BBVA Compass ClearPoints Data Points

Anonymous · ‎12-08-2018

Since there's not a ton of info about this card I figured I would post my experience with BBVA Compass for anyone curious. They seem to be mailing out a lot of preapprovals lately but many have been hestiant as they haven't heard of the card or have any experience with the lender.

I received a "You are pre-qualified*" letter in the mail 11/30 with a reservation code for the ClearPoints card and offer of 0% APR for 13 months and $100 statement credit if you make $1500 in qualifying purchases in the next 90 days. Listed APR range after promo period was 13.24-31.34% so I wasn't feeling like it was a super rock solid offer but already being at 5/24 (5/12 actually lol) I figured what's one more inquiry. Chase isn't touching me anytime soon anyway.

About the card: The BBVA ClearPoints is a rewards points card that allows you "build your own rewards." "Earn 1 point per $1 on all qualifying purchases and select your favorite bonus catagories each quarter." So you currently can choose to earn 3x points on restaurants, travel or home improvement, 2x points on gas, utilities or grocery. 3x points on restaurants and 2x points on utilities may actually fit in nicely amongst my other cards that already cover gas and grocery so I figured it was worth a shot.

Data Points at time of approval: Pulled Experian. Score: 712, Inquiries: 6, AAOA: 7 months, Utilization: 17%.

My experience thus far: Went to the link provided and entered my reservation code, filled out the app. Instant approval for $7500 SL @ 18.24% after promo period. Sweet! Then promoted to set up account at which point the website (which I'd already read was a bit buggy) encountered an error and I was unable to set up my account. Called customer service (who I've read can be rather... unpleasant) Tuesday morning (12/1) to see about getting account set up and was told it would not be possible without the account number and to call back when the card arrived. Both reps I spoke with were pleasant enough and professional. They asked what felt like a million security questions to verify my identity but better safe than sorry I suppose. Card arrived today (12/8) and I went online to activate and whatdayaknow! More errors! So I called customer service again. The first rep was pleasant and professional and activated my card with no issue after I answered another million security questions then transferred me to another rep to set up online account. Second rep also asked a million security questions and then helped me to set up my account with no issue. He was also pleasant enough and professional although not as bubbly and enthusiastic as the first. Now that I have online access I've been poking aroud the site and the website has encountered a few errors. There is a notice of maintenance being done soon so hopefully that will help. Poking around the mobile app however has not resulted in any sort of issues thus far.

So, buggy site but decent customer service. Nice spending limit and APR for someone with a young, thin file. So far so good!

Anonymous · ‎12-08-2018

I saw on my USPS Informed Delivery that my card is being delivered today too but maybe I’ll hold off on going out in the freezing cold to get it... I don’t feel like having a migraine today.

Thanks for updating! They really need to fix that site :/

Anonymous · ‎12-08-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
I saw on my USPS Informed Delivery that my card is being delivered today too but maybe I’ll hold off on going out in the freezing cold to get it... I don’t feel like having a migraine today.

Thanks for updating! They really need to fix that site :/

I don't blame ya! Icky weather moved in yesterday and I was in bed with a migraine half the day ugggh. So gross out today I drove the car down the driveway to get the mail lol.

Hopefully the website bugs get worked out soon but so far the app works fine and I usually use the apps for my other cards anyway so no biggie for me.

Anonymous · ‎12-08-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I saw on my USPS Informed Delivery that my card is being delivered today too but maybe I’ll hold off on going out in the freezing cold to get it... I don’t feel like having a migraine today.

Thanks for updating! They really need to fix that site :/
I don't blame ya! Icky weather moved in yesterday and I was in bed with a migraine half the day ugggh. So gross out today I drove the car down the driveway to get the mail lol.

Hopefully the website bugs get worked out soon but so far the app works fine and I usually use the apps for my other cards anyway so no biggie for me.

My roommates stuck me with the whining, crying, barking dogs while they have their game night so I told him he has to go get the mail when it’s over in exchange lol

Did you pick your categories? From reading, it appears you pick two categories per quarter - one earns 3% and the other earns 2%. If you don’t pick them, everything earns 1% until you do.

I always use apps as well so if my credit card number is my account number, I will just make the account that way but it’s rarely ever that easy so I may have to call I guess.

Anonymous · ‎12-08-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I saw on my USPS Informed Delivery that my card is being delivered today too but maybe I’ll hold off on going out in the freezing cold to get it... I don’t feel like having a migraine today.

Thanks for updating! They really need to fix that site :/
I don't blame ya! Icky weather moved in yesterday and I was in bed with a migraine half the day ugggh. So gross out today I drove the car down the driveway to get the mail lol.

Hopefully the website bugs get worked out soon but so far the app works fine and I usually use the apps for my other cards anyway so no biggie for me.
My roommates stuck me with the whining, crying, barking dogs while they have their game night so I told him he has to go get the mail when it’s over in exchange lol

Did you pick your categories? From reading, it appears you pick two categories per quarter - one earns 3% and the other earns 2%. If you don’t pick them, everything earns 1% until you do.

I always use apps as well so if my credit card number is my account number, I will just make the account that way but it’s rarely ever that easy so I may have to call I guess.

Think I'm going with Restaurants for the 3x and Utilities for the 2x since those aren't covered by any of my other cards.

