FIDO credit card - recent experience?

[pb4uski]

... I've read that some people open a CMA or brokerage account solely to get the 2% rewards, but that's a matter of preference, of course.

I can see that for some people that might make sense, but I'm already getting 2% rewards in cash wih my Citi DoubleCash card.

 

[jazz4cash]

On the general subject of 2% cards, PayPal has been soliciting me once a week to apply for their 2% MC. You have to manually redeem to a PayPal account, then transfer it to where you'd really want to keep it. I'm passing on it because it doesn't give me any advantages over what I already have.

I got those solicitations also and was planning to apply eventually... then I received an offer for a 2% sign up bonus. That’s 2% +2% bonus on a maximum of $5k=$200 for charges in the first ~60 days. The email included a link to apply so I did and got approved in 15 seconds. I used it immediately for an online purchase but I could not find any reference to the bonus anywhere and the email vanished from my account. I called customer service and they didn’t seem to know anything about the bonus either. I did get the 4% Cashback credit on the first billing statement (no explanation) so I went ahead and charged enough to get the full bonus. Now I’ve received another bonus offer and new deadline but I can’t tell if it is in addition to the 1st offer but I assume it’s just one bonus per account.

 

[MRG]

Use it daily for everything. Heck last week I charged some Cannibas on it.

 

[COcheesehead]

No problems. Love the 2% cash back.

 

[swakyaby]

It is my most heavily used credit card. It’s true that I already had a taxable brokerage account at Fidelity, so it was a small thing to have a Fidelity money market account opened to transfer the 2% cash back awards into. No issues with the card. I have the full balance on auto-pay each month from my bank account.

 

[mrfeh]

Sometime in the last 5 (?) years the company that actually services the card changed. It is currently Elan; I can't remember who it was before.

The previous company did not make a good impression; lousy web site, poor service. Elan, however, is quite good.

Perhaps you saw reviews related to the previous incarnation of the Fido card.

 

[Dawg52]

Never had a problem.

 

[PatrickA5]

Once I'm done playing the miles/points game in a few years, I can see this being my only credit card - since all of our finances are at FIDO now.

 

[audreyh1]

Sometime in the last 5 (?) years the company that actually services the card changed. It is currently Elan; I can't remember who it was before.

The previous company did not make a good impression; lousy web site, poor service. Elan, however, is quite good.

Perhaps you saw reviews related to the previous incarnation of the Fido card.

Agreed, it was a Bank of America arm handling the Fidelity Amex Carr. Elan is wasaaay better.

 

[Happyras]

The card, so far for us, is great. They overnight new cards when we get a fraud charge, nice $200+/mo cash back to our Cash Management Account. FZDXX MM account 7 day yeild 1.83%. I set it up initially to keep my wife's horse showing and training costs in one place, but I am moving most of our cash flow through this account and using the Fido card fairly exclusively, except for the Costco Visa which gets 4% on fuel, 3% on travel and dining. As for denied charges, we have not had any problems.
The 1% foreign fee is a bummer, but we just use the Costco card for foreign with a back up with the Alaska visa, both have no foreign fees. Also, nice to know, the Fido Debit card works really well for foreign ATM's, they not only have no fee, they rebate the ATM fee charged by the other bank! Why would you not have a Fido cash account? We still have 3 other banks for back up debit, since we are always traveling.

 

[troutnut1]

First couple of years I had no problem. Last year they allowed a $600 fraudulent charge which I caught immediately on an email alert. Then their phone tree didn’t like my zip code. I was angry because I have had my zip for thirty years and I know very well what it is. Turns our the fraudster had also changed my address to his/her address with no objections from the Elan staff. Then they sent the crook new cards! It was quit and adventure but after three or four months they finally ruled in my favor (duh?). I put them on probation because I have other 2% cards like Citi Double and USAA. Currently I only use them for some small recurring charges until I decide whether I can trust them or not.

 

[PoorOldCountryBoy]

We looked at getting a Fido credit card a couple of years ago, but the reviews on the bank that managed the card were terrible, with lots of declines for legitimate purchases.

Has the situation improved? We'd love to get the flat 2% cash back, but not if it comes with a lot of hassle.

Not quite your question but did have a misleading experience with them. I used their convenience checks to take out 0% cash (OK there is a fee) for over a year and that was working well but if you charge anything else on the card they try to charge you interest on the loan. A phone call straightened things out but now the card is parked until mid 2020.

This "feature" is in the fine print, but the thing that saved me was that I had called to *verify* everything before taking the money out, so their operators had misrepresented things to me.

FWIW, Chase cards have been by far the best for us service wise, pick your favorites.

 

[COcheesehead]

There’s no free lunch.

 

[jazz4cash]

Not quite your question but did have a misleading experience with them. I used their convenience checks to take out 0% cash (OK there is a fee) for over a year and that was working well but if you charge anything else on the card they try to charge you interest on the loan. A phone call straightened things out but now the card is parked until mid 2020.

