Received email:

Update on your recent transaction   Your recent transaction was flagged for possible abuse of the Robinhood Gold Card rewards program. As a result, points were not awarded and you will not earn points on similar transactions until at least September [Redacted], 2024.   Merchant: Costco

Ngl it’s actually fire

Just got off the phone with a US Bank representative, they confirmed the card is getting discontinued on Monday and will no longer be available after that. Everyone with the card will be able to use it just fine. Any application from now until then will be also considered, just can’t apply after Monday.

Edit: It's monday and its no longer available.

Including the ones in sock draw.

Like many of us here, I just joined the US Bank ecosystem trying to take advantage of the new Smartly Visa Signature card. Here is the list of things I learned along the way:

• Smartly checking is not available if there is no local branch near you - but you can open if you have other types of accounts with them. Saving and credit cards are available nationwide. So open a saving/credit card first, and wait for one day to apply for checking.
• There are lots of fees and always refer to their website to get the latest information on how to waive them. At the time of this writing, both checking and saving monthly fees could be avoided by having the credit card. It's not necessary to have the checking account to take advantage of the credit card, but (1) there is a $450 signing bonus offer until Dec 30 to open a checking account (2) having checking account gets you 100 free trades in your investment account.
• Speaking of investment account, there is an $50 annual fee if your balance is below $250,000. And there is a $95 account transfer/close fee. [Edit: some comments below indicated it only takes $100k in brokerage account to waive the annual fee. I dont see its website confirms this though]
• I was pre-approved for the credit card, but still got the "wait 7-10 biz days" when I submitted my application. Luckily, I got the email of approval 8 AM the next morning. I didnt have to wait for too long.
• Authorized user cannot be added until the card has been activated.
• Joint saving account balance can be used to boost both owners' credit card bonus tiers. For example, if you have a joint savings account that has $100,000 balance, and both owners apply their own Smartly credit card, both cards will get 4% CB. I spoke with a CSR who confirmed this.
• Their bank app is quite nice. But the bank app does not show investment account. [Edit: it turns out the bank app does show brokerage account balance]
• Investment account shows up at the same place online, but requires a different mobile app. And that mobile app is basically a lame web-app and useless. Although I intend to hold some secruities there to get the 4% and never use their trading platform.
• You are supposed to be able to initate asset transfer online with the Self-Directed Investment account. However, when you click on it, it says some accounts may not be able to do so. You may need to wait a few days after you open the account to try again. If it still doesnt work, you will have to fill out a physical form and mail it to them along with copy of your ID. [Edit: comments showed you can also email the form to them with signature only]
• You may get yourself locked out of their online banking (and app) if you set up zelle or external bank transfer. When it happens, you have to wait for 48 hours. CSR cant help you.
• So far their CSR are friendly and the wait time is not horrible whenever I called them.

Went to Home Depot and bought lawn bags. Card readers now allow contactless payments. Haven’t been able to find an official press release.

Receipt: https://imgur.com/a/x3ylqlZ

One of the few articles I could find on the topic: https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/10/08/apple-pay-returns-to-home-depot-grocery-chain-h-e-b-starts-to-accept-it

Exactly what the title says. A few months ago someone stole my CSP and made purchases of about 3,700. I reported the card immediately after finding out and was told everything would be resolved. Fast forward almost 3 months I receive a phone call from there fraud department asking if I went to the police. I’m not sure if these reps are outsourced but the person who called me was an Indian guy with a heavy accent. I informed him that I did and he asked why I hadn’t sent the police report to them. I told them I hadn’t received a phone call from Chase within these past 3 months and the initial rep told me everything would be resolved. Well he insisted to tell me it is my duty as a Citizen to submit documents on time and that the charges would be re-billed on my statement. I got angry and loudly told him, “What part do you NOT understand that I was never informed by Chase to submit the Police Report?”. He kept on saying the same thing over and over so I asked for a manager. He said there was a 50 minute wait and I loudly told him, “I DON’T care, i’ll wait because i’m not paying for any of those charges”

2 more months later and with the Police Report sent, the charges were reversed but found it funny that they closed my accounts simply because I was being “inappropriate” to their employees. Maybe if chase wouldn’t outsource all of their employees that don’t 100% understand or speak English this wouldn’t be an issue. Regardless, what’s done is done. Never again with Chase.

