Re: Amex Essentials coming to US?

thummel · ‎08-26-2016

I disagree that a low APR card without any rewards would be pointless. Mabye to you it wouldn't serve a purpose but there are plenty of people out there that would take a low APR card without rewards like the Ring from Barclay. If it wouldn't even have been slightly successful it wouldn't be around by this time. Sometimes people just want a basic card that has a great locked in rate.

Anonymous · ‎08-26-2016

@Closingracer99 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Xistaben2 wrote:
@galahad15 wrote:
I googled it and it appears the fixed APR is 14.99% F?

They advertise the fixed rate as being low, but IMO it's still too high for me to be interested, even if they introduced it into the U.S.

ETA: do we mean "fixed" as in "fixed-rate APR", or a specific offered variable APR, instead of a range?
Yeah, 14.99% isn't going to cut it - my EDP was 13.14% at approval and Ring is 8.25% for everyone.

I know the Ring is still variable I thing, but its soft fixed as a certain % over prime.
Does the Barclays Ring even have rewards?

I checked around and a product manager said, "we can't afford to offer rewards with the 8.25% rate we offer with this card."

Yeah okay, that's why credit unions can offer rewards cards with rates around there or lower.

As much as Barclays tries to pretend they care about the customer, they don't. In fact, they probably have the worst customer service in the industry as well as the worst lineup of cards.

At least this AMEX would have a rewards program and the second best customer service in the industry. A credit card without a rewards program is pointless to use.
You can't really compare a Credit Union and a Bank... One is a non profit and well the other sole purpose is to make one... A credit union can offer that because its not a Bank and vise versa with Banks...

I already know that.

I'm making a point that Barclays pointed out the obvious by saying their shareholders come first and not their customers, which doesn't make them look good. Of course Barclays can actually afford to give a rewards program with this card... Inflation is 2%, rewards are 1%, and the rest (6.25%) is given to shareholders and used for operating costs. On top of that there's interchange fees Barclays makes money from which can also go to shareholders and used for fraud losses.

Barclays could offer a 1% cash back rewards program for the Ring, but they decide not to.

I don't want to get too far off topic here, so I'll just say a new AMEX card would be pretty exciting, as long as it has a few benefits not seen in the industry by their competitors. I like how AMEX offers a 6% cash back on groceries card, so lets see if they can bring this card out with something similar... Say something like 5% back at book stores (including Amazon) and 5% back on restaurant purchases (up to $3,000 per quarter, 1.5% after) and then 1.5% on all other purchases--I think that would be a card to catch a particular group of people's eyes.

jsucool76 · ‎08-26-2016

@Closingracer99 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Xistaben2 wrote:
@galahad15 wrote:
I googled it and it appears the fixed APR is 14.99% F?

They advertise the fixed rate as being low, but IMO it's still too high for me to be interested, even if they introduced it into the U.S.

ETA: do we mean "fixed" as in "fixed-rate APR", or a specific offered variable APR, instead of a range?
Yeah, 14.99% isn't going to cut it - my EDP was 13.14% at approval and Ring is 8.25% for everyone.

I know the Ring is still variable I thing, but its soft fixed as a certain % over prime.
Does the Barclays Ring even have rewards?

I checked around and a product manager said, "we can't afford to offer rewards with the 8.25% rate we offer with this card."

Yeah okay, that's why credit unions can offer rewards cards with rates around there or lower.

As much as Barclays tries to pretend they care about the customer, they don't. In fact, they probably have the worst customer service in the industry as well as the worst lineup of cards.

At least this AMEX would have a rewards program and the second best customer service in the industry. A credit card without a rewards program is pointless to use.
You can't really compare a Credit Union and a Bank... One is a non profit and well the other sole purpose is to make one... A credit union can offer that because its not a Bank and vise versa with Banks...

Even if you're a non-profit...your sole purpose is to make a profit...otherwise you go out of business. You just use that profit in a different way than a for-profit does.

IE...giving back to customers vs. buying a corporate helicopter fleet.

creditguy · ‎08-26-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
@Closingracer99 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Xistaben2 wrote:
@galahad15 wrote:
I googled it and it appears the fixed APR is 14.99% F?

They advertise the fixed rate as being low, but IMO it's still too high for me to be interested, even if they introduced it into the U.S.

ETA: do we mean "fixed" as in "fixed-rate APR", or a specific offered variable APR, instead of a range?
Yeah, 14.99% isn't going to cut it - my EDP was 13.14% at approval and Ring is 8.25% for everyone.

I know the Ring is still variable I thing, but its soft fixed as a certain % over prime.
Does the Barclays Ring even have rewards?

I checked around and a product manager said, "we can't afford to offer rewards with the 8.25% rate we offer with this card."

Yeah okay, that's why credit unions can offer rewards cards with rates around there or lower.

As much as Barclays tries to pretend they care about the customer, they don't. In fact, they probably have the worst customer service in the industry as well as the worst lineup of cards.

At least this AMEX would have a rewards program and the second best customer service in the industry. A credit card without a rewards program is pointless to use.
You can't really compare a Credit Union and a Bank... One is a non profit and well the other sole purpose is to make one... A credit union can offer that because its not a Bank and vise versa with Banks...
I already know that.

I'm making a point that Barclays pointed out the obvious by saying their shareholders come first and not their customers, which doesn't make them look good. Of course Barclays can actually afford to give a rewards program with this card... Inflation is 2%, rewards are 1%, and the rest (6.25%) is given to shareholders and used for operating costs. On top of that there's interchange fees Barclays makes money from which can also go to shareholders and used for fraud losses.

Barclays could offer a 1% cash back rewards program for the Ring, but they decide not to.

I don't want to get too far off topic here, so I'll just say a new AMEX card would be pretty exciting, as long as it has a few benefits not seen in the industry by their competitors. I like how AMEX offers a 6% cash back on groceries card, so lets see if they can bring this card out with something similar... Say something like 5% back at book stores (including Amazon) and 5% back on restaurant purchases (up to $3,000 per quarter, 1.5% after) and then 1.5% on all other purchases--I think that would be a card to catch a particular group of people's eyes.

Believe it or not, some people could care less about rewards and would just prefer the low interest card for the occasional balance transfer or when they need to carry a balance, so this is where the Ring comes in. We have to keep in mind that what doesn't work for us works perfectly fine for others and vice versa. Additionally some people carry cards like the ring to complement their rewards cards, nothing like claiming rewards on a rewards structure card and balance transferring it away to a low interest card like ring. Perhaps Barclays could offer a rewards structure on the ring, but they don't really need to because it serves it's purpose and people gladly apply for it, just like a Chase slate serves a purpose, different strokes for different folks.

Anonymous · ‎08-26-2016

You're right, the Ring is great for balance transfers, but those with great credit or don't carry a balance often don't need them.

The Chase Slate on the other hand is only useful on balance transfers for 15 months and nothing else since the APR is 13.24%-23.24% without a rewards program.

I would like to stay on topic though about the AMEX card. Did you like my rewards proposal I mentioned earlier to make it unique?

creditguy · ‎08-26-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
You're right, the Ring is great for balance transfers, but those with great credit or don't carry a balance often don't need them.

The Chase Slate on the other hand is only useful on balance transfers for 15 months and nothing else since the APR is 13.24%-23.24% without a rewards program.

I would like to stay on topic though about the AMEX card. Did you like my rewards proposal I mentioned earlier to make it unique?

Yeah your proposal would be nice, a 1.5% cash back card with additional rotating categories would be a nice change and there definitely needs to be a game changer to come out and shake things up, but it seems banks prefer to be mediocre and offer similar cash back structured cards as each other. Amex could get some of its lost mojo back with some new cards that challenge the status quo.

