Chase Freedom Unlimited

[red259]

There is speculation going around on some blogs that there are changes coming to the Freedom card. That they are going to get rid of the 5x category and turn the card into a 1.5 point per dollar card on all spend and change the name to Chase Freedom Unlimited. Anyone else hear about this?

[Anonymous]

no. i don't see that happening but if that's the case then i have no use for it. there are already enough 1.5% cards out there (QS, NFCU cashRewards, barclaycard cash forward...) sure there are more

[kdm31091]

I wouldn't be surprised. In general, most consumers hate the rotating category thing, and prefer the straightforward cards. It makes sense for Chase to move away from the rotating thing.

Now, on a cash back basis, 1.5% is just average and there's many options out there. The differentatior would be if it's 1.5% in cash or if it's still going to be UR points. Travel enthusiasts would be excited if it were 1.5 UR (though many still won't be approved for a long time under 5/24), but 1.5% cash is not especially standout or exciting.

I'd take it as a rumor for now, but again, would not be surprised as most consumers are not a fan of rotating categories.

[Anonymous]

lol kdm you and i think the opposite.

[kdm31091]

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@Anonymous wrote:
lol kdm you and i think the opposite.

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1.5% cash is pretty "boring" to people like us, but plenty of consumers don't want to spend time thinking about "this card for this, that card for that", so the banks are responding to that. 1.5% cash seems to be within profitable range enough to be sustainable with the many 1.5% cards out there, so banks probably prefer it to the 5% rotating thing.

[NRB525]

Doing a little research, the source of the rumor says that it is basically a new product, "Chase Freedom Unlimited". It could be a quick / near term rollout as a new product, or replacement product.

Existing Freedom cardholders ("Chase Freedom") would keep the 5% rotating categories, which makes sense since they published those for 2016 already. These 5% categories would likely continue, until nerfed.

Whether the "Unlimited" version earned UR points or plain cash back is an open question.

Just one more reason for me to continue to lean on my Freedom card while the 10 points per swipe still shows up on my statement.

[Anonymous]

they want their cards to appeal to an "everyday" market but realistically if everyone does the 1.5% thing then it's redundant

[kdm31091]

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@NRB525 wrote:

Doing a little research, the source of the rumor says that it is basically a new product, "Chase Freedom Unlimited". It could be a quick / near term rollout as a new product, or replacement product.

Existing Freedom cardholders ("Chase Freedom") would keep the 5% rotating categories, which makes sense since they published those for 2016 already. These 5% categories would likely continue, until nerfed.

Whether the "Unlimited" version earned UR points or plain cash back is an open question.

Just one more reason for me to continue to lean on my Freedom card while the 10 points per swipe still shows up on my statement.

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Reading some of the speculation I'd expect this would be 1.5% in plain cash and not UR points. They now say you can "redeem any amount anytime", which seems more likely to mean that this is cash and not points. Could be wrong, but with how hard Chase has cracked down on UR point earning, it wouldn't shock me.

[red259]

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@Anonymous wrote:
no. i don't see that happening but if that's the case then i have no use for it. there are already enough 1.5% cards out there (QS, NFCU cashRewards, barclaycard cash forward...) sure there are more

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It would be useful to people who collect URs to transfer to travel partners. Right now I use the freedom card only on 5x categories. My everyday non-cat spend goes on my amex everydayand I was thinking about switching over to the amex everyday preferred card, but with these changes the freedom card would give me the same earn rate as the amex everyday preferred card which has an AF. Therefore if these changes occur I will ikely look into moving all my non-cat spend to the freedom card. 

[Anonymous]

I've always wondered if the Discover Double Cash promotion isn't a front for something similar.

With the categories they were offering in the 4th quarter, I'd probably prefer 1.5% cash back over that. With that happening I wouldn't need a general spend card like the EDP. I do wonder how it would affect "the combo" with CSP.