Anonymous · ‎12-08-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I saw on my USPS Informed Delivery that my card is being delivered today too but maybe I’ll hold off on going out in the freezing cold to get it... I don’t feel like having a migraine today.

Thanks for updating! They really need to fix that site :/
I don't blame ya! Icky weather moved in yesterday and I was in bed with a migraine half the day ugggh. So gross out today I drove the car down the driveway to get the mail lol.

Hopefully the website bugs get worked out soon but so far the app works fine and I usually use the apps for my other cards anyway so no biggie for me.
My roommates stuck me with the whining, crying, barking dogs while they have their game night so I told him he has to go get the mail when it’s over in exchange lol

Did you pick your categories? From reading, it appears you pick two categories per quarter - one earns 3% and the other earns 2%. If you don’t pick them, everything earns 1% until you do.

I always use apps as well so if my credit card number is my account number, I will just make the account that way but it’s rarely ever that easy so I may have to call I guess.
Think I'm going with Restaurants for the 3x and Utilities for the 2x since those aren't covered by any of my other cards.

I’ll have to look at the list, Discover is groceries for 1Q and I don’t eat much in the way of restaurants so the major usage may very well be for the SUB next quarter.

Although if Comcast counts for utilities, that would be $13 for the quarter which isn’t too bad.

Anonymous · ‎12-08-2018

I just set it up using the mobile app.

No problem creating the account but the app crashed twice when I was tapping through screens then it froze when I went to activate my card but I restarted it and everything was good to go.

Make sure you add your bank ASAP. It wanted to log into mine, which failed, so I have to wait for 2 deposits to post and enter the amounts before I can pay from my bank account.

I also went on the actual website and set up my rewards - 3x groceries, 2X utilities for until January then 3X utilities, 2X dining for January-March since I will have Discover for 5% cashback during that time.

Utilities includes cell phone bills and I happen to owe $1099 on my XS Max so I’m waiting til January when utilities go 3X to pay that off but I did throw Comcast’s internet bill on and it was approved and showed an immediate push notification.

So yeah, quirky, but it seems like things will be fine now.

I am curious though - since yours is over a 5K SL, did you get a Signature or a Platinum as well?

Looks like there is no cap on the points you can earn but redemption is $25 minimum - but it has a loophole with purchase credits that let you use your points for an exact purchase amount.

This card may indeed see some regular usage from me. Even on the low end, I would be looking at a minimum of $70 a year between groceries and my cable/cell bills.

UncleB · ‎12-09-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
I am curious though - since yours is over a 5K SL, did you get a Signature or a Platinum as well?

My card was opened with a $10k credit line, and it still came as a Platinum Visa. (In addition, the card itself even says "Platinum" next to the Visa logo, which is slightly tacky but tolerable.)

From poking around their website, it appears the only Signataure Visa they offer is their 'Select Visa' that comes with a $125 annual fee.

@Anonymous wrote:
Looks like there is no cap on the points you can earn but redemption is $25 minimum - but it has a loophole with purchase credits that let you use your points for an exact purchase amount.

Yep, their 'real-time rewards' actually works quite well. If you install the 'BBVA Wallet App' you can even redeem on-the-spot, but it's a separate app from the banking app. Also, for on-the-spot redemptions you'll need to turn on notifications in the Wallet app, meaning until you turn them back off you'll get two notifications for each charge. Again, clunky but once you understand it you can make it work.

(I've not tried it yet, but I think you can also use points to pay for charges after-the-fact from the redemption website, similar to Capital One's "Purchase Eraser".)

RonM21 · ‎12-09-2018

Op great data points given about your experience! And congrats on the approval as well. I have received plenty of offers from them, but hadn't looked much further than that because I haven't had interest in apping for anything new for a while. But thanks!

Total CL: $321.7k

UTL: 2%

AAoA: 7.0yrs

Baddies: 0

Other: Lease, Loan, *No Mortgage, All Inq's from Jun '20 Car Shopping

Anonymous · ‎12-09-2018

@UncleB wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I am curious though - since yours is over a 5K SL, did you get a Signature or a Platinum as well?

My card was opened with a $10k credit line, and it still came as a Platinum Visa. (In addition, the card itself even says "Platinum" next to the Visa logo, which is slightly tacky but tolerable.)

From poking around their website, it appears the only Signataure Visa they offer is their 'Select Visa' that comes with a $125 annual fee.

@Anonymous wrote:
Looks like there is no cap on the points you can earn but redemption is $25 minimum - but it has a loophole with purchase credits that let you use your points for an exact purchase amount.

Yep, their 'real-time rewards' actually works quite well. If you install the 'BBVA Wallet App' you can even redeem on-the-spot, but it's a separate app from the banking app. Also, for on-the-spot redemptions you'll need to turn on notifications in the Wallet app, meaning until you turn them back off you'll get two notifications for each charge. Again, clunky but once you understand it you can make it work.

(I've not tried it yet, but I think you can also use points to pay for charges after-the-fact from the redemption website, similar to Capital One's "Purchase Eraser".)

It’s definitely kind of tacky on an otherwise cool looking card, I would much rather have it just say Visa like my $3000 cashRewards but it’s okay I guess.

The real-time rewards concept is an interesting thing, I didn’t really understand what you were talking about when you said that as I’ve never heard of that before.