The following is an example of a promotion that I am affiliated with where I think the offering provides a strong value for a certain subset of 20somethingfinance readers – those with credit card debt. If you don’t have credit card debt, you can stop reading now.

A few months back, I highlighted a no-transfer fee card from Discover as a potential solution for readers looking to stop accruing interest and pay down their debt faster. The Discover is no longer available, but a shout goes out to reader, Sun, who mentioned that there is another no transfer-fee card out there, the Chase Slate no transfer fee version.

The Slate is very similar to the Discover, but it holds a longer intro. period (15 vs. 12 months).

Why promote this card? It used to be that you could easily find 0% APR balance transfer cards everywhere with no transfer fee. Today, you’ll see a number of credit cards that tout 0% APR interest on balance transfers, but if you read the fine print (always read the fine print), most of these cards get you with a balance transfer fee usually at 3-5% of your transferred balance.

The Chase Slate offers both a 0% APR and no balance transfer fee.

If you hold credit card debt, this presents an interesting debt-payoff strategy opportunity for you.

Here are the details on the card…

Chase Slate No Transfer Fee Specs

The goal here is debt payoff, and the Chase Slate excels with that goal in mind – with no fees. Here are the official specs on the card:

• No balance transfer fee . Note that you must transfer your higher rate balances during the first 30 days your account is open to avoid the balance transfer fee. After that, the balance transfer fee is 3% of the amount transferred with a minimum of $5.
• 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers, so you avoid further interest from accumulating and can pay down your balance faster.
• Zero liability on unauthorized purchases.
• No annual fee.

Who is a 0% APR/0% Balance Transfer Fee Card Good for?

Anyone holding credit card debt with high interest payments who wants to get rid of that debt. You have to pay off that freaking credit card debt!!! No exceptions.

If you hold credit card debt, odds are you are paying an outrageously high interest rate to hold that debt – usually somewhere between 13-25%.

Switching to another card with zero transfer fees and a 0% interest rate gives you an opportunity to pay off your debt faster without accruing additional debt.

Essentially, you’re getting an interest-free loan on your credit card debt for a specified period of time. This could be a great opportunity for someone who is digging out of credit card debt and needs a break on the interest piling up.

Are there Any Risks?

You would be moving from high-interest rate on your existing credit card debt to a 0% interest rate on that debt. From a numbers standpoint, there really is no risk because you are cutting down interest payments and potentially saving a lot of money.

If you have $20,000 in credit card debt, for example, and are paying 20% annual APR on that, you’re paying approximately $4,000 a year in interest to the credit card company, which is compounding on top of the original debt. This card gives you a 15-month break on the interest from accruing, which would present approximately a $5,000 savings(!) in this scenario.

However, if you look at this opportunity as an excuse to buy more stuff and/or simply hold off on paying your debts, you are making a mistake.

Credit card companies offer this, not out of generosity, but because they want you to transfer your profitable (for them) debt from another company to theirs.

Apply 100% of your interest savings and then some towards paying down your balance or pay it off completely. If you can stick to that, the Chase Slate is a great card.

As always, read the fine print and details before applying.

Related Posts:

• Chase Freedom Review
• The Best Grocery Rewards Card

Chase Slate No Balance Transfer Fee, 0% APR Promotion is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

If you have or will get the Freedom card, a new quarter of the year starts in April, and that means new rotation of Chase Freedom 5% bonus categories.

For April 1 – June 30, you will get 5% cash back on grocery store and movie theater purchases, up to $1,500 in purchases.

Movie theaters are a pretty wear rewards category, in my opinion, but groceries? We all buy them and we typically use some form of credit/debit to pay for them. If you don’t already have the American Express Blue Preferred card, the unchallenged best grocery rewards card at 6% cash back, then you won’t be able to find better grocery cash back rewards.

Assuming you spend $500 per month on grocery store purchases from April through June, that equates to a cash back reward of $75 for those three months. If you don’t spend $500 on groceries per month, why not stock up a bit on the canned, dry, and frozen foods you normally buy to ensure you get the full $75?