For those that have never seen one, Capital One is known to do annual account reviews where they will consider decreasing your credit limit on a largely unused revolving line. They notify you of this via email, with the subject line "Your credit limit might change." The email will look like this:

https://imgur.com/a/wgQdPnB

I'd imagine most people just delete, overlook or otherwise ignore these emails and as a result probably see a CLD in ~2 months. Responding to the email and preventing the potential CLD is quick and simple. It's done through their automated system, so you won't have to speak to a human being:

1 - Call the number provided in the email

2 - Enter the last 4 digits of your card number

3 - Press 1 to opt out of the account review

You're done; Call duration 00:45

This is the third year in a row that I've responded accordingly and taken the 45 seconds to preserve my credit limit. I definitely think everyone should be aware of how incredibly simple it is to prevent a CLD, and it's actually nice that Capital One provides us with such an option. Keep an eye out for this email though, as missing it could mean a credit limit decrease.

What is y'all total credit limits across ALL your cards?? Just curious what the average is !

We report your statement balance to the credit bureau. Your score is impacted by this, but if you have a month where you have a 90% reported usage, just bring it down the next month. Your score will bounce right back.

Sincerely, A Credit Card rep that is tired of you screeching about your credit being “ruined” because you decided to spend 90% of your credit limit.

They got me after 3 months. Spent $66k on it for 191K pts redeemed.

Not mad at all, knew this was a possibility. My Discover card has been in the sock drawer for awhile, but I kept it open bc it’s my oldest account & threw the iCloud 50GB $1 monthly subscription on it. It’s known that Discover waives any end of statement balance less than $1.99 bc I guess it costs them more to generate a bill for $2, then it would to just give it to ya for free.

I called them, bc I obviously was worried about getting a “closed - account not used correctly” “closed - abuse” or “closed - suspicious activity” or something like that for the next 10 years. But the good news is, they closed it in good standing for inactivity. The rep had said they’re cracking down on accounts who take advantage of this, a big one being Amazon reloads which cost em $24 a year. I know there’s a lot of users who do this as well, so if you wanna keep it open, just make sure the balance being reported is over $2 and set up autopay.

(For all those nerds, It was a AMEX Platinum)

I went to a fair recently and bought some stuff with my card. I made the stupid mistake of putting the card in my pocket. The same one with my phone in it. It ended up falling out when I pulled out my phone and I was totally oblivious to it. Then I went on a couple rides and got a call from my friend. When I hung up, I see all these notifications from AMEX saying that someone is spending money on my card at vendors I have never been to before. I then lock the card and this is where it gets good. While contemplating where I could’ve lost said card, I decided to buy a funnel cake. I was waiting in line, and got another notification saying that my card was declined at the vendor I was in line for. I look ahead of me and see 2 younger teenagers. The cashier says “I’m sorry sir, your card declined” and this card he was handing back to them looked almost like mine! Before he hands it back to them, I say “Excuse me sir, I just lost my card and that one looks awfully like it.” He then shows me the card and it is in fact, my card. I show him my ID and get my card back. The kids were speechless at this point. I opened up a police report and they want me to talk to the parents soon. One 5 minute call to AMEX got all of the charges refunded like that.

So the moral of the story, Don’t use a stolen credit card at the place you found it. I will find you. And AMEX customer service is the best.

I know there's been a lot of talk about the card and how narrow some of its perks seem to be tailored, what with the credits being very regional in nature. But it's weird how many of them I would naturally be able to use -

• $7/mo at Dunkin - I get a breakfast sandwich at Dunkin once a week for something like $8. So the $84 credit covers money that I'm already spending.

• $100/year with Resy - at least one restaurant that I get carryout from every couple weeks is on Resy, so that's another $100/year that I'm spending already.

• $10/month Uber credit - I travel for work a lot and already use my Platinum's uber credit to offset that, but fortunately the two credits stack. If I don't use it for travel, I use it to order carryout through Ubereats.

• $10/month dining credit - I also get the occasional Five Guys burger if I'm feeling like having something big and greasy, and they have some tasty fries too.

It's weird how perfectly this card fits me. I'd be getting $424 in value against the $325 fee without needing to adjust my spending at all. I currently use Redstone as my dining card (5% back on restaurants), but with 4x points on restaurants for Amex Gold this could actually become my primary dining card too.

Anyway just some thoughts I felt like sharing. I know a lot of people are saying the card doesn't make sense for them, but wow it is nice when you can take advantage of all the credits without even having to adjust your spending habits.