This "feature" is in the fine print, but the thing that saved me was that I had called to *verify* everything before taking the money out, so their operators had misrepresented things to me.

FWIW, Chase cards have been by far the best for us service wise, pick your favorites.

In my experience, that is standard practice among several credit card offers, but I've never seen any "convenience check" offers for my Fido Visa. BofA sends them EVERY month. They have nonsensical punitive rates/fees for the "convenience" of writing yourself a check. Often you can get much better terms by calling customer service or submitting a request online

 

[COcheesehead]

In my experience, that is standard practice among several credit card offers, but I've never seen any "convenience check" offers for my Fido Visa. BofA sends them EVERY month. They have nonsensical punitive rates/fees for the "convenience" of writing yourself a check. Often you can get much better terms by calling customer service or submitting a request online

I have never got “convenience” checks from Fido either.

 

[PoorOldCountryBoy]

I have never got “convenience” checks from Fido either.

Well, they did turn out to be INconvenience checks

 

[wrigley]

I have been banking with NFCU for 30 years now. I have an NFCU Platinum Visa that I use for emergencies. I have a Pen Fed Visa that gets me 5% cash back on all gasolines purchases and that is all it is used for. I pay that off monthly and the 5% is automatically taken off the top of my monthly bill.

I use my NFCU debit card which is linked to my checking account for all other purchases. I use NFCU bill pay (which is also linked to my checking account) to pay my monthly bills.

So call me naïve...…….do these cash back cards actually give you cash back for paying your mortgage, utility bill, car payment, loan installment payment, etc.....or do they give you cash back for just purchases ie…….groceries, restaurants, clothing stores, etc?

Thanks
Mike

 

[athena53]

So call me naïve...…….do these cash back cards actually give you cash back for paying your mortgage, utility bill, car payment, loan installment payment, etc.....or do they give you cash back for just purchases ie…….groceries, restaurants, clothing stores, etc.?

If the entity accepts payment by credit cards- yes. You have to be careful because some places that let you pay by cc tack on a charge that makes it not worth it. I think my county will let me pay my property taxes by credit card but the fee is 3%. My electric company does accept credit card payments with no surcharge.

Another happy Fidelity customer here. I did get a Costco Visa but don't like the fact that the rebate is annual. I can redeem Fidelity any time I've got $50 or more accumulated. I keep the Costco Visa because I like to have 2 cards, but the extra 1% on travel is barely worth it when my Fidelity credit card is paying close to 1% annual interest. The extra 2% on gas and restaurants doesn't come into play that much- my restaurant spending is modest and my car is a gas-sipping compact.

 

[greydog17]

I have been banking with NFCU for 30 years now. I have an NFCU Platinum Visa that I use for emergencies. I have a Pen Fed Visa that gets me 5% cash back on all gasolines purchases and that is all it is used for. I pay that off monthly and the 5% is automatically taken off the top of my monthly bill.

I use my NFCU debit card which is linked to my checking account for all other purchases. I use NFCU bill pay (which is also linked to my checking account) to pay my monthly bills.

So call me naïve...…….do these cash back cards actually give you cash back for paying your mortgage, utility bill, car payment, loan installment payment, etc.....or do they give you cash back for just purchases ie…….groceries, restaurants, clothing stores, etc?

Thanks
Mike

Yes, Fido card pays 2% on any charge made to the card including monthly installment payments. (My mtg co doesn't allow cc auto-pay so card isn't used there.)

 

[jazz4cash]

I use Fido Cashback Visa as much as possible. It is cashback automatically credited to my Fido MM Account every time I accumulate $50. I need to look into using it for mortgage payments. The fee on property taxes is more than the reward. The flat fee for Utility payments is a bit less than 2% but I can pay 2 months at once to cut the fee by half. My phone/cable bills on autopay earn 2%. My auto and home insurance premiums are payable by credit card with no fee. My life insurance company only accepts checks. I also have PenFed card for gas, Target, Amazon, and Lowe’s for 5% statement credits. Using these cards is cheaper than cash and no hoops to jump through.

 

[Helen]

I use the Fido card for monthly bill paying and the Costco card for everything else. The Costco card has no international transaction fee and we have been doing a lot of international traveling.

 

[audreyh1]

We don’t use the Fidelity credit card internationally even though it reverts to a 1% rewards card after the 1% foreign transaction fee. We have other cards that pay a bit more overseas.

 

[travelover]

My Fido card got hacked the day I left for vacation. Fido caught it, but not before someone charged $2500 to a money wiring service. Fido said it might take a while to have the charge removed, which means I may have to pay the charge, then get refunded. It is a pain because all my utilities are on auto pay to get the 2%.

 

[Taxman59]

2 years, and no problems. All of the $$ are added to the small account I started. When it grows another year, I will use it to pay off the card balance one month, then accumulate for another year or two and do it again. It isn't make or brake $$, but it is nice to see it grow!

 

[wrigley]

I reached out to most of my creditors asking about paying my bill with a credit card. So far, my utility company (water and electric), has a $2.20 non-refundable convenience fee for payments up to $500.

Mike