Between $75 in grocery rewards and the $100 bonus,  you’re already $175 ahead for just buying what you normally buy. Not bad for a rewards card that doesn’t have an annual fee.

If you are new(er) to the Chase Freedom, you must activate the 5% rewards categories every quarter, and you can start doing so now for Q2.

To do so, simply:

1. Log in to your Freedom account.

2. Click the “go to Ultimate Rewards” link (seen below)

3. Click on the

4. Make sure  you click “activate another card” and enter your info. It originally said I had activated by default, but I had not.

For further information on the Chase Freedom bonus categories, check out the full 2012 calendar. The $100 bonus promotion is still out there. If you haven’t cashed in yet, don’t miss out on that lucrative promotion before it disappears.

I’m a Chase Freedom affiliate advertiser, I use the card myself, and would recommend it to my own mother.

How to Score an Additional $75 Cash Back with Chase Freedom from April Through June is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

The Chase Sapphire card has upped its game as one of the top credit cards on the market. At a time when most credit cards have implemented annual fees with the recent passage of the Credit Card Act, the Sapphire card has no annual fee. It also offers a good rewards program (a true rarity to have both these days). Here’s a look at it:

• 10,000 bonus points after you spend $500 in the first 3 months – equivalent to a $100 cash back bonus.
  
• Two points per dollar spent on dining
• One point for every dollar spent on all other purchases

Cash Back Rewards that Don’t Take Back

Fortunately, there are no earning caps on rewards, point expirations, or blackout dates. You are also not tied down to using the rewards on miles, or to buy junk you don’t need. You can simply redeem them for cash – which is what I strongly recommend people do. Here’s a look at the cash back rewards options with the Chase Sapphire card:

Use points to redeem for a cash-back Rewards Check. Credits begin at 2,000 points for $20.

• 2,000 points: $20 cash value
• 5,000 points: $50 cash value
• 10,000 points: $100 cash value
• 50,000 points: $500 cash value

An added bonus with all of Chase’s cards is that you get free access to Chase BluePrint, which helps guide you to pay off balances and achieve financial goals.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

If you’re a business owner or travel heavily for work, the Sapphire Card has a rewards-on-steroids brother, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. The Preferred card caters to those who like to travel a lot. You can earn a whopping 40,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months – worth $500 towards airfare or hotels. The other main difference between the two cards is that points are worth 25% more when you redeem for airfare, and there is a 7% annual points dividend, so you can earn points on your points.

However, all good things have a downside, and the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card’s is that it has an annual fee of $95. This fee is waived in the first year, which is great. If you’re not a business owner that charges a lot or is looking for travel rewards, you’re probably better off sticking with the no annual fee version of this card.

The Downsides to Chase Sapphire & All Credit Cards

Any time I mention a credit card on this site, I feel compelled to step into my pastor shoes and give the “only use credit cards if you pay off your balance every month” speech. So do that, otherwise, you should not be using a credit card, and credit card rewards programs are pointless. For more on that, check out my ‘Dave Ramsey credit card‘ post. The Sapphire Card has a relatively low APR for credit cards (15.24% at the time of this post), but it is still way too high to have to pay.

All-in-all, the Chase Sapphire card is one of the top in no annual fee rewards cards out there. Have you tried the Sapphire card? What’s your take on it?

Related Posts:

• Costco American Express Card Review
• Chase Freedom Review
• Chase Freedom Bonus Calendar

Chase Sapphire Review is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

The Chase Freedom Visa wasn’t really on my radar as a go-to credit card until a reader commented that it was the better of the two Chase credit rewards cards for consumers (the Chase Slate doesn’t offer rewards). To sum up the Chase Freedom card, it offers:

• $100 bonus cash back after you make $500 in purchases in your first three months
• 0% Intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers
• There are rotating new 5% cash back categories every three months. For example, you can get 5% Cash Back on up to $1,500 spent at grocery stores and movie theaters from 4/1/12 – 6/30/12!
• Unlimited 1% Cash Back on all other purchases without limits on what you can earn
• Up to an additional 10% Cash Back when you shop online at select merchants through Chase
• No annual fee
• Rewards never expire

Bonus Signup & No Annual Fee Benefits

Chase Freedom is offering a $100 cash back bonus when you make $500 in purchases in your first three months. There are no annual fees for this card.