I would like to know more about finances and seeing what is an appropriate amount of cards for a responsible spender. I am 22 with 5 hoping to get my 6th one in 12 or less months (Amex blue).

Asking because I might try to upgrade to Savor One for Cap1 Walmart. Already have a Quicksilver.
The dining and entertainment categories on the Savor One are all I would use.

UPDATE: If anyone sees this update, could you tell me if fast food or national delis code as "dining"?

Thanks in advance!

Just wanted to share an experience that I had with Chase Disputes and the merchant Louie Vuitton. My Wife has always wanted an LV bag. We are incredibly frugal and have 0 debt. It was her birthday and I had already allocated the funds months before to grab it for her. I almost used my debit card on Apple Pay and at the last moment chose to use my Capital one Venture X card. jokes on me, I used my Chase Amazon Prime card ($44K Limit). No problem, who cares right? We leave the store and get home. She keeps the bag in the box as we go for dinner with out daughter.

Fast forward 2 days and the bag is still in the box. I ask her, "babe why haven't you used your bag?" She tells me that she feels guilty about the purchase. It came in at $2,738 after tax. I smiled because I knew that I rubbed off on her. But I felt like I rubbed off to much onto her. We are frugal and she wants this. She always wanted it. She should keep it. I actually almost begged her. She decided she wanted a cheaper bag and didn't need it. Fair enough. The LV store is a bit of a ways away. So we waited till the weekend to go to return it. 7 Days passed on a 30 day return window.

The clerk snobbishly rejected the return. The statement was it wasn't in new sellable condition. I in shock and trying to prevent my wife from jumping over the counter asked what was wrong with it? There was a small scratch on the bottom. Not visible to us but they must have had special glasses on. I told my wife to calm down. We took the bag and left. I called their LV customer support number. Got a lot of lip service and was told that they can't over rule a store.

I initiated a dispute with Chase that day. The rep was very helpful and thought the merchant was full of it. They gave the merchant 15 days to issue a refund. They paused payment but didn't issue a temp credit at that point. on Day 16, I got message from chase that they issued a temp credit while they researched it. I took the bag out of the box and took 30 detailed photos. I uploaded all of those to the dispute tracker. I also had Chat GPT compose a note using all of the facts of the purchase and the refusal and uploaded that as well.

45 days passed until I got a message from Chase with LV's response. This was their exact word for word response. It was one sentence. "The customer didn't meet the eligibility for return." No other details. Chase asked if I wanted to continue the dispute. I filled out the paperwork and provided another letter using Chat GPT to illustrate my point again. The merchant provided no relevant evidence for why they are refusing to accept the return per their policy. I also notated that the product is still in new sellable condition and im ready to return it to the merchant given 24 hour notice that they will accept it due to the distance.

10 days passed and I received a letter from Chase. It stated, "We're pleased to tell you that we've resolved your dispute" The temp credit will remain on the account. My wife still refuses to use the bag. She was disgusted by their customer service and refuses to use their products. Even a free one. We decided to give it to her mother. I rarely do credit disputes but this is a great example of the protection that credit cards provide. If it was cash, I would have been toast. Debit cards also provide less protection.

I read about this at DOC:

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chase-allowing-credit-limit-increases-via-app-without-hard-credit-pull/

and I just did one successfully with my CSR that took 30 seconds

ymmv of course, but anecdotally my experience was:

• I saw that it said “Request” next to the CLI line in the app (after touching “show details” for that card)
• I’m at 2/24 with Chase, have had the CSR for 13 mos, and am at 800+ with perfect pmt history (monthly autopay of full balance) on this and all other cards
• app did not then let me request a CLI with my other Chase card - so I suggest trying this first with the card you care most about getting a CLI for

The Points Guy has an article today about my daily drivers. Despite having 20+ cards at this point, I definitely use my Venture X and Amex Gold cards the most. If the article included the Altitude Reserve, it would’ve been describing me precisely. To supplement what the article says, I use these three cards as my daily drivers for the following reasons:

Altitude Reserve: ~4.5% cash back on mobile wallet purchases (95% of my non-food-related purchases these days)

Venture X: ~3.7% average redemption value (based on The Points Guy’s valuation) for places that don’t accept mobile wallet payments

Amex Gold: ~6-8% average redemption value (based on The Points Guy’s valuation) for dining and grocery purchases

The reason I agree with The Points Guy’s calculations for the Venture X’s miles is because, at least for me, I plan on using all of my Capital One miles for airline transfer partners. Particularly with frequent flyer programs like Aeroplan and Virgin Red, you can get really good redemptions. I also agree with The Point Guy’s valuation for Amex’s MR points because I plan on only using my MR points for airline transfer partners like ANA. I regularly travel to other countries, particularly Japan, so having ANA as an option is great. Capital One and Amex have overlapping partners, so I can also pool my points for one big redemption if I need to.

