This is the weekly credit card news report you may have missed this week.
What is the current status?
Here’s what caught our attention since April 2, 2021.
Chase launches a new United Airlines card
The United Quest card is now official and available for applications. Chase introduced the new airline rewards card late last Thursday, but the card is anything but quiet. With an annual fee of $250, the card offers a massive bonus of about $2,190 for cardholders who earn 100,000 miles, along with generous travel benefits and a variety of bonus categories to earn miles on everyday purchases.
Credit card interest rates rise slightly in March
This year has been quieter than last year regarding credit card interest rate changes, but March 2021 wasn’t entirely quiet. Synchrony Bank updated the annual percentage rate for the Sam’s Club credit card and Sam’s Club Mastercard (by a full approximate percentage), and we are now tracking interest rates for the AARP Essential Rewards Mastercard and the AARP Travel Rewards Mastercard from Barclays. The interest rate ranges for both new cards are slightly higher than those charged by similar cards, so updating the dataset was enough to raise rates for cash back cards and travel rewards cards, along with the general average.
Increase in revolving debt balances in the United States
After declining for several months, the revolving debt balance in the United States (which largely consists of credit card debt) has increased again. According to the latest report from the Federal Reserve on consumer credit, the national revolving debt balance rose by $8.1 billion to $974.4 billion in February, nearly the same level it was at in December.
Old Apple Rewards cards to be discontinued in May
When the Apple Card launched a few years ago, Goldman Sachs, the issuer, was new to the credit card market, and the card competed with many other cards offering Apple rewards and special financing for Apple products. However, it has come to dominate the competition. Now, the last two old cards – the Barclays Apple Rewards Visa and the Barclays Financing Visa – will be discontinued.
We confirmed with Barclays that holders of the old cards will be transitioned to either the Barclays View Mastercard or the Barclays Financing Mastercard in May. Cardholders were notified of the change in March, but in case you missed this memo, here’s the information. Apple-specific benefits will be discontinued. Instead, the Barclays View Mastercard will offer some cash back rewards on everyday spending categories (3 points for every dollar spent at restaurants, 2 points for every dollar spent at grocery stores, as well as on TV, phone, internet, and streaming services) and special financing offers, but not specifically for Apple products. The Barclays Financing Mastercard will be very straightforward, but it will also provide limited-time financing offers.
Before you get excited, these two cards will not be available for new applications. Barclays told us that they were created specifically for existing Apple accounts, and they will inform cardholders of which new card they will receive (not a similar transition from apple to apple, apparently).
It’s good that Barclays is not completely closing these two old cards, given how beneficial open credit card accounts can be for credit utilization and account age – two of the most important factors in FICO credit scoring.
What else is happening?
The Amex Platinum Biz card announces a six-figure welcome offer: Open an American Express Business Platinum Card and spend $15,000 within three months to earn a strong bonus of 100,000 rewards points. This offer is worth about $1,400 based on our estimates of rewards points, making it one of the best business card offers available right now.
End
The game is up for the Marvel Mastercard: Marvel and Synchrony Bank have decided to close the Marvel Mastercard credit card program. The card has not been available for new applications for some time, and now it has until May 27 to make purchases and earn cash back rewards. For now, continue to make payments on your account and contact Synchrony customer service (not Tony Stark) with any questions.
OppFi Fintech opens a waitlist for the credit-building card: The latest fintech card announcements come from Opportunity Financial (“OppFi”) and its partnership with Mastercard and Deserve. Later this year, the trio will launch a new card – the OppFi card – for consumers with limited access to credit products due to low credit scores. Instead of relying on traditional credit scores, the issuing bank will utilize bank data, income, and employment to approve applications. However, it will report account history to the three major credit bureaus, which is crucial for building credit. If you’re interested, there is a waitlist to join, but one word of caution: the card will charge an above-average (even astronomical) interest rate of 35.99% if you carry a balance.
U.S. Bank announces updates to the Harley-Davidson card: The Balance tracks prices and terms for over 300 credit cards, including the U.S. Bank Harley-Davidson Secured Visa Card. We noticed this week that the issuing bank has raised the costs of the card for new applicants. The limited rewards program remains unchanged, but interest rates on purchases and cash advances for the card have increased, along with some fees. At one point, there were only two cards featuring the Harley brand, but now there are four, enough for fans of big, loud bikes to choose from. Somehow, the surplus seems just right for Harley-Davidson.
Source: https://www.thebalancemoney.com/average-apr-inches-up-card-debt-gains-weight-5121178
Leave a Reply