Chase Freedom Cash Back Rewards Program

Much like the Chase Sapphire, Chase Freedom offers an unlimited 1% cash back minimum on all purchases. Also, like Sapphire, Freedom has no expiration date on rewards. They never expire. Where the two cards vary the most is in their bonus categories. Where the Sapphire is focused on airline miles – you get 2-for-1 points on flights booked through Chase – the Freedom focuses on seasonal bonus categories, where you can get an additional 4% (for a total of 5%) cash back.

Chase Freedom 5% Bonus Categories

To give you an idea of categories where the Freedom card gives you the 5% cash back bonus, let’s look at the 2012 calendar:

• January – March: Amazon, gas stations
• April – June: Grocery stores, movie theaters
• July – September: Gas stations, restaurants
• October – December: Hotels, airlines, Kohl’s, Best Buy

It’s a very nice benefit that the bonus is as high as 5% in these popular categories and that the categories are in line with seasonal purchases that many of us make. If you’re disciplined and make strategic timely buys, you can really play this to your advantage.

Chase also touts as much as a 10% cash back bonus on purchases made through selected partner merchants on their site.

The Downsides to Chase Freedom & All Credit Cards

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – only use credit cards if you pay off your balance every month and your purchase behavior is not altered by the ease of use of credit cards. If you don’t, you should not be using a credit card, and credit card rewards programs are pointless.

Chase Freedom Review Final Thoughts

The Chase Freedom is definitely one of the top five consumer credit cards out there. Depending on whether you fly a lot and want to book through Chase’s site, the Chase Sapphire might be the better card for rewards. If you don’t fly extensively, I’d give the nod to the Chase Freedom for a more lucrative cash back rewards program. The 0%  intro APR and balance transfer rates are also a huge bonus. Note that the $100 bonus cash back offer is a limited-time offer.

Chase Freedom Card Review is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

If you’re not sure what I’m referring to, the Chase Freedom credit card offers a 1% unlimited cash back as a base, but every three months of the year, they offer different 5% cash back bonus categories.

For example, the past three months, I’ve been using my Chase Freedom on restaurant purchases when I travel – and have received 5% cash back. You can get 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in purchases per quarter.

Chase hasn’t notified customers yet, but I was thumbing through my Chase Freedom account online and noticed a link to the 2012 bonus categories! There are some new additions, including Amazon, and gas as a category for two of the four quarters. Here are the 2012 5% bonus categories.

2012 Chase Freedom 5% Bonus Categories

Q1 (January – March, 2012) – can activate starting December 15

• gas stations
• Amazon.com

Q2 (April – June, 2012) – can activate starting March 15

• grocery stores
• movie theatres

Q3 (July – September, 2012) – can activate starting June 15

• gas stations
• restaurants

Q4 (October – December, 2012) – can activate starting September 15

• hotels
• airlines
• Best Buy
• Kohl’s

If you’re a geek like me, you’re probably going to write or print out a copy to put in your wallet. Here’s a smaller wallet version for you:

• Q1: gas, Amazon
• Q2: grocery, movie
• Q3: gas, restaurant
• Q4: hotel, air, Best Buy, Kohls

If you’re not yet using the Chase Freedom card, it’s one of the best cash back rewards cards. No annual fee, you get all of the aforementioned cash back rewards, and they are also running an outstanding promotion right now that will earn new Freedom customers $100 cash back when they spend $500 in the first three months after opening their account.

Chase Freedom Discussion:

• What do you think of the 2012 bonus categories? How do you like them versus 2011?
• What is your credit card strategy for 2012?