Anonymous · ‎08-27-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
I don't want to get too far off topic here, so I'll just say a new AMEX card would be pretty exciting, as long as it has a few benefits not seen in the industry by their competitors. I like how AMEX offers a 6% cash back on groceries card, so lets see if they can bring this card out with something similar... Say something like 5% back at book stores (including Amazon) and 5% back on restaurant purchases (up to $3,000 per quarter, 1.5% after) and then 1.5% on all other purchases--I think that would be a card to catch a particular group of people's eyes.

I never get these sort of proposals, made in the absence of economic data indicating whether this is viable or not. As I suggested to an earlier proposal of yours, if this is such a win, get funding and issue it yourself! I mean, a 10% back on everything card would be great! So would a 20% one. And..... But there are financial constraints that the banks operate under which we do not know.

Anonymous · ‎08-27-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I don't want to get too far off topic here, so I'll just say a new AMEX card would be pretty exciting, as long as it has a few benefits not seen in the industry by their competitors. I like how AMEX offers a 6% cash back on groceries card, so lets see if they can bring this card out with something similar... Say something like 5% back at book stores (including Amazon) and 5% back on restaurant purchases (up to $3,000 per quarter, 1.5% after) and then 1.5% on all other purchases--I think that would be a card to catch a particular group of people's eyes.
I never get these sort of proposals, made in the absence of economic data indicating whether this is viable or not. As I suggested to an earlier proposal of yours, if this is such a win, get funding and issue it yourself! I mean, a 10% back on everything card would be great! So would a 20% one. And..... But there are financial constraints that the banks operate under which we do not know.

Why stop at 20%? I agree that posters here often suggest CC companies provide more and more in rewards without any consideration of whether it's financially viable for them to do so. You would think that if it was feasible for a CC company to offer a straight 3% cash back card then one would have done so by now to steal customers from the 2% cards.

Anonymous · ‎08-27-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I don't want to get too far off topic here, so I'll just say a new AMEX card would be pretty exciting, as long as it has a few benefits not seen in the industry by their competitors. I like how AMEX offers a 6% cash back on groceries card, so lets see if they can bring this card out with something similar... Say something like 5% back at book stores (including Amazon) and 5% back on restaurant purchases (up to $3,000 per quarter, 1.5% after) and then 1.5% on all other purchases--I think that would be a card to catch a particular group of people's eyes.
I never get these sort of proposals, made in the absence of economic data indicating whether this is viable or not. As I suggested to an earlier proposal of yours, if this is such a win, get funding and issue it yourself! I mean, a 10% back on everything card would be great! So would a 20% one. And..... But there are financial constraints that the banks operate under which we do not know.
Why stop at 20%? I agree that posters here often suggest CC companies provide more and more in rewards without any consideration of whether it's financially viable for them to do so. You would think that if it was feasible for a CC company to offer a straight 3% cash back card then one would have done so by now to steal customers from the 2% cards.

The "And...." was my shorthand for not stopping at 20%

UncleB · ‎08-27-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I don't want to get too far off topic here, so I'll just say a new AMEX card would be pretty exciting, as long as it has a few benefits not seen in the industry by their competitors. I like how AMEX offers a 6% cash back on groceries card, so lets see if they can bring this card out with something similar... Say something like 5% back at book stores (including Amazon) and 5% back on restaurant purchases (up to $3,000 per quarter, 1.5% after) and then 1.5% on all other purchases--I think that would be a card to catch a particular group of people's eyes.
I never get these sort of proposals, made in the absence of economic data indicating whether this is viable or not. As I suggested to an earlier proposal of yours, if this is such a win, get funding and issue it yourself! I mean, a 10% back on everything card would be great! So would a 20% one. And..... But there are financial constraints that the banks operate under which we do not know.
Why stop at 20%? I agree that posters here often suggest CC companies provide more and more in rewards without any consideration of whether it's financially viable for them to do so. You would think that if it was feasible for a CC company to offer a straight 3% cash back card then one would have done so by now to steal customers from the 2% cards.

+1

I don't think there's any 'mystery' as to why the JCB/Marukai card isn't marketed more heavily and is geo-restricted... 3% cash back off anything on a card available nation-wide would get expensive fast!

Amex Essentials coming to US?

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