I'm waiting for a 4% anywhere card with no/low AF

[Anonymous]

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@JNA1 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Isn't the general concensus that AOD isn't going to last though?  I don't doubt that there may be a 4% card that comes about one day, but I think we all know that the chances of it surviving are extremely small.

It reminds me of when Blispay came out.  Right out of the gate even during it's flavor of the month phase everyone was pointing to the fact that the structure of the card likely wasn't sustainable.  Sure enough it was gone rather quickly.

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IDK if it is the general consensus that it won't last, but everybody knows that it isn't guaranteed. There could also be an AF added at some point. The 2.5% Alliant Sig VISA used to have a $59 AF, but they bumped it to $99. The good thing about a CU is that they don't have quite the pressure to make as much profit  (in terms of percentage) as big banks with shareholders do. They do have to be profitable with it though, and I think that the cardholder's useage will dictate that. I think the fact that they don't charge any additional interest for CA's may help this card survive. A cash advance @ 7.99% is better than a lot of personal loans and is actually the same APR as the NFCU 5.99% Platinum card since NFCU charges a 2% fee for a CA. They've built in a lot ways to entice people to carry a balance on this card, unlike most high % rewards cards. Time will tell if it works. If you make a purchase with this card, and factor in the 3% cash back and 7.99% APR combined, it would be most people's lowest APR card if you needed a little time to pay something off. 

If any FI can make a 3% card work, I'd think it would have to be a CU. 

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Oh wow, I did not think of it like that. My instinct would have been "A 3% card needs a higher APR so the people who carry a balance pay for the people who PIF every month." I never would've thought of keeping the APR low so that "in the event someone ever does need to carry a balance, their best deal will be to carry it on our card."

[FalconSteve]

2% cards seem to have razer thin margins, I have no idea how that make 3% everyday cards work, 4% seems impossible, but if you find one, pelase let all of us MFers know.

[batsy71]

While the 3% have been listed here, the closest you can get is the FordPass Rewards visa that gives 3.3% cash back for upto 6000$/yr. If you have a family member who can apply for a second card, thats 12000$/yr.

With categories like dining/utilities/telecom/online shoping/gas/groceries/travel covered by various 5% (3.5% for groceries) cash-back cards, 12,000$ more than covers, the remaining spends for the rest of the year and it's virtually a 3.3% cb on 'everything else'/non-category spend card for me.

[Anonymous]

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@FalconSteve wrote:

2% cards seem to have razer thin margins, I have no idea how that make 3% everyday cards work, 4% seems impossible, but if you find one, pelase let all of us MFers know.

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Basically, the financial institutions have all the levers, if they can survive a period of losses while collecting data. 

 If enough card holders carry balances, and the PIF crowd aren't doing huge amounts of spend, 3% is fine.   And certainly in COVID time, more people might be carrying balances than usual.

If these aren't true, or cease to be true, you can decrease and/or cap the rewards with very little notice, add an AF (with more notice).   And if enough bad people are out of area, tighten/enforce a geo-fence.   And, hopefully correctly, decide the very heavy hitters are abusers and close their accounts.

[Anonymous]

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@batsy71 wrote:

While the 3% have been listed here, the closest you can get is the FordPass Rewards visa that gives 3.3% cash back for upto 6000$/yr. If you have a family member who can apply for a second card, thats 12000$/yr.

With categories like dining/utilities/telecom/online shoping/gas/groceries/travel covered by various 5% (3.5% for groceries) cash-back cards, 12,000$ more than covers, the remaining spends for the rest of the year and it's virtually a 3.3% cb on 'everything else'/non-category spend card for me.

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I thought points could only be used at a dealership?  FAQ says points cannot be redeemed for cash.  Is that wrong?

[batsy71]

> I thought points could only be used at a dealership?  FAQ says points cannot be redeemed for cash.  Is that wrong?
The points are worthless to me. But the card promises a 200$ bonus/yr as soon as you reach a spend of 6000$. So that makes it a 3.3% cb/yr/6000$ in my book.

