Shutterstock You might say, "leave me alone, it's not even Halloween yet," but one big credit card company is already gearing up to be your holiday shopping method of choice.
Citibank (C) has rolled out a version of its Price Rewind program with expanded benefits for shoppers who use its bank-issued Visa (V) or MasterCard (MA). It's basically a price-matching program with a few twists and extras. Card holders will get a refund if a lower price is found within 60 days of your purchase, and Citi will do the searching for you. "! We're saving you time and money," said Emily Collins, Citi's director of public affairs. "We're the only ones who search for you. With other programs you have to dig for yourself."
Citi says its algorithm searches hundreds of online retailers, but it would not specify which ones, noting only that it includes large chains and some specialty stores. It offers a refund if there's a price drop of any amount, up to $300 per item and up to $1,200 per year. Citi will issue card users a check or a statement credit.
Exceptions? Fine Print?
Citi says there are some exclusions, such as antiques and travel, with Collins adding that there is no fine print that makes refunds hard to collect. I was skeptical, so I checked with an independent source: Odysseas Papadimetriou, chief executive at CardHub.com and WalletHub.com (and a fellow DailyFinance contributor). "it's definitely a legitimate program," he said. "The key word is going to be hustle on the pa! rt of the buyer." You need to enter info into Citi's system fo! r each purchase: where you bought the item, when and how much you paid. Papadimetriou said that since we don't know which retailers Citi is tracking, you'll still need to do some legwork yourself. "I would still not feel that it's OK to go buy something and then feel they're going to take care of me."
If you do find a lower price on your own for the exact item you bought, Citi says you can email or fax the online or print advertisement for a refund. Citi says its price guarantee programs are especially popular for purchases of electronics, toys and clothes. It says the average refund to card members is about $85.
What's in this for Citi? Obviously, it wants to win a greater share of the holiday business from rival card issuers. Papadimetriou says that while this deal and many others are legitimate, consumers must be careful that they don't let holiday offers entice them into buying more than they can afford. His advice: "Stay on budget and don't go into debt on ! shopping. Your friends and family will understand."
Don't Get Caught by These Offers
He also warns that consumers should stay away from deferred interest rate card offers, mostly from retailers promoting their store cards. He says that if you have any balance left on that card at the end of the grace period, even $1, they'll go back and charge you interest on the full purchase price retroactively. CardHub says that if you buy an $800 laptop using a traditional credit card that offers 0 percent for six months and charges a 20 percent regular interest rate and you miss your payoff goal by one month (paying off your total balance in seven months instead of six), you'll pay $2 in interest. However, if you choose a card that offers deferred interest, you'll pay 27.5 times more interest ($55 in this example), easily wiping out the savings from any Black Friday deal you might have scored.
Papadimetriou also says consumers should be cautious about! signing up for extended product warranties. Consumers spend more than ! $1.5 billion a year on these warranties each year, and in many cases, you might be paying for something that you already have. All four major credit card companies -- Visa, MasterCard, American Express (AXP) and Discover (DFS) -- provide extended warranties of up to one year on many items. Check with your card company for details.
-
Yes they can.
The CARD Act did get rid of the most outrageous abuse: they can no longer increase the interest rate on existing balances unless you go 60 days past due.
However, you need to remember that:
- Most credit card interest rates are variable and are linked to the prime rate. Your high rate will only go higher when interest rates increase.
- Based upon risk, your credit card company can still increase your interest rate on all future purchases. Your existing balances are protected, but future purchases would be at the higher rate. And determining risk is not limited to your behavior on your existing card. If you miss a payment with another lender, that could lead to an increase on all of your credit cards.
- After 12 months, they can increase your rate for almost any reason. But the increased rate only applies to future purchases, and they need to give you 45 days notice.
Credit cards are incredibly expensive ways to borrow money. If you use a card, your goal should be to pay off the balance in full every month. Then, the interest rate doesn't matter.
Bottom line: If you do have debt, you should never be paying the purchase APR. Look for a balance transfer, or get a personal loan to cut your interest rate. And take a long hard look at your spending to put more money towards paying off that debt.
-
No, they are not.
There is a big difference between a 0% balance transfer (where the interest is waived during the promotional period, discussed above) and 0% purchase financing offered at many stores (where the interest is only deferred).
I regularly encourage people to use balance transfers to help them pay off their debt faster. With a balance transfer, interest is switched off or reduced during the promotional period. Once the promotional period is over, interest starts to accrue on a go-forward basis. This can take years off your debt repayment.
