topic Re: US Alliance Visa Signature in Credit Cards

US Alliance Visa Signature

Beast26 — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 09:32:07 GMT

How long has this card been 3% cashback? What makes you guys think that it won't last?

Re: US Alliance Visa Signature

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 13:03:11 GMT

@Beast26 wrote:
How long has this card been 3% cashback? What makes you guys think that it won't last?

It started 3% in Jan 2020. The big reason is that once we got our cards (and nowhere else!) it says the 3% is a "limited time offer"

Any issuer can change reward programs, but if you start off that it is a limited time offer, you can just end the limited time. That said, no time frame has been given, though some thought it might be just through this year.

It's also possible that the limited time refers to when it will be available, so that existing card holders get grandfathers, but no info one way or the other.

Re: US Alliance Visa Signature

Kforce — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 17:06:16 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Beast26 wrote:
How long has this card been 3% cashback? What makes you guys think that it won't last?
It started 3% in Jan 2020. The big reason is that once we got our cards (and nowhere else!) it says the 3% is a "limited time offer"
Any issuer can change reward programs, but if you start off that it is a limited time offer, you can just end the limited time. That said, no time frame has been given, though some thought it might be just through this year.

It's also possible that the limited time refers to when it will be available, so that existing card holders get grandfathers, but no info one way or the other.

+ 100

Neg's :

The application process was a nightmare for me.

The card became 3% from a 1% previous life.

The web interface is poor to medium not as modern as others

Rewards are manual, $25 min and $25 chunks, (money left on the table every redemption)

Good:

Got a nice starting CL

Have had no issues with holds, security, etc.

Have used the card a lot and receive cashback credit fast.

They credit payments fast.

Have a savings with 2% on first $500, (A little something extra)

Re: US Alliance Visa Signature

blindambition — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 17:22:06 GMT

Along with all said above, they did remove application for this card a few months back.

no issues since return, but they might have spooked with card interest.

Re: US Alliance Visa Signature

sxa001 — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 17:30:06 GMT

So I don't know if I should start a new thread with this question but for those that have this card, is advantage of it over the AOD Signature Visa?

Re: US Alliance Visa Signature

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 17:50:09 GMT

@sxa001 wrote:
So I don't know if I should start a new thread with this question but for those that have this card, is advantage of it over the AOD Signature Visa?

Post application, I think it has significant disadvantages over AOD:

FTF

$25 increments

$25 threshold

Higher APR

But some, not me or @Kforce , found it easier to app (and I am on the geo area so nothing to join)

Re: US Alliance Visa Signature

Aim_High — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 18:46:33 GMT

@Beast26 wrote:
US Alliance Visa Signature:
How long has this card been 3% cashback?
What makes you guys think that it won't last?

Besides the above info about it being a "temporary promotion," there is widespread skepticism on My Fico Forums about cards offering a much higher than market average cash-back rate of return that has no strings attached such as categories, caps on cash back earned, annual fees, or deposit requirements (such as the $100K to earn the highest 2.625% on the Bank of America Premium Rewards.) The general concensus is that some of these cards just aren't financially sustainable for the long-haul and they are also prime for abusive behavior to include manufactured spending.

The other argument is that 30 years ago, cash back cards were by-far the exception and I'm pretty sure that the majority of major bank credit cards still carried an annual fee. Getting even 1% cash back in 1990 was remarkable since the Discover card just debuted the concept in 1987. Since then, the industry has managed to drop the AFs, add more lucrative SUBs, add perks, and increase the earnings rate to where 1.5% to 2% has become the norm. So is there a possibility they could continue to evolve the cash back market to where over 2% is typical? It's quite possible.

I have the AOD FCU Visa Signature and I've been very pleased with it and AOD FCU!

Re: US Alliance Visa Signature

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 19:13:57 GMT

@Aim_High wrote:

Getting even 1% cash back in 1990 was remarkable since the Discover card just debuted the concept in 1987.

Right, I had an Amalgamated Bank (Chicago) Visa opened in 1990, and (get this!) it was a GOLD card(!!!!!) and it paid 1% back (too many "!" needed to fit in a post). It was certainly very unusual at the time, and I'm sure I bored quite a few people droning on about it. It was almost as exciting as when I had opened my first interest bearing account many years before (in the UK) where your balance went up when you did NOTHING at all. (Maybe 2p a month as it was a small account, but still!)

Re: US Alliance Visa Signature

Kforce — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 19:55:03 GMT

@sxa001 wrote:
So I don't know if I should start a new thread with this question but for those that have this card, is advantage of it over the AOD Signature Visa?

I don't consider these things as an advantage but some might.

1) You can save up your rewards compared to getting your rewards every month.

2) You can get cashback pushed to your USAlliance checking or savings instead of credit on your cards account.

3) If not a member they pay your membership for the "Consumer Council" when you apply.

