Which rewards credit card is better, Chase Freedom or Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards?
February 5th, 2008
I’m looking into getting a rewards credit card and have narrowed it down to Chase and Citi. I already have a Citi Platinum card, but I’m interested in redeeming points. I do carry a balance, but I pay down the debt timely. Which card is easier/better?
I’d say neither, and get the one offered by leading Financial education website THE MOTLEY FOOL
I would definitely NOT get the Chase card. Chase can raise your APR without your knowledge for any reason they so chose. I had one of their cards and they raised my APR to 30% because I had been late on a different credit card (and that card didn’t even raise their apr on me but Chase did). I transferred my balance and got rid of that card as fast as I could. My sister is now going through the same thing. They raised her APR to like 25% because they said she had too much debt. How they can legally do this is beyond me. I will NEVER use them again.
I like the Chase Freedom Card. Any credit card company can raise the apr based on credit information gained from the credit bureau’s including your history on other accounts; it has to do with risk and that is why your apr can be affected. The chase freedom card gives you 3% cash back for grocery stores, gas stations and fast food, 1% on everything else. Its a good rewards program.
Definitely Citibank (Citi). Chase is NOT always forgiving if you miss a payment. Citibank usually work w/ their customers even if you carried a balance, and they negogiate with lower interest rates if you ask for 18 months with them. Chase is notorious about late fees and customer service *****.
The Chase Freedom(SM) Cash Visa(R) Card offer terms mention the APR as 14.24 variable. However a look at the terms and condition of this card and you find that there is a lot more to the APR’s than this figure. Let us analyze it a bit more.
APR stands for Annual percentage rate. It is the interest rate that credit card companies charge on the outstanding balances. The first thing to note is that the APR is available for three different pricings. The Elite, the Premium and the Standard. The APR varies for these three pricing range. The Chase Freedom(SM) Cash Visa(R) Card has a 0% fixed APR for the first 6 billing cycles for the Elite and Premium pricing. After this 0% intro APR period is over the APR will change to 14.24% variable for Elite pricing and 18.24% variable for Premium pricing. The main point to note here is the APR’s for Standard pricing. For this category there is no 0% intro APR period and the APR rate is 23.24% variable from the day of account opening.
The credit card issuing company first considers for the pricing with the lowest rates. Depending on a review of your credit history and other information a person can get the Chase Freedom(SM) Cash Visa(R) Card at the lowest rates or alternative rates. The credit card company if finds that a particular applicant is not suitable he or she might not be allowed to open an account.
The second thing to note is that all these APR’s except the 0% Intro APR are variable. A variable APR means that it can vary over a period of time. The variable APR is tied to the prime rate. The “Prime Rate” is the highest prime rate published in the Money Rates column of The Wall Street Journal two business days before the Closing Date on the statement for each billing period. Variable APR’s are based on the 8.25% prime rate on 07/05/2006. The variable APR is an APR rate added to this prime rate subjected to certain minimum. Apply onlie for chase freedom visa card at: