I think I need a 3rd Credit Card

[makken]

Currently, I have 2 credit cards--a Citi mastercard and a Costco Amex-- I use both pretty regularly.

Yesterday, one of the merchants I recently purchased from had a data security breach and my mastercard info was compromised. Citi immediately notified me of the issue, froze my account, and started the process of issuing me a new card#.

Ok, great; however, I had several accounts on autopay using that card and, of course, Murphy's law has to be fulfilled. 2 of the accounts happened to trigger autopay right on the day my account was frozen. The payments didn't go through and the accounts freaked out; I spent a good portion of today calling customer service fixing that mess.

In addition, I just realized a lot of places around here are Visa/Mastercard only; Amex not accepted.

So I'm considering getting a 3rd credit card. Im thinking of getting a Visa and putting all my auto-payments on it; using it for nothing else.

Any recommendations on what card I should get?

 

[Red Squirrel]

it's nice that the CC companies look out for us like that, but it would really be nice if they would not actually freeze the whole account, but just call you or something and block that one transaction.

I only have my web server that comes off my credit card so I've been lucky in that the few times I had it frozen the charge was not due to come off.

 

[Newbian]

Go for visa... seriously that's the only one you need 99.9% of the time.

 

[Newbian]

it's nice that the CC companies look out for us like that, but it would really be nice if they would not actually freeze the whole account, but just call you or something and block that one transaction.

The thing is if his data was leaked it will be more then one transaction and freezing it prevents it as that would cause more work for the cc company.

 

[gevorg]

If you pay in full every month, get the card that gives the most cash back, points, miles, etc.

 

[sixone]

Why not get a prepaid card for your running-around money? You can add to it anytime you want.

 

[IEC]

Lol. I still have about a dozen different cards, and use whatever one happens to give me the most bonus cashback for whatever I happen to be purchasing.

That said, I have one designated for auto payments and nothing else in response to the exact scenario OP described. So far, that's kept it from being compromised. Whereas my most-used card seems to get compromised once a year, despite being airtight in online usage.

Edit: And none of the cards carry balances. I use CCs to make money, not lose it.

 

[Newbian]

Why not get a prepaid card for your running-around money? You can add to it anytime you want.

The problem is most have nasty fees as they can charge you anything they want with those unlike credit cards for the most part and using those regularly costs you more not to mention comes with no free perks.

 

[shortylickens]

I only have one.
Would like a low limit Amex for costco usage. But not enough to actually apply for one.

 

[dr150]

The the US Bank Cash+ card where you get two 5% and one 2% cash back categories that YOU choose. I chose the 5% for restaurants and fast food.
https://cashplus.usbank.com/?redirect=cashplus

Also the Discover card's IT card is also great with a 5% category every 3 months. Last time it was gas. This quarter it's online companies. And you can use the cash back at Amazon as you can link the card up with the website....otherwise you have to accumulate $50 cb to get a check.
https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

You should hold ~5 rotating credit cards (at the very least). It gives you the most opportunities to churn more cash back in different ways.

Discover is an excellent one for rotating 5% off categories.

 

[RockinZ28]

Get something that gives a large bonus for opening and spending $x in 3 months.

Think the Southwest Rapid rewards plus visa still has the 50k point bonus after spending $2k in 3 months. $69 annual fee, then you can redeem the points for $500 in Amazon gift cards.

I just opened the plus and premier recently, so $168 in fees for $1000 in Amazon money, sounds like a good deal to me.

 

[makken]

The problem is most have nasty fees as they can charge you anything they want with those unlike credit cards for the most part and using those regularly costs you more not to mention comes with no free perks.

Yeah, this mainly. I like my CC perks anyways--between my two cards, im getting
5% back on rotating categories (right now its retail stores)
3% back on gas
2% back on food
1% everything else.

Plus a whole bunch of other, non-cashback perks.

You should hold ~5 rotating credit cards (at the very least). It gives you the most opportunities to churn more cash back in different ways.

Discover is an excellent one for rotating 5% off categories.

Only problem I have with discover is that I rarely see them accepted at the places I frequent

The the US Bank Cash+ card where you get two 5% and one 2% cash back categories that YOU choose. I chose the 5% for restaurants and fast food.
https://cashplus.usbank.com/?redirect=cashplus

This one looks nice! Will be kinda wasted if I only use it for autopayments, but I'll keep an eye on it. Will only let me see the terms and conditions at a physical US Bank...

Lol. I still have about a dozen different cards, and use whatever one happens to give me the most bonus cashback for whatever I happen to be purchasing.

That said, I have one designated for auto payments and nothing else in response to the exact scenario OP described. So far, that's kept it from being compromised. Whereas my most-used card seems to get compromised once a year, despite being airtight in online usage.

Edit: And none of the cards carry balances. I use CCs to make money, not lose it.

Heh, you remind me of my dad; he has 20 or so CCs that he rotates around--gets crazy perks.

