Thanks to this new credit card bill I have already started receiving new term sheets for my existing credit cards. So I have begun looking around for some replacement cards with better terms or better rewards.
I am having a hard time finding a new card with any decent rewards or cash back plan that also has a decent rate. The only new cash back cards I have seen are from Discover, or Chase, but they seem to be capped at about 1% up to 3% rewards in certain categories. This being said I always like cash back better than rewards because there always seem to be strings tied to reward cards.
I do not travel that often so travel reward cards are no good for me. Given my thriftiness I don’t do a lot of shopping online so the extra rewards you can get from shopping thru your credit card site doesn’t help me much either. If I do shop online I usually go thru UPromise.com, but I also try and use a rewards card to get an even better deal.
There are others like the Costco true earnings card from Amex, but there isn’t a Costco here. Madison at MyDollarPlan.com has also shown that Schwab and Fidelity have cash back cards for their customers also.
If you are looking to transfer balances it seems most cards have moved to 6 months promo rates instead of the 12 month promos they had prior to the new law being passed. The fee for transferring balances has gone up. All I have seen recently is a minimum 3% transfer fee. In the past you could get them capped at a maximum of $75 or $99 dollars, but with the 3% fee it only pays to transfer small balances.
With all of the cutbacks your best choice is to stick with cards you have had for a while or if you need a new card hold it for a year before you cancel your existing card. That way it should have a smaller impact on your credit report. Just remember pay off your balance each month. If you can’t try to cut back and stop using them until the economy improves.