Re: US Alliance Visa Signature

Aim_High — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 21:34:02 GMT

@Kforce wrote:
@sxa001 wrote:
... advantage of (US Alliance Visa) over the AOD Signature Visa?
I don't consider these things as an advantage but some might.

1) You can save up your rewards compared to getting your rewards every month.
2) You can get cashback pushed to your USAlliance checking or savings instead of credit on your cards account.

AOD effectively does those things too, if you just look at it from a different perspective! It's all a simple matter of bookkeeping principles. AOD reduces your monthly bill by automatically applying cash-back credits from your previous month's charges, which in turn reduces the amount you would have to pay from your checking account. So ....

(1) You can "save" the monthly amount after the statement comes out by just moving the amount you earned from your checking account to a savings account. It accomplishes the same thing. Your savings are just in your checking account until you move them instead of in a "Cash Back Balance" account. Since most cards make you do a little work to move your earnings or to redeem them to statement balance but AOD applies the credit automatically, taking a few minutes once a month or once a quarter to move your cashback earnings is a small chore and effectively the same amount of work as moving the funds from separate Cash Back Balance.

(2) With AOD automatically reducing your monthly credit card bill by the cash-back balance, it effectively IS already pushing the cashback to your checking account! And it's automatic! You just pay a smaller bill so the net effect is the same. So really, any other card is just MORE work to push your balance to your checking account than one like this where it happens automatically!

Re: US Alliance Visa Signature

Beast26 — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 22:41:09 GMT

It seems to me like It would be a hassle for me to get the AOD being that I live in NC.

Re: US Alliance Visa Signature

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 23:26:58 GMT

@Beast26 wrote:
It seems to me like It would be a hassle for me to get the AOD being that I live in NC.

Well, I would say that the vast majority of AOD cardholders on this forum don't live in NE Alabama, and in many cases anywhere near.

It seems to be true that they are making it harder for out of footprint apps, but AFAIK, there are still successes.

Re: US Alliance Visa Signature

Aim_High — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 01:09:09 GMT

@Beast26 wrote:
It seems to me like It would be a hassle for me to get the AOD being that I live in NC.

Not really. Not any more than setting up banking or credit accounts with any of a large number of smaller out-of-state lenders, like many of us have done on My Fico Forums. You'll see all types of credit unions and banks you've never heard of before on My Fico! I live in TX and had never heard of AOD FCU before the big thread in April.

But yes, not as easy as filling out a card application from the big banks like AMEX, Chase, or Bank of America.

The process wasn't difficult and IMO, well worth the effort to get 3% back on everything! They can do everything by email and phone, so the biggest hassle was uploading some documents via the web.

Re: US Alliance Visa Signature

Beast26 — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 01:43:19 GMT

How did you qualify and how much was the group that you joined to gain membership?

Re: US Alliance Visa Signature

Aim_High — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 02:11:52 GMT

@Beast26 wrote:
How did you qualify and how much was the group that you joined to gain membership?

As many of us on My Fico, I joined via the Northeast Alabama Bicycle Assocation (NEABA). If you go to the AOD website and look under "membership," there are currently 98 pages of cooperative membership organizations or businesses. There were several organizations used besides the bicycle club, including the Anniston Bridge Association and the Anniston Runner's Club. No guarantees that any of them are still working but we haven't heard of any known back-doors being closed yet either.

https://www.aodfcu.com/select-employer-groups/

The website for NEABA is http://neaba.net/join.html. If you click on the JOIN links, it takes you to the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) where you can join via the NEABA chapter. (www.imba.com) There's an economical option to pay monthly for as little as $5 per month. Membership can be cancelled after a month or two since you only need proof of it to join the credit union and once a member, always a member. IMBA emails you membership documents in case AOD FCU asks for it.

You can find all the details about the application process with AOD and how our members got the AOD Visa card at this thread:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Juicy-new-3-CB-offering-from-local-CU/td-p/5971983

Another very helpful resource is the AOD Visa Discussion thread:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/AOD-Visa-Siggy-Discussion-Thread/m-p/6005027

I should also mention that while many members were approved, there were many denials for a credit card based on higher debt-to-income ratios, high student loan debt, and for people with irregular incomes such as those self-employed or working commission-based jobs. Basically, they have conservative assumptions about both income and debt repayment. There are postings about all this on the threads.

The websites for US Alliance and AOD FCUs are:

https://www.usalliance.org/

https://www.aodfcu.com/

Re: US Alliance Visa Signature

Kforce — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 02:57:52 GMT

@Aim_High wrote:
@Kforce wrote:
@sxa001 wrote:
... advantage of (US Alliance Visa) over the AOD Signature Visa?
I don't consider these things as an advantage but some might.

1) You can save up your rewards compared to getting your rewards every month.
2) You can get cashback pushed to your USAlliance checking or savings instead of credit on your cards account.
AOD effectively does those things too, if you just look at it from a different perspective! It's all a simple matter of bookkeeping principles. AOD reduces your monthly bill by automatically applying cash-back credits from your previous month's charges, which in turn reduces the amount you would have to pay from your checking account. So ....