Related Posts:

• Chase Freedom Review

An Early Look at the 2012 Chase Freedom 5% Cash Back Bonus Category Calendar is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

After looking at my year-to-date breakdown recently, it really hit me that a full one-third of my annual expenses are from groceries. And up until then, I had only been earning 1% cash back on those purchases.

I thought I might just be able to do better than that. So I went searching for the best cash back rewards card for grocery purchases. And all of my research brought me back to the American Express Blue Cash Preferred card (it’s the one on the right of the page).

As a cash back card, the Blue Cash Preferred card offers:

• 6% cash back on grocery store purchases
• 3% cash back on gas & department store purchases
• 1% cash back on all other purchases

On top of that, there is a promotion for new card members to receive $150 cash back after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months.

There is an annual fee of $75 for the card.

Is the Blue Cash Preferred Card Worth its Annual Fee? Let’s Crunch the Numbers…

I used to be very against annual fees, but 6% on a category I spend so much of my budget on is very convincing. With the Blue Cash Preferred’s annual fee of $75, does it pay off? Let’s crunch the numbers to find out. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American spent $3,624 on groceries over the course of a year. A couple would average approximately twice that, or $7,248.

• At 6% cash back on those purchases, a single person would theoretically get $217 cash back from grocery purchases. An average couple would theoretically get $434 back.
• Had those purchases been made with a 1% cash back card, the result would be $36 per person with that card.
• When you subtract the $75 annual fee, you still end up with a net cash back of $142 per person (vs. $36 with a 1% card) or $359 per couple (vs. $72 with a 1% card).

I’m willing to pay $75 to get $359 cash back vs. only $72 cash back.

If you want to compare the cards rewards to others, find out what your previous year’s grocery expenses were, multiply that by 0.06 and subtract $75 to get the net cash back on the card, to see if the Blue Preferred card outdoes your or any other card rewards for grocery purchases.

Is it the Best Grocery Rewards card? Comparison vs. the American Express Blue Cash Everyday

How would the results of the card fare against another grocery rewards card without an annual fee? The best I’ve seen in the category is actually the sister card of this one – the American Express Blue Cash Everyday card (check out my review). That card offers 3% cash back on grocery store purchases, 2% on gas, and 1% on everything else – without the annual fee.

• With the Everyday card, an average individual would get back $108 (vs. $142 for the Preferred Blue), and a couple would get back $217 (vs. $359 for the Preferred Blue).
• Additionally, the Preferred version offers 3% cash back on gas vs. 2% for the Everyday. And the $150 sign-up bonus vs. $100.

If your annual grocery purchases are in line with the averages I’ve highlighted here, the Blue Cash Preferred card will result in the most net cash back for grocery purchases, despite the $75 annual fee. I’ve signed up. Now if I can only negotiate away the annual fee…

Disclaimer: I am an American Express Blue Preferred cardholder and this content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are mine alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. I receive affiliate compensation through through the American Express Affiliate Program.

The Best Cash Back Reward Card for Groceries: 6% Cash Back?! is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

Bank of America ($5 monthly debit card fee) and CitiBank ($15 or $20 monthly checking account fee) started adding new fees to help replace billions of lost revenue that resulted from an amendment to the Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act that cuts debit card swipe fees by the banks 44 cents to 23.9 cents on an average transaction. This change, lobbied by merchants, was intended to lower the costs for merchants and ideally consumers. The change kicked in October 1.

The other, unspoken agenda in adding these fees is that these banks are hoping that those who use their debit cards will simply switch to a credit card, which will be more profitable for the bank if these customers end up paying interest on their debt.

Is this the start of a bigger fee-happy trend? Absolutely. Banks will look to increase their fees to replace the lost revenue, estimated to be around $1.3 billion per month. They threatened Congress prior to the passage of the legislation that they would retaliate by increasing fees and they have delivered.

Did you expect anything less? These greedy banks still get 23.9 cents per swipe, ATM fees, and the needed liquidity that you allowing them to hold your cash provides. And now they want to charge you to use your own money so that their executives can maintain the same ridiculous bonuses? NO. EFFING. WAY!