Funnily enough, He forced me to apply for the mastercard that was just compromised--dragged me out of bed on the morning of my 18th birthday and forced me to put in an application for the then-student-version of it at the bank. Been using it ever since.

Out of curiosity, which card are you using as the dedicated autopayer? Any specific perks that made you choose that one for it?

 

[Demo24]

I use to have a problem with discover, but these days I know of exactly one place that won't accept it. Just a small BBQ joint that barely accepts cards anyway. Acceptance has vastly improved, but places don't always put the little sign on the door. Either way discover has treated me quite well over the years and its my default spending card.

Chase sapphire is also nice. Revolving categories for points every 3 months, some are more useful than others of course. Decent reward points on everything else and its visa so almost no chance of nonacceptance.

I feel like the discover rewards me better for everyday purchasing, but it all depends on which card you select for what categories. I love that both let me spend reward points at amazon, makes it great to buy little items like books every so often and not really pay out.

 

[Doppel]

After penfed's gas card became worthless this month I recently got the BOA 3,2,1 and it does have a $100 bonus to join.

All of this is an irritating game, though. I expect that card to eventually cut back its points and become trash as well, at which point I'll need to get another.

 

[ponyo]

Just get various cards for different needs. There's no rule saying you can only have 3 cards. I have Discover card that I basically only use at Sam's Club since that's the only credit card accepted there. Plus the rotating 5% categories. I use the Amazon card mainly at Amazon. The only time I use the Capital One card is when I travel outside the US. Capital One doesn't charge foreign transaction fee. Most cards like Amex and Chase charge 3%.

 

[esquared]

If you can qualify. Get a Chase Freedom Card. I think they still give a 100 bonus for signing up. I got 300 sign up a couple years back, but I think that's gone now

https://creditcards.chase.com/freedom/

Much like Discover but the perks are a little better. Freedom, for the last couple years has 2 quarters were they give you 5% back on gas. Discover gives you one quarter. That's like getting 3% back on your gas purchases ( 2 x 5% + 2 x 1%). This qrt there is 5% back on Amazon purchases and Dept stores.

https://creditcards.chase.com/freedom/activate?jp_ltg=5pctCashBackTopNav
Click on 2013 calendar link to see what's at 5% each quarter.

I've had a Discover since 96 and now they have you spend 3K at 0.25% cash back before they give you that 1% back on all purchases.

Freedom card gives 1% back from the first purchase. No minimums.

Also, if you want to pull out your rewards as cash? Discover does it in $50 increments, used to be $20 years back. Freedom has no minimum on pulling the cash back.

 

[makken]

I think I've decided on a card: the BoA Better Balance Card

Since I already have cash back bonuses on my current cards (5% rotating cats, 3% gas, 2% restaurants, 1% everything else), another cash back card didn't seem that appealing to me. Since I only intend on putting all my auto-pay monthly bills on this card (which total about $200/month), I would only be getting $2 back every month @ 1% cash back.

This card should give me $10/month back since I intend to just auto-pay the full balance every month, and I have a BoA checking account. Thus far, it is the best rewards program I've found for my purposes. Does anyone know of a better card?

You will earn a $25 cash reward for each calendar quarter in which all of your monthly payments are received on or before the due date and are more than the minimum payment due. Your account must remain open and you must have a payment due in each of the monthly cycles of the calendar quarter to be eligible for the quarterly cash reward; a zero balance or a credit balance does not qualify. If either the primary or joint applicant for this card has at least one checking, savings or retirement account with Bank of America N.A., a Cash Management Account®, Merrill Edge® or any other account with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated or U.S. Trust, the card account will receive a customer bonus of $5 for each quarter you qualify, for a total of $30 per quarter. If you qualify, the cash reward will be issued within 30 days following the end of each quarter. Your cash rewards will be automatically issued in the form of a statement credit to your card account, unless you indicate otherwise.

 

[GreenOrbs]

I don't know of a better card for your purposes but I just wanted to second the recommendation of the Chase Freedom. I like it quite a bit but I do think you should just go for that BOA one.

 

[stlc8tr]

The Chase Freedom and Discover rotating categories are good. You might also want to look into getting a Fidelity Visa & Amex. The Fidelity Visa is 1.5% back up to $15K on everything and 2% back afterwards. The Amex is 2% back on everything.

 

[edro]

I use:
Chase Freedom (1% everything, 5% rotating categories)
Costco Amex (3% gas, 2% restaurants, 1% everything)

 

[jaedaliu]

After penfed's gas card became worthless this month I recently got the BOA 3,2,1 and it does have a $100 bonus to join.

All of this is an irritating game, though. I expect that card to eventually cut back its points and become trash as well, at which point I'll need to get another.

BofA's 3,2,1 platinum privileges version has a 50% rewards bonus when deposited into a BofA or Merrill Lynch account. However, requires a significant balance in your BofA + Merrill Lynch accounts to avoid an annual fee.

Alternatives include a Capital One, Discover, or American Express Platinum(large annual fee on Amex Platinum) due to the lack of international transaction fees.

 

[xanis]

+1 for Chase Freedom.