(1) You can "save" the monthly amount after the statement comes out by just moving the amount you earned from your checking account to a savings account. It accomplishes the same thing. Your savings are just in your checking account until you move them instead of in a "Cash Back Balance" account. Since most cards make you do a little work to move your earnings or to redeem them to statement balance but AOD applies the credit automatically, taking a few minutes once a month or once a quarter to move your cashback earnings is a small chore and effectively the same amount of work as moving the funds from separate Cash Back Balance.

(2) With AOD automatically reducing your monthly credit card bill by the cash-back balance, it effectively IS already pushing the cashback to your checking account! And it's automatic! You just pay a smaller bill so the net effect is the same. So really, any other card is just MORE work to push your balance to your checking account than one like this where it happens automatically!

Nice try

This is like taking an Uber to the airport and driving there.

Yes you get there but that is where the equivalently ends.

Don't get me wrong I don't have any issues with account credit or an automatic redemption monthly, I wish my BW CC still did this instead of leaving it behind to be more like the USAlliance.

However it is not the same thing.

Re: US Alliance Visa Signature

sxa001 — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 03:23:16 GMT

@Kforce wrote:
@sxa001 wrote:
So I don't know if I should start a new thread with this question but for those that have this card, is advantage of it over the AOD Signature Visa?
I don't consider these things as an advantage but some might.

1) You can save up your rewards compared to getting your rewards every month.
2) You can get cashback pushed to your USAlliance checking or savings instead of credit on your cards account.
3) If not a member they pay your membership for the "Consumer Council" when you apply.

I haven't really paid much attention to cashback cards until I got the Citi Costco card last year which some people don't like because you get you cashback once a year and have to redeem at Costco. This was my first year using the cashback redemption, it worked out well we used it to buy our Costco goods and and pocketed the left over change which saved me ATM trips for awhile.

I haven't earned a ton of cashback on my QuickSilver and Discover for lack of use, but in the past I have used the CashBack bonus to pay the bill and then I transfer what I would have paid for the bill to my savings account so it works just as well for me. With it happening automatically, it will basically be me checking the statement and transfering whatever was applied as cashback to my savings. This system works well for me so not a big deal if it is automatic statement credits for me.

I do wonder which offering is more likely to stick around.

Re: US Alliance Visa Signature

Beast26 — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 09:34:35 GMT

Thanks for all the info @Aim_High you told me everything I needed to know about AOD. AOD seems more attractive to me.

Re: US Alliance Visa Signature

Aim_High — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 17:29:24 GMT

@Kforce wrote:
@Aim_High wrote:
@Kforce wrote:
@sxa001 wrote:
... advantage of (US Alliance Visa) over the AOD Signature Visa?
I don't consider these things as an advantage but some might.
1) You can save up your rewards compared to getting your rewards every month.
2) You can get cashback pushed to your USAlliance checking or savings instead of credit on your cards account.
AOD effectively does those things too, if you just look at it from a different perspective! It's all a simple matter of bookkeeping principles. AOD reduces your monthly bill by automatically applying cash-back credits from your previous month's charges, which in turn reduces the amount you would have to pay from your checking account. So ....

(1) You can "save" the monthly amount after the statement comes out by just moving the amount you earned from your checking account to a savings account. It accomplishes the same thing. Your savings are just in your checking account until you move them instead of in a "Cash Back Balance" account. Since most cards make you do a little work to move your earnings or to redeem them to statement balance but AOD applies the credit automatically, taking a few minutes once a month or once a quarter to move your cashback earnings is a small chore and effectively the same amount of work as moving the funds from separate Cash Back Balance.

(2) With AOD automatically reducing your monthly credit card bill by the cash-back balance, it effectively IS already pushing the cashback to your checking account! And it's automatic! You just pay a smaller bill so the net effect is the same. So really, any other card is just MORE work to push your balance to your checking account than one like this where it happens automatically!
Nice try
This is like taking an Uber to the airport and driving there.
Yes you get there but that is where the equivalently ends.

Don't get me wrong I don't have any issues with account credit or an automatic redemption monthly, I wish my BW CC still did this instead of leaving it behind to be more like the USAlliance.

However it is not the same thing.

Agreed that it works a little differently, so it's not the 'same thing.'

But it gives you the same end result, for the same or less effort than one that leaves your cash back in an account for you to move manually to either statement credit or account credit.

In some ways, it is superior since that cash back in a "Cash Back Balance" account isn't earning any interest. Not keeping that money there keeps more money in your checking or savings account where it works for you.

In the end, it's all in your perspective of how you look at the balances.

It's a shell game.

I do understand how some people like to keep that money separate to "save" for something for vacation or Christmas presents. For travel points, you almost have to keep your points there to accrue enough for worthwhile redemptions. Not so with cash back, though. So moving it into an intererst-bearing account seems most prudent, IMO.