So where can you take your business?

You can protest by taking your business elsewhere. In the process, you might start wondering why you haven’t done so earlier. Reader, Sandi, writes to me in response to that post:

It’s for that reason that I plan on leaving Bank of America before the end of this year. The $5/mo debit card fee is the last straw. I’m looking into alternative banking options and am strongly considering Charles Schwab. What do you know about their checking accounts and do you recommend any others. I’ve been spoiled by Bank of America’s online bill pay, and most other banks aren’t as good. I’d love your input.

Awesome to see readers standing up for themselves. Fortunately, there are still plenty of alternatives out there for free checking accounts and debit cards. Offers with credit unions can vary, but the four banks that made the list all offer:

• free debit cards
• free checking accounts
• no minimum balance to avoid fees
• free online banking & bill pay

1. EverBank

This was a late addition, but EverBank has perhaps the best offering right now with no fees, an interest bearing account, reimbursed ATM fees and they’ll even pay you $60 to switch to them!

• Monthly Account Fee: $0
• Debit Card Fee: $0
• Opening Deposit: $1,500 deposit to open
• Checks: free checks
• ATM Fees: zero ATM fees – if your balance is over $5,000 they will reimburse you the ATM fees from other banks.
• Interest: EverBank guarantees that you will earn interest that is in the top 5% of what all banks offer.
• Cashback Rewards on Debit Card: n/a

2. PerkStreet Financial

PerkStreet Financial offers a no fee MasterCard debit card and checking account. With PerkStreet, online bill pay and banking and banking are free and there is:

• Monthly Account Fee: $0 monthly account fee if you have at least one debit card transaction.
• Debit Card Fee: $0
• Opening Deposit: A$25 deposit will get you started.
• Checks: free checks
• ATM fees: 37,000 ATM’s nationally that you can withdraw from without surcharge, otherwise $2 surcharge.
• Interest: no interest earned on your balance.
• Cashback Rewards on Debit Card: Perkstreet’s biggest appeal is that at a time when other banks are beginning to charge you for debit cards, they offer you cash back! If you maintain a $5,000 balance, you get an outstanding 2% cashback. If under $5,000, you’ll get 1%. There are also 5% cash back categories throughout the year with PerkStreet.

3. Ally Bank

I’m a big fan of Ally Bank because they don’t do business like other large, national banks. They create appealing products that don’t take advantage of their customers. Ally Bank Interest Checking offers:

• Monthly Account Fee: $0
• Debit Card Fee: $0
• Opening Deposit: $0 deposit to open
• Checks: free checks
• ATM Fees: zero ATM fees – they actually pay for fees charged by other banks!
• Interest: you earn interest on your balance.
• Cashback Rewards on Debit Card: n/a

4. USAA

USAA offers financial services to active members of the military, veterans, or their family members (here is a list of parties that can become a USAA member). USAA’s free checking account offers:

• Monthly Account Fee: $0
• Debit Card Fee: $0
• Opening Deposit: $0 deposit to open
• Checks: free checks
• ATM Fees: no charge on first 10 withdrawals and they’ll refund up to $15 per month that other banks charge.
• Interest: you earn interest on your balance if over $1,000.
• Cashback Rewards on Debit Card: n/a

5. Ing Direct

One of the first online banks, Ing Direct, is still one of the best. Ing Direct’s Electric Orange checking account offers:

• Monthly Account Fee: $0
• Debit Card Fee: $0
• Opening Deposit: $1 deposit to open
• Checks: free checks
• ATM Fees: No fees at 35,000 Allpoint ATM’s.
• Interest: you earn interest on your balance if over $1,000.
• Cashback Rewards on Debit Card: n/a

Related Posts:

• 10 Free Financial Services
• Does Closing a Savings or Checking Account Hurt your Credit Score?
• New Bank Overdraft Protection Fee Rules
• Ally Bank Raise your Rate CD

5 Banks where Checking Accounts & Debit Cards are Still Free is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

Why?

