Discover It Card Review: Improved, 5% Cash Back Categories, Free FICO Score

Discover It Card Review: Improved, 5% Cash Back Categories, Free FICO Score

via My Money Blog:

(2nd Quarter activation open. I just logged on and noticed that you can now register to get 5% cashback on up to $1,500 in purchases in Home Improvement Stores, Furniture Stores, and Bed Bath & Beyond from April to June 2014. 5% rewards start only after activation each quarter and are not retroactive, so sign up now by logging into your account online.)

Scrappy little Discover is trying something bold. They’ve chucked everything and started fresh with only one card – the new Discover it® Card . (Yes, lowercase, don’t ask me why.) No longer promoted are the Discover More, Motiva, Open Road, Escape, and Miles cards.

In fact, you may want to convert your old Discover card to this one. The new card is a definite improvement over the old products, with many positive changes in direct response to the competition. Here are the highlights:

• 5% cash back on rotating categories. My favorite feature. As with the Discover More card, you’ll get 5% cash back from select categories each quarter. From January to March 2014, you’ll get 5% cashback on up to $1,500 in purchases in Restaurants and on Movie Purchases. From April to June 2014, get 5% cashback on up to $1,500 in purchases in Home Improvement Stores, Furniture Stores, and Bed Bath & Beyond.


• 1% flat cashback on all other purchases. Previous cash back cards had an initial tier that only gave you 0.25% cash back on the first $3,000 in purchases, and then 1% after that. They’ve finally matched competitors and went for 1% flat.


• Free FICO score every month. You get a free official FICO score, updated every month, shown on your billing statement.


• Late payment forgiveness. There is no late fee for your first late payment, and your APR won’t automatically increase either. You can also pay-by-phone for free, up to midnight Eastern on your due date. We all make mistakes, so this is a nice addition.


• Human. 100% U.S.-based customer service available any time. Guides a free, personalized online tour to help you get the most rewards for how you use your card. Instead of an intentionally-complicated robot phone tree, you can now select at any time to go straight to a human. I’m a little bummed that this has to be touted as a feature, but sadly it is…


• No annual fee, no fee for going over your limit.


• 0% Intro APR* on purchases and balance transfers for 14 months. Then the variable purchase APR applies, currently 10.99% – 22.99%. A fee of 3% applies for each balance transferred.


• No foreign transaction fee. Discover is not accepted very widely in Europe, although it works anywhere you see the Diners Club International Logo. However, it is one of the best cards for Asia, especially China and Japan. You can use your Discover anywhere you see a China Union Pay, JCB, or Diners Club International logo.


• Silly things. Things that shouldn’t matter, but still might. The card arrives via UPS/FedEx mail in a sleek-looking box. The card front is made to look like brushed stainless steel with no raised embossing – your name and card number are only on the back. I wonder where they got that idea?

Is it really a game-changer? Well, no. It’s not quite “one card to rule them all”, but it does combine the good bits from several other popular cards (Chase Sapphire, Chase Freedom, Citi Simplicity) to create a competitive offering. I like the 5% categories that are usually pretty broad and useful.

Discover is still the underdog to American Express/Visa/Mastercard, but it has its own perks. There are bonuses above cash back value for certain gift card redemptions. Their ShopDiscover cashback portal also often has the highest percentages for online shopping merchants, like 10% at Sears, better than eBates and such. Finally, Discover card has a lot of consumer features like return protection and an extended warranty that extends the manufacturer’s warranty for up to an extra year.

Basically, this Discover card is certainly improved and a worthwhile addition to your wallet, although rewards geeks like myself probably won’t it the only card in our wallets.

Existing cardholders. I have not gotten any communication from Discover that my existing cards will be converted to an “it” card automatically. Readers report that if you call them up, they will convert you to the new card manually for free. You get to keep your same card number and thus credit history. Certain people with annual fee miles-type cards or those doing a 0% balance transfer promotion may prefer to stay, but again I think this card is definitely better than the plain Discover and Discover More cards.