But stores offer 0 percent financing at the checkout. With a lot of these programs, interest is charged from the purchase date if you do not pay off the balance in full during the promotional period. So, if you have a 12-month 0 percent offer -– and do not pay off the balance in 12 months -– then in month 13 you will be charged a full 13 months of interest. They retroactively charge interest, and it will! be like you never had a 0 percent offer at all.
This is a common practice. Online, Apple (AAPL) does this, via their partnership with Barclaycard (BCS).
And stores like Walmart (WMT) do the same thing.
Bottom line: I don't like deferred interest deals. Most people do not understand the difference between waived and deferred interest, and this practice feels deceptive. If you take one of these offers, make sure you pay off the balance in full before the promotion expires.
2. All 0% offers are the same -
Not always.
Credit card companies have different rates for different types of transactions. The interest rate charged on a purchase (high) is different from a balance transfer APR (low).
Before the CARD Act, banks would apply your payment to the lowest APR balance first. Imagine you have a $1,000 balance. $500 is at 0 percent (balance transfer), and the other $500 is at 18 percent (purchase). If you make a $100 payment, banks would apply that to the balance transfer. That way, they reduce the balance transfer (at 0 percent) to $400, while protecting the $500 purchase balance (at 18 percent).
The CARD Act changed that. Banks now need to apply payments to the highest interest rate first. But this only applies to payments higher than the minimum due.
If you only pay the minimum due every month, your payment will still likely be applied to the lowest interest rate balance first.
Bottom line: You should never sp! end and have a balance transfer on the same credit card. Banks can only "trap" balances when you have multiple balance types on one card.
-
Not exactly true.
The CARD Act has stopped the handout of T-shirts on the steps of the school libraries, but they can still give sign-on bonuses. And they advertise on campus. For example, Citibank (C) has a "Thank You Preferred" card for college students. If you spend $500 in the first three months, you get 2,500 thank you points as a bonus. That is $25 of value.
Bottom line: I actually find this worse. Before, you got a free T-shirt just for signing up. Now, the credit card companies encourage spend on the card for the "free gift."
-
In the past, banks would charge you a fee if you went over your credit limit. Today, the CARD Act requires banks to receive your consent to charge an over-limit fee. So, in most cases, banks just eliminated those fees -- which is good news (kind of).
You can still go over your credit limit, if the bank approves your transaction. But the full amount by which you've exceeded your limit will be part of your minimum payment come the next bill, which could cause a payment shock.
More importantly, utilization (the percentage of your available credit that you use) is a big factor in your credit score. Your credit score determines the price you pay for credit. So, if you're over-limit on an account, you are considered riskier. That can result in the credit card company increasing your interest rate. And it could also result in other lenders increasing your rates with them. So you do pay, but it's an indirect cost.
Bottom line: We're glad the fee is gone, but you! still need to be diligent and try to avoid going over your limit. If you pay your balance in full every month but are frequently bumping up against your credit limit, ask for a credit line increase.
5. It no longer costs me to go over the limit on my credit card -
Completely false.
I have heard from so many people that the way to eliminate overdraft fees is to opt out of overdraft protection. But it is impossible to completely opt out of overdraft.
Federal regulation requires consumers to opt into overdraft protection only for debit and ATM transactions.
But, the regulation does not cover checks and electronic transactions (including bill-pay and monthly direct debits, like gym memberships). The banks have all the power. If they approve the transaction, you would be charged an overdraft fee (typically $35 per transaction at banks and $25 at credit unions). If they decline the transaction, then you would be charged an NSF fee (non-sufficient funds), which is usually just as expensive as the overdraft fee.
Bottom line: You can't opt out of all overdraft fees. To avoid them, keep a buffer or find an account, like Ally, that doesn't charge those junk fees.
-
Not always true.
To be protected, you need to report the fraudulent transaction within 60 days. Otherwise, you give up a lot of your rights.
On ATM/debit cards, the bank can make you responsible for up to $500 of fraud if you report more than two days (but less than 60 days) after the transaction. On a credit card, you would never be liable for more than $50 (and most banks won't even hold you accountable for $50.)
One area where you will almost always lose is when your Personal Identification Number is used. If someone manages to get your PIN and takes money out of your account, then the bank will almost always assume that you authorized the transaction. Make sure you change your PIN often and never write it down.
Bottom line: Avoiding liability it your responsibility. Track your transactions regularly and call as soon as you detect any suspicious activity. And make sure you never share your PIN with anyone, or m! ake it obvious.
- More from DailyFinance:
Source : http://www.dailyfinance.com/on/citi-offers-price-matching-guarantee-for-credit-card-customers/
