Finance – Page 9 – Mouse Print*

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Citi Cuts Back on Credit Card Benefits

June 4, 2018June 4, 2018 by Edgar (aka MrConsumer)

Don’t you hate those credit card notices that announce “important updates” or “changes,” but don’t tell you what the old terms were so you can compare?

Citi sent out an email last week announcing revised terms for many of its credit card benefits starting July 29. But without referring to the old brochure, you would have no idea if the particular benefits were improved or cut back. (Hint: those notices rarely contain good news.)

So Mouse Print* looked up the old benefits to compare them with the new changed ones.

*MOUSE PRINT:

As you can see, some benefits like roadside and travel assistance were eliminated. Other benefits were cut back substantially, but not eliminated (thank goodness).

One of the benefits that has remained the same is Citi’s extended warranty. Unlike any other credit card, Citi (at least on its Double Cash card) will add 24 months of extended warranty coverage free to almost every manufacturer’s warranty. So a one-year warranty becomes a three-year warranty. This benefit is substantially better than other cards that merely promise to double the manufacturer’s warranty for up to an additional (one) year.

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The String Attached to Discover’s Free FICO Score Offer

May 14, 2018 by Edgar (aka MrConsumer)

This week in Consumer World we featured an offer from Discover to get a free copy of your genuine FICO credit score. Before you sign up, however, you may want to check their privacy policy, which might better be described as their “not much privacy” policy.

*MOUSE PRINT:

First, hats off to Discover for finding an easy way to convey a complex privacy policy without pages and pages of dense text.

But that is where the good news ends. Discover clearly says that at least for a “short time” they are going to market their services to you. But they are also going to share much of your information, like name, email, and your online activity with both their own affiliates and with companies they are not affiliated with. And they are going to share your birth date and social security number with companies that service or market their products.

This all made MrConsumer a little uneasy — an unusual feeling for someone who is generally privacy insensitive.

You have to decide if the reward of a free FICO score is worth the price of your personal information being shared with others.

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Don’t Bank on Higher Interest on Savings

February 20, 2018February 19, 2018 by Edgar (aka MrConsumer)

Have you noticed that interest rates on savings accounts have been creeping up over the past few months? A review of bank ads a couple of weeks ago from the Boston Globe reveals some of the rate hikes.

This is certainly much better than the fractions of one-percent that have been offered in recent years. But this bank has tucked a nasty provision in the fine print.

*MOUSE PRINT:

That’s right, to get the advertised rate you have to deposit a minimum of $200,000. Thanks for nothing, Admirals Bank.

Of course, this was not the only bank ad in the Globe. A few days earlier, HarborOne bank offered a higher rate with better terms.

*MOUSE PRINT:

This bank only requires one-eighth the minimum deposit of the first bank — $25,000 — to get a higher interest rate.

But we are not done. Another ad in the same paper as the Admirals Bank ad is even more generous.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Now we’re up to 1.50 percent with a $25,000 deposit. But one final ad in the same paper tops them all.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Bingo. One and a half percent on balances of only $10 or more from Belmont Savings Bank. But why hide that great fact in the fine print?

To the other banks: How about being upfront and posting your minimum deposit requirement right next to the advertised rate that grabbed the reader’s attention?