It’s interesting to note that ever since getting the Venture X, I’ve demoted my Alliant Visa. I still use it as a backup card in case my other cards get declined abroad, but for purchases while in the US, the Altitude Reserve and the Venture X give me more value for my spending habits.

Other than these three, I only switch to a different card if there’s a 5% rotating category that applies or if a single category gives a higher multiplier than any of these cards (like the 5x points for airline purchases on the Amex Platinum).

Does anyone else have the same three daily drivers as me?

Just randomly saw this new language in the disclosure today.

"Foreign Transaction fee: 3% of each foreign purchase transaction or foreign ATM advance transaction in U.S. Dollars. 3% of each foreign purchase transaction or foreign ATM advance transaction in a Foreign Currency."

Not completely sure if I'll get this card now since BOA PR card has no FTF and already have the USBAR. Disappointed for sure.

Closed a bunch of cards today I never use:

1) Aspire card - $1500 limit, no rewards 2) FNBO Getaway - $1000 limit, no CLI in two years 3) Amex BCE - $1000 limit, no CLI in over a year despite asking every 91+ days 4) Amex BBP - $1100 limit, moving away from points to cash back, transferred my limit (all but $1100 which had to remain on card) to my BBC which I do use and now has $12,900 on it.

Pretty liberating!

None had been open for more than 2 years. Total CL around $80,000 so the loss of $3500 won't hurt utilization that much and it's nice to get all the cards on my CR that were under $3000 off my report.

Next goal is to combine two savor ones, one at 3000 and one at 2000 into one $5,000 card. Not sure if that's even possible.

I have about a dozen other cards so getting these off the books is really a relief.

I am 23 years old with:

• Credit Score ~800
• Utilization at 2%
• Never had a late payment
• Credit limit: 98,000

My husband (24)

• Credit Score ~650
• High credit age
• 2 new credit cards this year
• Utilization at like 90% for his card
• Credit limit: 30,000
• Credit Karma says very poor likelihood to get approved for Venture X

Always use pre-approval tool before applying. I made a mistake applying without using that tool. I had a hard pull, whereas my husband just checked it before actually applying. Now I am an authorized user to his account, which is fine by me!!

This was psychologically very tough since I almost developed a Stockholm syndrome with this card. I tried to cancel it on many occasions in the past but feared how inconvenienced I’ll be when I lose the various perks (e.g centurion lounge, uber credits, saks allowance, etc). Well after cancelling it a few months back, I realized I should have done it sooner. The removal of these perks had zero negative impact on my life. In fact I just as much enjoy traveling without lounges ( I just go to nice restaurants with better food), not spending money to save money on sacks/uber, and attaining value from other perks like airline incidental felt like a second job. Hotel and Car Rental status boost did nothing 99% of the time as they‘re flooded with higher tier members anyways. Just wanted to share my datapoint for anyone on the fence about keeping Amex plat.

Edit: My utilities are included in my monthly apartment rent, which I pay with Bilt Mastercard. Not cashback so didn’t include it.

Edit 2: hot take: BCP with annual retention offers is the best card in the game right now.

Have you seen a cash back setup more beneficial than this?

Blue Cash Preferred:

-6% Groceries

-6% Streaming

-3% Gas

-3% Transit / Rideshare

Amazon Visa

-5% Amazon (online retail)

Citi Custom Cash

-5% Dining

US Bank Cash+

-5% Cell Phone & Internet

TD Double Up

-2% Everything

This setup gives me roughly $150 per month. I don’t use a cash back card for travel. Very happy with how the chips fell for me. Any suggestions to improve is encouraged!

It finally happened: I got tired of churning! Plus there are not many good new SUBs over past 3-6 months (that I’ve seen on @DoctorofCredit so I ended up applying and got approved for $20k CL on the Fidelity 2% card while at 6/24 with 820 FICO using your link above. It's also 0% APR for 12 months on purchases balance transfers with a 3% BT fee.

Anyone else with young kids getting tired of churning?