• Discover It® Card application link

Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Visa Signature® Card – Limited Time Offer

Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Visa Signature® Card – Limited Time Offer

via My Money Blog:

Citi has a new limited-time promotion for its Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Visa Signature® Card. The sign-up bonus has been improved by 10,000 points and a $50 statement credit over their standard offer. This offer is only available on a handful of sites, not even on Citi.com.

• LIMITED TIME: Earn a $50 statement credit after spending $50 on your first stay at any hotel and resort within the Hilton HHonors Portfolio during the first 6 months of cardmembership as well as 50,000 Hilton HHonors Bonus Points after $1,000 in purchases within the first 4 months of cardmembership.*


• Earn 6 HHonors Bonus Points for each $1 spent at a participating hotel within the Hilton HHonors portfolio. *


• Earn 3 HHonors Bonus Points for each $1 spent on purchases at supermarkets, drugstores and gas stations. *


• Earn 2 HHonors Bonus Points for each $1 spent on all other purchases. *


• No annual fee.*

*Click for additional pricing and to learn more.

Due to the way the bonus is structured, this card is really best for people who at least occasionally stay at Hilton hotels (as this card is also giving you a bunch of points and complimentary Silver status to try and get you to become more loyal). Hilton HHonors points are worth the most when redeemed for a hotel stay, as there aren’t really that many great cash-equivalent redemption options. You can use this search tool to see how much a hotel will cost in any specific area (i.e. Honolulu or Paris).

This card has no annual fee. If you are willing to pay an annual fee in exchange for a bigger bonus and better ongoing perks, check out the Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card.

Best Free Scanner Apps for iPhone and Android

Best Free Scanner Apps for iPhone and Android

via My Money Blog:

One of the more useful apps on my phone allows me to take a picture of documents and receipts and convert them instantly into a PDF file. The apps automatically detect page corners and “flatten” the raw images into a high-quality scan with results that are very similar to a traditional scanner. From there, I can either e-mail the file or upload it to Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, etc. I find myself using it very often for both business and personal reasons.

This post was originally about a $5 app that was temporarily free, but the “sale” ended before I could publish it. Instead, while trying out the various apps I found that many offer really good functionality for the nice price of free. Try them out and see which one works best for you:

1. CamScanner Free (iPhone / Android) – This one appears to have the most features available in a free app, but it does add a little watermark to the bottom of the PDF. 4.5 stars on Apple, 4.5 stars on Google.


2. TinyScan Free (iPhone / Android) – Lots of positive reviews, 4.5 stars on Apple, 4 stars on Google.


3. Genius Scan Free (iPhone / Android) – Lots of positive reviews, 4.5 stars on Apple, 4 stars on Google.

If you know of any better apps, please let me know in the comments.

Frontier Airlines World MasterCard Review: 50,000 Bonus Miles = Two Roundtrip Award Tickets

Frontier Airlines World MasterCard Review: 50,000 Bonus Miles = Two Roundtrip Award Tickets

via My Money Blog:

Frontier Airlines is a lesser-known budget airline that actually has a pretty decent nationwide footprint using its main central hub at Denver. (see route map). For example, you could fly from Los Angeles to New York La Guardia or from Seattle to Orlando (with a stop in Denver). They also fly to Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Mexico.

I looked this up because The Frontier Airlines World MasterCard® currently has a sign-up bonus of 50,000 miles. You get 40,000 bonus miles after spending $500 in purchases in the first 90 days, and another potential 10,000 bonus miles on balance transfers (1 mile per $1 transferred) in the first 90 days. The extra 10,000 balance transfer miles aren’t really worth it due to the 3% balance transfer fee (there are better no-fee balance transfer options).

