New Emigrant Direct Cash Back Credit Card
Big news from Emigrant Direct Savings Bank... They've finally rolled out their new cash back credit card. This card, which is issued by Juniper Bank, offers:
Up to 1.25% cash back on all purchases
Rewards are credited directly to your American Dream Savings Account (twice annually)
No limit to the amount of cash back that you can earn
0% APR on balance transfers for six months
There is, however, a pretty big catch... In order to receive the maximum cash back amount, the primary cardholder has to maintain an average daily balance of ≥ $10k in their Emigrant Direct savings account over the six months prior to the reward being deposited. Dip below $10k and your rewards will fall back to 0.50% of net purchases. Ouch. That's a pretty big hit.
[Via: Neo's Nest Egg]
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"New Emigrant Direct Cash Back Credit Card" was first published at fivecentnickel.com
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I know there has been a lot of discussion on these boards about cash back credit cards. I currently have a 5% gas/groceries/drugs card. I also have a 1% everything else card. Thats about as good of a deal as I have been able to find.
Does anyone have anything better than 1% on the everything else card out there? I don't need anymore on the 5% gas/groceriers/drugs. I know there are drivers type cards that can get you 5% back on car work or stuff like that if you send in receipts and there may be other similiar cards. Those don't interest me. For the most part I wouldn't do enough business in those types of things to make it worth it and I also have a philosophy that says I am not going to go through a paper work hassle to try to get an extra 20 bucks here or there. In the grand scheme of things with respect to reaching financial independence those 20 dollars here and there don't add up to anything. I know .... heresy, nevertheless, I strongly believe its not worth my time as over the course of a lifetime it will never add up to more than a few thousand dollars and that will not make one bit of difference to my life when I am 65.
So the question is does anyone know of any other cash back offers that beat 1% that don't require hassles or papertrails or such to get them. I am willing to consider minimum balance requirements so the Emigrant Direct card is interesting. Anything else out there?
D-man,
I use the American Express Blue Cash (https://www124.americanexpress.com/cards/loyalty.do?page=bluecash.maximize).
If you annually charge $6500 or more (paying if off every month or course), you get 5% back on "everyday purchases) and 1.5% on other purchases. You only get rebate on the first $50k spent annually.
I use the Citibank Dividend Platinum MC at places that don't take AMEX (5%/1% with $300 back max).
Fidelity has a card that gives you 1.5% into a qualified fidelity account. 2% if it's a 529.
Have you noticed that the numberof stores for "everyday purchases" seems to be shrinking? I have the citi rewards card. When I first got it I got 5 points for every dollar spent pretty much every time I bought groceries, gas, and drugs. Now it seems hardly any stores in my area qualify for the bonus points.
Of course, you should note that with the AMEX Blue Cash Card the define "Everday purchases" as "Everyday Purchases are purchases made at U.S. supermarkets, gas stations and drug stores that are not departments of superstores or warehouse clubs."---so it's basically the same deal as the other cards (except it is 1.5% instead of 1% on everything else).
I like the Citibank Professional Card and the Citibank Premier Card. The Professional gets you 3% back* at restaurants (and 2 other worthless categories), and 1% everywher else. The PremierPass Card gives you 1 point for every 3 miles that you fly, provided that you buy the ticket with the PremierPass Card (there are yearly maximums, natch). Because you can link Citibank Reward accounts, these cards are really good deals.
*to get the true % "cash" back, you have to choose gift cards (they've got major retailers: Best Buy, Department Stores, Banana Republic, Gas Cards, etc.). True "cash" back is at a lower ratio. Small inconvenience, in my opinion.
Looks like HSBC just jacked up to 4.80% interest as a "special rate" through April 30th.
