If you're Active Duty, you may or may not know there are laws in place to protect your financial exploitation while you serve and fight for our country. Specifically, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act of 2003 (SCRA) and the Military Lending Act (MLA). Both Federal laws impose limits on interest rates and fees lending institutions can legally charge active military members, their spouses, and domestic partners. The SCRA applies to credit card accounts opened prior to active military service. The MLA governs credit cards acquired during active military service.
Did you know?
AmEx
Benefits Provided
- Waived annual membership fees and other fees such as late payments, returned payments, and over-limit fees
- A cap of 6% on interest rates
How to Request Benefits
- Online: Log in to your credit card account online and click on “account services.” Under the account services tab you will find “credit management.” You will see SCRA Benefits under that tab and be able to request the benefits there.
- Phone: Call 800-253-1720 from the U.S., or outside of the U.S. call collect at 336-393-1111.
- Fax: Fax active duty documents with American Express account numbers to 623-444-3000.
- Mail: Mail documents with account numbers to American Express, Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, PO Box 981535, El Paso, TX 79998-1535
Chase
Benefits Provided
Chase offers benefits for active military members in accordance with the MLA law for those under active duty who applied for cards after September 20, 2017. Benefits apply only to personal credit cards, not their business cards.
- Waived fees (except late fees and insufficient fund fees)
- Military Annual Percentage Rate (MAPR) won’t exceed 36% (includes any fees)
- Any introductory promotional interest rates (0% APR, etc.) will be honored
How to Request Benefits
After applying for the credit card of your choice, you can request SCRA/MLA benefits:
- Access your Chase.com online banking profile
- Select “secure messages” in the upper left of the page
- Select “compose message”
- Under “inquires,” select Military SCRA benefits
- Include your account number
- Attach supporting documents
You can call 1-877-469-0110 to ask about credit card fee waivers for Chase credit cards (8am-10pm Monday through Friday, and 9am-6pm Saturdays). Internationally, call collect at 318-340-3348.
Discover
Benefits Provided
- Interest rate not exceeding 5.9%
- No late fees or fees for being over limit
- Any introductory purchase or balance transfer rates are calculated at the promotional rate (if less than 5.9%)
Requesting Benefits
There are several options for requesting benefits.
- Online: Sign in to your Discover card online account and click on the “manage” tab. You will see the link for SCRA benefits. Then click on “request benefits now.”
- Phone: Call 1-844-337-4645, or from overseas call 1-801-451-3730.
- Mail: Send a request via mail to Discover, SCRA Department, P.O. Box 30907, Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0907
- Fax: Fax your request to 1-224-813-5767, attention SCRA Department
Discover will attempt to verify your service through the Defense Manpower Data Center. You do not need to submit verification documents unless requested to do so.
****If you have any CC's from the below lenders that you opened PRIOR to going Active Duty, those cards are protected under SCRA****
- Capital One: Waives all fees including annual fees and caps interest rates at 4%
- Citi: Waives all fees including annual fees and lowers interest rates to 0%
- Bank of America: Caps interest rates at 6%
- Barclays: Caps interest rates at 6%
- U.S. Bank: Waives all fees and caps interest rates at 6%
In conclusion, why not go ahead and grab that coveted premium benefit card you've been wanting, but didn't get due to the annual fee? 
*edit* Sorry KiB! Source: https://upgradedpoints.com/best-credit-cards-for-active-duty-military/
[Mod note: Content from Upgraded Points. Please credit others when copying and pasting. - KiB]