The good news is that it only takes 20,000 miles to book a roundtrip award ticket anywhere in the US that they fly. (Roundtrip awards from US to Mexico and Costa Rica are only 30,000 miles.) This means 40,000 miles is enough for 2 domestic roundtrip award tickets (subject to government fees/taxes of $2.50 per leg). I just quickly priced out a San Francisco to New York La Guardia flight and it was $385 roundtrip per person. That’s over $750 of potential value right there.

You will need to subtract out the $69 annual fee that is not waived for the first year. However, the spending requirement is relatively low at $500 within 90 days and the issuer is Barclaycard. This makes it a good option if you’ve already gotten the good cards from the other major issuers like I have. The only Barclaycard that I have so far is the Arrival World Mastercard with $400+ value bonus, but this card can actually offer more value if your flight plans match up with their routes.

• The Frontier Airlines World MasterCard® application link

Big List of Free Credit Reports, Free Credit Scores, and Free Credit Monitoring

Big List of Free Credit Reports, Free Credit Scores, and Free Credit Monitoring

via My Money Blog:

Annual reminder for 2014. Want to get back on track for the new year? Here is a list of ways to get free credit reports, free credit scores, and free credit monitoring services.

Remember that there are three major consumer credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – all with possibly different data. A few of these offers require a free trial and noted as such, which is not preferred but I am not completely opposed to as you’re getting something of value in exchange for a bit of hassle. My personal tip is that I always cancel them the same day as part of one continuous process, preferably within an hour after saving what I need, that way there is nothing to forget later.

Free Credit Reports

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Visit AnnualCreditReport.com or call 877-322-8228 to request your federally-mandated free credit report from one or all of the 3 major bureaus. You can get one from each every rolling 12 months, so either get them all once a year or space them out. No trials, no credit card required, although the bureaus may try to sell you a credit score.

Special Situations – Denied Credit, Unemployed, Welfare, Identity Theft. As outlined by the Federal Trade Commission, here are a few other scenarios where you also get a free credit report:

1. You were denied credit, insurance, or a job due to information on your credit report. A notice stating which credit bureau supplied the report should be included in your letter of denial. You then have 60 days to request a free copy of your report from them.


2. You are unemployed. You’re also entitled to one free report a year if unemployed and plan to look for a job within 60 days.


3. You are on welfare.


4. You are a victim of fraud, including identity theft. Place a fraud alert on your file, and then ask for a free copy of your credit report.

Here are the numbers you’ll need (remember to mention FTC if needed):

* Equifax: 800-685-1111; Fraud Dept. 800-525-6285

* Experian: 888-397-3742 (same for Fraud Dept.)

* Trans Union: 800-916-8800; Fraud Dept. 800-680-7289

MyFICO Score Watch Trial. If you sign up for a free 10-day trial at MyFICO.com , you’ll get a free Equifax credit report and Equifax FICO credit score. You’ll need a credit card. You must call 1.888.577.5978 to cancel. My recommendation is to get your credit report and credit score, print or save to PDF, and then cancel immediately afterward on the same day so that you won’t forget later. Hours (PDT) M-F 6am-6pm, Sat 7am-4pm, Sun Closed.

Free Credit Scores

Your credit score. Did you know that you have probably 50 flavors of your credit score. Even the “real” FICO score comes in several different versions, and there’s one per bureau. Personally, I would never pay $10-$20 a pop for a score. Many of the free providers below will also provide selected information directly from your credit reports, like overall credit limit utilization or total balances.

Credit Sesame / Experian. You can get a free credit score based on your Experian credit report from Credit Sesame , updated every month. They make money by sending you offers like lowering your mortgage rate. Screenshot:

CreditKarma / TransUnion. Similarly, get a free credit score based on your TransUnion credit report from CreditKarma.com , updated daily as long as you login each time. Also ad-supported. Screenshot:

MyFICO Trial / Equifax. Same as above… If you sign up for a free 10-day trial at MyFICO.com , you’ll get a free Equifax credit report and Equifax FICO credit score. You’ll need a credit card. You can try to cancel online, but it told me that you must call 1.888.577.5978 to cancel. My recommendation is to get your credit report and credit score, print or save to PDF, and then cancel immediately afterward on the same day so that you won’t forget later. Hours (PDT) M-F 6am-6pm, Sat 7am-4pm, Sun Closed.

