you cited in your post. You've been playing a game with Bank of America since last spring, and you got caught six months ago, yet now you act surprised that they are taking more actions to stop your gaming? Wake up and smell the coffee! Either use the card the way B of A wants you to use it, or cancel it. Any customer service rep at B of A who pulls your file is probably going to see the word GAMER at the top of the page.

Re: Better Balance rewards scam

HeavenOhio — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 13:25:34 GMT

If there's a card that encourages game playing, it's this one. If you can get by with spending $10 a month, it's a 100% reward. Spending $30 in a month yeilds a 33% reward. After spending $500, a 2% rewards card is better. And after spending $666, a 1.5% rewards card is better.

BOA cards encourage you to open a checking/savings account by slightly increasing rewards. I'd do it. But because the closest branch is about 30 miles away from my house, I wouldn't be encouraged to keep much more than $300 in it. I'd probably open it with $400–500 so I didn't feel silly, let the rewards stack up, then bring it down to the minimum when I have enough in rewards to make an impact on a larger purchase.

Having said that, I think it's a lot of bother to go out of my way to show activity on a card with tiny transactions. If my only purpose for using a card in a given month is to show activity, I'll stick it in my wallet, charge $50–75, then put it away.