Here is the exact text you want to be looking at the card home page: 

• $200 Statement Credit1 Every Year when you spend $6,000 in 12 consecutive billing cycles after account opening – your new vehicle would mean you’re halfway to this benefit

[GApeachy]

Anyone mention BB&T Cash Rewards?  

• Get 3% cash back on gas, 2% cash back on utilities and groceries, and 1% cash back on all other eligible purchases Disclosure4 ,  Disclosure5
• Get 10% bonus cash when you redeem rewards into your BB&T checking or savings account

*(There is a monthly cap (first day of a month through the last day of a month) of $1,000 on spend at the bonus rate combination of 3% at gas stations and 2% at grocery store/supermarkets and utilities. Once the $1,000 monthly spend limit is reached, you will earn the base rewards of 1% for those purchases.)

Thoughts?

[FalconSteve]

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@GApeachy wrote:

Anyone mention BB&T Cash Rewards?  

• Get 3% cash back on gas, 2% cash back on utilities and groceries, and 1% cash back on all other eligible purchases Disclosure4 ,  Disclosure5
• Get 10% bonus cash when you redeem rewards into your BB&T checking or savings account

*(There is a monthly cap (first day of a month through the last day of a month) of $1,000 on spend at the bonus rate combination of 3% at gas stations and 2% at grocery store/supermarkets and utilities. Once the $1,000 monthly spend limit is reached, you will earn the base rewards of 1% for those purchases.)

Thoughts?

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My wife and I have those card because they mostly look at your income, not your other limits and we got nice starting limits and they can be opened without a hard pull (soft pull equifax prequal, then accept offer).

We rarely use the cards though because the 1.1% uncategorized spend isn't competitive, we don't buy gas (effective 3.3%), and out credit card eligible utility spend is so low that we just put it on out 2% Citi DC WEMC (instead of getting the 2.2%).

You can also only redeem in exactly $25 ($27.50 with bonus) increments, which I find a hassle.

It is definitely worthwhile for some people, but you'd have to look at your spend carefully.

[JNA1]

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@FalconSteve wrote:

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@GApeachy wrote:

Anyone mention BB&T Cash Rewards?  

• Get 3% cash back on gas, 2% cash back on utilities and groceries, and 1% cash back on all other eligible purchases Disclosure4 ,  Disclosure5
• Get 10% bonus cash when you redeem rewards into your BB&T checking or savings account

*(There is a monthly cap (first day of a month through the last day of a month) of $1,000 on spend at the bonus rate combination of 3% at gas stations and 2% at grocery store/supermarkets and utilities. Once the $1,000 monthly spend limit is reached, you will earn the base rewards of 1% for those purchases.)

Thoughts?

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My wife and I have those card because they mostly look at your income, not your other limits and we got nice starting limits and they can be opened without a hard pull (soft pull equifax prequal, then accept offer).

We rarely use the cards though because the 1.1% uncategorized spend isn't competitive, we don't buy gas (effective 3.3%), and out credit card eligible utility spend is so low that we just put it on out 2% Citi DC WEMC (instead of getting the 2.2%).

You can also only redeem in exactly $25 ($27.50 with bonus) increments, which I find a hassle.

It is definitely worthwhile for some people, but you'd have to look at your spend carefully.

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I have the BB&T Spectrum card as well, and frankly it is my most useless card. It's not that it's bad per se, it just does nothing better than any other card I have. We use my PNC card for 4% gas, BBVA for 3% utilities, BCP for 6% groceries, and AOD for 3% everything else. I have a few bucks of cash back on it that I'll likely never redeem because I'll never use it enough to get to $25 to redeem it. I use it every now and then to keep it active, but it's really just utilization padding ($6500 SL) for me. 

[GApeachy]

@JNA1 and @FalconSteve  I don't use it either   I was trying to think of smething.