Citi Idenitity Monitor Trial. Finally, if you’re willing to spend $1 and endure a trial, you can sign up with Citi Identity Monitor get a free credit score and free credit reports from each of the three major bureaus. After you submit your personal info, enter your credit card info, and choose your username/password, be sure to opt for the “free upgrade” which will give you the 3-in-1 report. You’ll have to call 866-279-9637 to cancel within 30 days. Again, cancel the same day if possible. Hours (ET) M-F 8am-11pm, Sat 9am-6pm, Sun Closed.

Free Credit Monitoring

Credit monitoring checks your credit report data daily and sends you an email or text alert if any activities have occurred – for example, if there was a credit pull by a lender or a new address added. This can provide early warning of attempted identity theft, reporting errors, or simply am overzealous lender checking your credit without permission. Many providers charge $10-$20 a month for similar monitoring, and while it’s potentially useful I’ve never warmed to the idea of paying a hundred bucks a year for it.

Credit Sesame. You can get free daily credit monitoring based on your Experian credit report from Credit Sesame . If you’ve already signed up for the free Experian-based credit score, it’s a very simple opt-in. Screenshot:

Selected AAA Members. If you’re an AAA auto club member, you may be eligible for free Experian credit monitoring as well. To see if your local club offers this, visit aaa.com/identitymonitoring.

CreditKarma. Get free daily credit monitoring of your TransUnion credit report from CreditKarma.com , also easy to add if you already subscribe to their free TransUnion-based credit score.

The post Big List of Free Credit Reports, Free Credit Scores, and Free Credit Monitoring appeared first on FX FOREX.

via WordPress http://www.evvi.net/4743/personal-finance/big-list-of-free-credit-reports-free-credit-scores-and-free-credit-monitoring.html



Personal Finance, credit cards, deals & offers, insurance

Robinhood App: Unlimited Free Stock Trades… But Will It Work?

Robinhood App: Unlimited Free Stock Trades… But Will It Work?

via My Money Blog:

Is the endgame for stock commissions really free trades? Silicon Valley startup Robinhood.io wants to try, this time in smartphone app form. Recently approved by finance regulatory agency FINRA to become a broker-dealer, this comparison chart shows their ambitious plan to offer unlimited free trades with no minimum balance requirement.

This has been tried before. Zecco stood for Zero Cost Commissions. They had no physical branches, free trades had to be placed online. They had a “lean engineering team”. They used social media. They tried to make enough money from margin interest and order flow to cover everything else. But it wasn’t enough, and they gradually had to raise commissions.

I have my theories why. If your main selling point is “free commissions”, you’re going to get a lot of inexperienced “newbie” investors. Being a broker-dealer has a lot of compliance and regulatory overhead, so together you’ll need a lot of call center workers to provide good customer service. Skilled employees cost a lot of money. (Sometimes I think it was actually efficient for Scottrade to spread these people out in physical branches.) Plus, newbies are less likely to use margin.

Many online services and apps can get away with minimal staff because they can effectively just ignore the high-maintenance customers and hope they go away. Robinhood won’t be able to do that.

I want Robinhood to succeed. I signed up on their early access waitlist (use my link and supposedly I’ll move up in line). I’ll likely open and account and try them out. But I just don’t see where the alternative revenue will come from.