Most of them suck! The thing is this: secured credit cards are typically designed to prey on the weak. If you have no credit or poor credit, you are usually in a tough spot.

Unfortunately, many companies take advantage of this. They usually charge an obscene APR %, have a high setup charge, or a high annual fee. And people still sign up with them because they are desperate.

What is a Secured Credit Card?

A secured credit card is where you deposit an amount into a bank account to cover your credit line. That amount is not pulled from your account like with a debit card.

The benefit is that it is an actual credit card.

They are the only viable options at times for those with poor credit.

The Applied Bank Secured Visa Gold Card

The Applied Bank Secured Visa Gold card is the easiest-to-use and best secured credit card I have seen. This is because:

• It has no annual fee.
• It has no setup charge.
• It has just a 9.99% fixed APR that doesn’t change (this is unheard of for secured credit cards and even regular credit cards these days).
• You pick your own credit limit – from $200 up to $5,000.
• It has monthly credit bureau reporting.

And that’s it. It’s simple, effective, fair, and it does what it’s suppose to do – offer those who can’t otherwise get a credit card access to a credit card. Secured cards shouldn’t have fancy rewards systems.

Just make sure you pay your balance in full each month. If you can do that, the Applied Bank Secured Visa Gold card is the best secured credit card I’ve seen and the only one I’ve mentioned on 20somethingfinance.

A Secured Credit Card that Doesn’t Rip you Off? is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

My primary credit card of choice is the American Express TrueEarnings Costco card. Its generous cash rewards program gives me about 2% cash back after all is said and done at the end of the year.

However, the one big downside to the Costco American Express is that you actually have to be a Costco member. Your annual Costco membership ($50) is automatically charged to your card every year. So, technically, if you own this card, you are a Costco member, whether you actually shop there or not.

In my opinion, American Express is the best credit card company out there in terms of perks (I’ll highlight some in this post). So what if you want an AmEx, but you don’t care to be a Costco member or don’t have the choice because there isn’t one anywhere near you? Then the new American Express Blue Cash Everyday card is definitely worth a look.

American Express Blue Cash Everyday Cash Back Program

The Blue Cash Everyday card replaces American Express’s retired Blue Cash card. The old card was OK, but good rewards did not kick in until you hit $6,500 per year in spend. The Blue Cash Everyday card has a much simpler and likely higher reward system.

You get:

• 3% cash back at supermarkets
• 2% cash back at gas stations and department stores
• 1% cash back on all other purchases.

With gas and groceries costing what they have and being the two biggest non home-related expenses for most people, this could be a great cashback card.

There is no limit to the amount of rewards you can earn, no spend minimum, and no rotating categories. Simple, yet very rewarding.

<Update> For a limited time, the Blue Cash Everyday card is offering a $100 cash back bonus when you make $1,000 in purchases in the first three months!

No Annual Fee

In order to be considered a great personal use credit card, in my opinion, the card has to have no annual fee. The Blue Cash Everyday card receives a check mark for meeting this criteria.

0% Intro APR Period

Another nice benefit of this card is that you get an intro 0% APR for up to 12 months on new purchases. After that, APR is comparatively high versus some other cards, so make sure you pay your monthly balance in full EVERY single month.

Other American Express Benefits

American Express has a ton of perks with their cards.

• All material purchases with the card get a 1-year extended warranty. This is a huge benefit on large purchases.
• The American Express purchase protection plan protects your purchases against theft or accidental damage for up to 90 days.
• Free roadside assistance.
• Free rental car insurance.
• Free 30-day credit score and report from Experian.
• American Express has great customer service. They are available 24/7 and I have requested multiple credit line increases and not been turned down.

Final Thoughts on the Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express

I’d put the American Express Blue Cash Everyday card up there as one of the top five personal use credit cards, along with the best grocery rewards card, the American Express Blue Cash Preferred card, and Discover More cards.

