topic Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard in Credit Cards

Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard

Brusilov — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:06:40 GMT

I wouldn't otherwise consider this card, but due to a partnership with Best Buy we're able to get the card with a built-in employee discount. Via the portal provided, there's a pre-qual site and I qualified for both a secured Reward Zone card and their gold. The gold has around 75 in annual fees, the secured was 20-25, I believe. Of course knowing HSBC I wouldn't exactly trust approval being guaranteed for the gold, and I'm pretty weary of the large AF anyway.

My question is has anyone used the secured RZ MC and does it graduate or go partially secured?

Also, since they don't list all the variants of RZ cards available, only the ones pre-qualed, are there RZ cards that don't have any AF?

Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:00:25 GMT

The RZ MC is what they try to give rejects like me who got declined for the real bestbuy card. There really is no point in having that RZ MC unless you need to build your credit because it doesn't give you financing at bestbuy like the store card though the store card these days is garbage also unless you doing a no interest financing as they stopped the 90 day same as cash purchase on the store card.

When I was offered the POS RZ MC it came with a fee I think of around $59 with a CL of $300. Needless to say I declined that offer then was offered a $450 CL and a $29 AF which I also refused. I do hear that some cards have no AF but really, the bestbuy mastercard is useless unless you need the tradline.

Paying $75 AF on a $300 CL card is just silly to me and I would get the secure card and after your credit build just apply for better cards.

Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:32:23 GMT

I have the RZMC with, I've been told you can graduate off of the secured card.

@vonmannstein wrote:
I wouldn't otherwise consider this card, but due to a partnership with Best Buy we're able to get the card with a built-in employee discount. Via the portal provided, there's a pre-qual site and I qualified for both a secured Reward Zone card and their gold. The gold has around 75 in annual fees, the secured was 20-25, I believe. Of course knowing HSBC I wouldn't exactly trust approval being guaranteed for the gold, and I'm pretty weary of the large AF anyway.

My question is has anyone used the secured RZ MC and does it graduate or go partially secured?

Also, since they don't list all the variants of RZ cards available, only the ones pre-qualed, are there RZ cards that don't have any AF?

Also there is only one card that has a fee and the fee is 59 bucks.

Also RZMC isn't only for people who get rejected from the BBY store card. I'm an employee with BBY and I do financing and that's not always the case.

Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard

Brusilov — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:37:12 GMT

I checked around and I guess there are 4 different Reward Zone Best Buy Cards:

Platinum - no AF and best rates

Gold - no AF and semi-high rates

Gold - AF and higher rates

Secured - AF and deposit required

stoopidmunkee -

How long did it take to graduate? What was your secured limit and what did they increase it to upon graduation? Do you still have the annual fee?

Message Edited by vonMannstein on 02-26-2009 05:37 PM

Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:55:28 GMT

@vonmannstein wrote:
I checked around and I guess there are 4 different Reward Zone Best Buy Cards:

Platinum - no AF and best rates
Gold - no AF and semi-high rates
Gold - AF and higher rates
Secured - AF and deposit required

stoopidmunkee -

How long did it take to graduate? What was your secured limit and what did they increase it to upon graduation? Do you still have the annual fee?
Message Edited by vonMannstein on 02-26-2009 05:37 PM

Yea there are levels of the RZMC. Actually I'm still on the secured I just got it a few months ago. I've been told by CRS from their helpdesk and also employees that they will graduate you off after a year or nine months. So I'm still waiting. Right now I'm still at 200 bucks, that's all I could afford to do with out at one time. I plan on depositing more soon. If I find out moe information about the whole graduation process I'll tell you about it.

Plus the secured RZMC is for employees only not the general public as far as I know.

Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard

Brusilov — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:55:30 GMT

Thanks again for the info. Honestly it does sound like a pretty good secured builder card in that case. The rewards aren't too shabby either:

Purchases at Best Buy = 2 Pts / 4% Cashback

Dining/Groceries = 1 Pt / 2% Cashback

Everything Else = .5 Pt / 1% Cashback

Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 09:12:55 GMT

Yea, the card isn't that bad. I have it set up that my bank account makes two payments a month on it and I use it every so often. I try and avoid having to much charged on it that way. I haven't missed a payment yet.

Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard

Brusilov — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:52:59 GMT

Sheesh, I guess if you spend >$2500/year (208/mo) you're also eligible for their premier silver program. +50% reward bonus for MC members, so effectively 6% cashback on BBY purchases, 3% on grocery & dining/1.5% on other. Even if I never shopped at BBY, that's pretty hard to beat for a secured card.

Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 08:46:59 GMT

@vonmannstein wrote:
Sheesh, I guess if you spend >$2500/year (208/mo) you're also eligible for their premier silver program. +50% reward bonus for MC members, so effectively 6% cashback on BBY purchases, 3% on grocery & dining/1.5% on other. Even if I never shopped at BBY, that's pretty hard to beat for a secured card.

Yes, they have a pretty good offer, especially since it's a secured card. I don't know of anything secured cards have give any types of rewards.

Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard

hampstenj — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:30:21 GMT

Secured RZMC is NOT only for employees. I'm not an BB employee but I did the RZMC pre-approval deal online and it offered me the secured card. I didn't apply, but it showed I was pre-approved for it. This may be the card I look at when I get my secured card in the next couple of months. the rewards are awesome that's for sure, better than most secured cards I've seen.

Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard

shyboy — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 07:17:47 GMT

stoopidmunkee the RZMC is not only for employees lol. Just like you im also a Best Buy employee. The RZMC is the only way to get the reward zone benefits while still employed at Best Buy. As you should know Best Buy employees are not allow to be a reward zone customer.

Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:56:52 GMT

is it possible to pre-qualify for the store card? I am interested in the 0% financing for 2 years on TV purchases over $1000. The promotional financing does not apply to the reward zone mastercard.

Also, how as a new employe, do i qualify for those offers? How can I use the reward zone points via the mastercard if i am an employee?

Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 06:17:40 GMT

AFAIK, you can't pre-qual for the store card, only the RZMC. Though, the store card is now being issued through two banks, HSBC and Chase. The Chase card is a left-over from when we purchased the Circuit City accounts. So, it remains to be seen how the credit standards change. Applications are being routed first to HSBC for a store card, then to Chase for a store card, then to RZMC. For us employees, the only one that makes sense (unless planning a major purchase and you need the higher limit) is to get the RZMC. The RZ points are built-in to the card and paid for by HSBC, so the company doesn't care if you use your discount and receive those points. Regular RZ points are paid for by the company, and they don't want you double-dipping. When you use your RZMC, not just at BBy, HSBC automatically deposits the points into your RZ account (comes with the card) and then you can print certificates which can be used on employee discount purchases. At my store, nearly everyone has a RZMC for that reason. Go to the Employee Accommodations site in ETK for details, or ask one of your managers.

In addition to being a great deal as an employee, the RZMC Secured seems to be a great deal overall for a secured card. The interest is a little high at 16.9, but the rewards are fantastic for a secured. The earlier post seems to be the only mention I can find about whether it graduates, but that's awesome if it does. There is some info I found in a Google search that seems to indicate that HSBC does graduate in general, so I'm inclined to believe the same about the RZMC.

Message Edited by ianp on 12-06-2009 10:17 PM

Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:01:33 GMT

Ok people are talking about the secured card graduating to unsecured. I just got the "gold" card with AF and low credit limit. If you use it responsible enough and get CLI's does it eventually graudate to the next one up with no AF and better interest or are you stuck with the AF and high interest. Since there are three tiers of unsecured and I am at the bottom I would like to know if you can climb to the top or have to reapply to move up. Any insight?

Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard denied equifax pull 760

scottwagnon — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 21:19:59 GMT

wtf? i know that this confirmed equifax pull is 8th inquiry... the lady on the phone that reviewed my application was being very rude to me. she kept intentionally misunderstanding what i was telling her, (she reminded me of the speech therapist in the movie "Being John Malcovich" . and had the galls to happlily tell me that my application was NOT APPROVED. this is the first time i have been denied for no apperant reason.

My FICO SCORE IS 760. THIS CARD IS FOR APPLICANTS THAT HAVE GOOD TO FAIR CREDIT according to finance globe... wtf....

Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard

sybo40 — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:54:58 GMT

Hi. I applied for the card and was denied. Is there a link to the pre-app site or a link to the app site for the secured card. I'm a little confused as to which one to apply for. My current score is 511. Think I even stand a chance?

Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard

tsquad131 — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:39:02 GMT

your credit score is way too low. you need to start with a secured card like public savings bank and clean up your history before applying for anything else non secured. I dont think they will approve you for a best buy rewardzone secured card even that low.

Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard

MarineVietVet — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:59:35 GMT

@sybo40 wrote:
Hi. I applied for the card and was denied. Is there a link to the pre-app site or a link to the app site for the secured card. I'm a little confused as to which one to apply for. My current score is 511. Think I even stand a chance?

Hello there.

You say your score is 511. May I ask where you got that score and is it Transunion? Equifax?

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802, EQ - 10/10-813, TU - 10/10-774

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard

Gibran — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:04:09 GMT

I've had my card for well over a year now, same $500 CL. Called the other day to see about a CLI and was given the default response "We're not giving cli's at this time due to the current credit situation". The only reason I'm keeping this card open is because it doesn't have an AF. I'll just keep it tucked away until a) I get a cli or b) they decide to close my account because on non use, either way if I had it to do over again I probably wouldn't have app'd for this card, eventhough best buy is one of my favorite stores and I spend quite a bit of money in there regularly. Just my two cents

Re: Best Buy Reward Zone Mastercard

Ron1 — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 18:54:55 GMT

@Gibran wrote:
I've had my card for well over a year now, same $500 CL. Called the other day to see about a CLI and was given the default response "We're not giving cli's at this time due to the current credit situation". The only reason I'm keeping this card open is because it doesn't have an AF. I'll just keep it tucked away until a) I get a cli or b) they decide to close my account because on non use, either way if I had it to do over again I probably wouldn't have app'd for this card, eventhough best buy is one of my favorite stores and I spend quite a bit of money in there regularly. Just my two cents

I tried to request CLI online for my BB RZMC platinum and I got the same thing. They're not granting CLI. I think it is for all of the accounts. On the other hand, they gave me CLI every six months for BB Card.

Ron.