The post Robinhood App: Unlimited Free Stock Trades… But Will It Work? appeared first on FX FOREX.

via WordPress http://www.evvi.net/3936/personal-finance/robinhood-app-unlimited-free-stock-trades-but-will-it-work.html



Personal Finance, deals & offers, investing

Capital One 360 Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2013 Savings and Checking Promotions

Capital One 360 Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2013 Savings and Checking Promotions

via My Money Blog:

Capital One 360 has a few Black Friday weekend deals including a $125 bonus for their 360 checking account and $75 bonus for 360 Savings Account. New customers only – you can get one checking bonus and one savings bonus per person. Good from now until Cyber Monday night at 12/2/2013 11:59pm astern. This is usually the biggest bonus they’ll offer all year.

American Express Small Business Saturday 2013 – $10 Bonus, not $25

American Express Small Business Saturday 2013 – $10 Bonus, not $25

via My Money Blog:

American Express has confirmed that they will bring back Small Business Saturday (SBS) on November 30th in 2013. The significant change this year is that now it is a $10 statement credit instead of the $25 from previous years.

Register any eligible American Express Card to get a one-time $10 statement credit when you spend $10 or more on 11/30/13 in a single, in-store transaction at a qualifying small business that appears on the Small Business Saturday Map. Supply is limited, so come back on Nov 24 to register.

Other important terms and tips:

• Registration opens at 12:00 A.M. MST (“Mountain Standard Time”) on November 24, 2013. The number of registrations is limited. I would plan on enrolling some time during the first day to be safe.


• Qualifying small business locations appear on the Small Business Saturday® Map, available beginning on November 21, 2013 at ShopSmall.com. The map isn’t perfect, so use your common sense.


• If you don’t have anything specific in mind, even gift cards to a local non-chain restaurant, grocer, hardware store, or clothing boutique count.


• In previous years, additional authorized user cards have been eligible for their own $10 credit. (Authorized user cards with AmEx get their own unique card number.) I see nothing that changes that in this year’s rules. Many American Express cards offer additional cards for free to authorized users like your spouse, partner, or older children.


• Corporate Cards and all prepaid Card products (other than American Express Serve®) are not eligible.

Small Business Saturday remains a very creative way for American Express to tell the public that they’ve greatly increased acceptance of their cards at small businesses, which has always been their relative weak spot due to their slightly higher fees for the merchant. (It also makes small business that aren’t accepting AmEx to think twice…)

I’ve already mentioned that the only annual fee card I voluntarily pay for is the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express which has an annual fee of $65 (first year is free). My wife gets her own card as an authorized user with no additional annual fee. I also have several other AmEx cards where I haven’t paid an annual fee. So each of my Amex cards will get $10 this year which helps offset the annual fee.

You can also get the same perks from no annual fee AmEx’s like the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express with 3% back at supermarkets (now first $6,000 a year) all year round.

“Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the issuer. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the issuer. This site may be compensated through the issuer’s Affiliate Program.”

Pentagon Federal Offering 3-Year CDs at 2.02% APY

Pentagon Federal Offering 3-Year CDs at 2.02% APY

via My Money Blog:

Pentagon Federal Credit Union is now offering 2.02% APY rate on it’s 3, 4, 5, and 7-year CDs (they call it a Money Market Certificate). The minimum opening deposit is $1,000. Early withdrawal penalties are as follows:

• For terms from 6 months to 4 years, you will lose the last 180 days of interest. If you haven’t earned 180 days of interest yet, you lose all the interest and get back only your opening amount.


• For terms of 5 years or longer, you will lose the last 365 days of interest. If you haven’t earned 365 days of interest yet, you lose all the interest and get back only your opening amount.

As a credit union, you must meet their eligibility requirements to join. Basically all members of the military and their immediate families are welcome, as well as many other military-related groups. Otherwise, simply become a member of the organization Voices for America’s Troops. Membership costs $15/yr, and you don’t need to renew to remain a PenFed member. “Voices for America’s Troops advocates for a strong national defense, including sustaining and improving quality of life programs for America’s troops, their families and survivors.”

(I ran a search through the blog archives and found a post about PenFed offering 6.25% APY 3-year CDs back in late 2006. I wonder how long until we see rates like that again?)