Chase Blueprint credit card commercials are embarrassing

[StageLeft]

We know many Americans have a nearly-childish fascination with accumulating debt for consumer things they don't need. Chase Blueprint (http://www.chaseblueprint.com http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/...int-credit-card-program-would-it-benefit-you/) is a new program and I've seen two commercials for it now. In the first a guy and his wife finance a new stainless steel fridge on their card and pay for it over a long period of time.

The guy gets stiff over the "split" function, particularly with the savings it gives him. I just did a test split on the chase site and the savings are their program vs 30 years, so of course you'll save a lot in interest by paying now vs 30 years. At the end of the commercial the family concludes that the dead mom's parents would be proud of them for handling their finances the way they have done by buying a stainless steel fridge on their card.

In another a woman uses split to pay for a nice couch.

The epic fail in this is how the commercial emphasizes that people can manage their finances and use more control over them but the elephant in the room of course is that it's all very contradictory with using a credit card to buy these things and paying them off in installments to begin with. The tone of the commercials is very patronizing, on behalf of people who'd see these commercials and be excited I am embarrassed for them.

 

[Modular]

Debt is what makes this world go round. Just ask China

 

[OverVolt]

Yea the stuff we have from China isn't free after all, unless we stage a fake military coup or something.

Anyway, personal finances fail. Who would buy a fridge on a 30year loan? Then, who would buy a fridge on a credit card thinking they will save on INTEREST over a 30 year loan?

Because we all know credit cards are the best interest rates around right?

 

[StageLeft]

Yea the stuff we have from China isn't free after all, unless we stage a fake military coup or something.

Anyway, personal finances fail. Who would buy a fridge on a 30year loan? Then, who would buy a fridge on a credit card thinking they will save on INTEREST over a 30 year loan?

Because we all know credit cards are the best interest rates around right?

For some reason it's no longer vs 368 months, it's vs 300. So if we do a test on their site with $5k and 12.9% APR if I pay it over 6 months instead of 300 months (!!!!) my interest savings are $4909.30. Whoo hoo, nothing like paying for a fridge 25 years down the line.

Now I'm in the "finish it" section, where some idiots threw a party for their parents last year and are still paying it off.

There is a "financial style quiz". One of the questions and you have to choose on a slider bar:

"Do you tend to use your credit card(s) only for emergencies and/or 'big ticket' purchases, or for everyday purchases as well?"

According to this Big Ticket Items have to be purchased on a card regardless of where on the scale you are.

 

[Fritzo]

I don't get the concept...can someone explain what they're doing here? Are they making a long term loan with small payments available for credit card use?

 

[KB]

I saw those commercials and they are simply polishing a turd and the sad part is some people buy it. The program that made me laugh the most was BofA's keep the change. If you don't remember that program, when you bought something, say for $3.60, it would round the charge up to $4.00 and move the change (40 cents) from your checking to your savings. They made it sound like they were paying you, but really they just moved your money around and increased the odds you would have an overdraft fee in your checking account. Marketing genius FTL.

 

[Farang]

I saw those commercials and they are simply polishing a turd and the sad part is some people buy it. The program that made me laugh the most was BofA's keep the change. If you don't remember that program, when you bought something, say for $3.60, it would round the charge up to $4.00 and move the change (40 cents) from your checking to your savings. They made it sound like they were paying you, but really they just moved your money around and increased the odds you would have an overdraft fee in your checking account. Marketing genius FTL.

that's awesome. I realized it was just them moving money around (didn't really get why they advertised such an odd/useless feature) but I didn't see the result of more overdraft fees. Whoever thought that one up must be sitting in a corner office these days

 

[StageLeft]

Fritzo, it is basically just a calculator to break down how long it will take you to pay it back; they aren't offering anything novel.

 

[mugs]

I don't get the concept...can someone explain what they're doing here? Are they making a long term loan with small payments available for credit card use?

I think the way it works is that it lets you split your bill into categories, and you can make payments toward specific categories. If you pay a category in full, you don't pay interest on that balance even if you have a balance in other categories. Normally you pay interest on the full balance unless you pay the bill in full.

So if you're the kind of person who would normally pay your bill in full but you occasionally make a big purchase and pay it off over a few months, you could do that on a single Chase card instead of using one card for regular purchases and one card for big purchases.

Still not the best way to handle your finances.

 

[ultimatebob]

that's awesome. I realized it was just them moving money around (didn't really get why they advertised such an odd/useless feature) but I didn't see the result of more overdraft fees. Whoever thought that one up must be sitting in a corner office these days

Wachovia does something similar, where they put a buck of your checking account money in your savings account every time you use your debit card or use their online bill pay.

At least they give 5% interest on that account, so it's at least somewhat worthwhile.

 

[StageLeft]

Normally you pay interest on the full balance unless you pay the bill in full.

I don't think that's how it works; if you have $10k balance and when your bill comes you quickly pay off $9900, they won't do interest on the full 10k. I believe they charge interest on a daily basis on your current balance. I think Chase's split feature is just a silly game to try and make a person think they are paying certain things off in full and others not, but really it's all out of the same pot.

 

[ElFenix]

Fritzo, it is basically just a calculator to break down how long it will take you to pay it back; they aren't offering anything novel.

and yet that's still a huge improvement over the previous system.

if they had to put at the top of the bill next to 'MINIMUM PAYMENT DUE' something like 'IT WILL TAKE YOU THIS LONG WITH THIS MUCH INTEREST IF YOU PAY JUST THE MINIMUMS ON YOUR CURRENT BALANCE'

 

[StageLeft]

and yet that's still a huge improvement over the previous system.

if they had to put at the top of the bill next to 'MINIMUM PAYMENT DUE' something like 'IT WILL TAKE YOU THIS LONG WITH THIS MUCH INTEREST IF YOU PAY JUST THE MINIMUMS ON YOUR CURRENT BALANCE'

Approx 70% of the internet is entirely dedicated to calculators like that, so really what they've done is just put on on their site and customized it to your specific balance?

 

[ElFenix]

Approx 70% of the internet is entirely dedicated to calculators like that, so really what they've done is just put on on their site and customized it to your specific balance?

and you don't have to dig through the terms to figure out exactly how they calculate minimum payment.

and how many people going into debt for unnecessary purchases are really going to the credit calculators anyway?

 

[krunchykrome]

i love my AMEX true-earnings card....really, I do

 

[PingSpike]

I don't get the concept...can someone explain what they're doing here? Are they making a long term loan with small payments available for credit card use?

Don't waste to much brain power trying to figure it out. All you need to know is a credit card company dreamed it up and is advertising it hard. That should be enough information for you to realize its a program designed brutally ass rape your wallet.

 

[StageLeft]

Don't waste to much brain power trying to figure it out. All you need to know is a credit card company dreamed it up and is advertising it hard. That should be enough information for you to realize its a program designed brutally ass rape your wallet.

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