It offers very generous rewards in some of the most popular categories with no spend minimums – and no annual fee. Not many credit cards can say that.

Related Posts:

• Costco American Express Review
• Chase Freedom Review
• Discover More Review
• PerkStreet Financial Review

Disclaimer: I am an American Express cardholder and this content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are mine alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. I receive affiliate compensation through through the American Express Affiliate Program.

American Express Blue Cash Everyday Card Review is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

The Discover More card easily makes my best cash back rewards credit card list. I don’t review credit cards that often (this is only the 4th time in 3 years I’ve reviewed one), but when I find good cards that stand out amongst the competition, I feel compelled to share what I’ve found. The Discover More card has a rare combination of the following benefits that made it stand out to me:

• 0% intro APR on purchases for 6 months and balance transfers for 18 months
• 5% Cashback Bonus in categories that change like gas, restaurants, department stores and more.
• Up to 20% Cashback Bonus at popular retailers when you shop online through Discover.com
• No annual fee

I’ll go in to each of these areas further in this Discover More card review.

0% Intro APR & 0% Balance Transfer

The Discover More card also serves another purpose as it ranks amongst the best 0% balance transfer cards with a 0% intro APR on balance transfers for a full 18 months, before the regular APR kicks in. It also offers a 0% intro APR on purchases for a full 6 months. Rarely do cards fit into both the balance transfer and cash back rewards niches as leaders in both areas.

3% Balance Transfer Fee

Discover More is offers an intro fee of 3% for transfers.

Discover More 5% Bonus Categories

Discover has already published its 2012 bonus category calendar. You can earn 5% cashback during the following months in the listed categories below:

• January – March: gas and entertainment. Up to $1,500 in purchases.
• April – June: restaurants & movies.
• July – September: gas, movies, and theme parks.
• October – December: department stores, electronic stores, toy stores, movie theaters.

I’d personally rather have consistent bonus categories, like I get with the Costco Blue Preferred card, but it’s a very nice benefit that the bonus is as high as 5% in these popular categories which are in line with typical seasonal purchasing behaviors.

Discover Online Mall: Why it’s Such a Big Deal

The Discover More also touts 5 to 20% cash back bonuses on purchases made through selected partner merchants through the Discover Online Shopping Mall. Their online merchant partners list is the best that I have seen amongst credit card companies that have similar partnerships. I typically don’t consider this to be a huge perk of credit card providers, but with Discover, it truly is. Don’t believe me? Check out this list:

• Apple Store: 5% cashback bonus
• Best Buy: 5% cashback bonus
• Groupon: 20% cashback bonus
• WalMart: 5% cashback bonus
• Kohl’s: 10% cashback bonus
• Lowe’s and Home Depot: 5% cashback bonus
• Target: 5% cashback bonus
• Meijer: 5% cashback bonus (this is huge if you get your groceries at Meijer!)

Just about every major retailer is included. Some others include Cabela’s, Sears, Dicks, JCPenney, Hotels.com, Old Navy, and Staples. If you frequently purchase from these retailers, then forget the 1% cashback bonus, you’re going to be getting much more back.

Downsides to Discover More

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – only use credit cards if you pay off your balance every month and your purchase behavior is not altered by the ease of use of credit cards. If you don’t, you should not be using a credit card, and credit card rewards programs are pointless.

One potential downside is that you only earn .25% on your first $3,000 in purchases (if those purchases don’t fit into a seasonal category or are a 5%+ partner). Once you hit $3,000 and above, all purchases earn at least 1% automatically.

Discover More Final Thoughts

The Discover More is definitely one of the top five consumer credit cards out there due to its no annual fee, extremely generous cashback rewards programs, and strategic partnerships with most of the largest retailers. The 0%  intro APR and balance transfer rates are also a huge bonus, particularly if you’re interested in doing a balance transfer. I have no hesitation recommending the Discover More card if you are a responsible credit card user.

Discover More Card Review: 0% Intro APR on New Purchases & Balance Transfers is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.