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Old 01-05-2016, 06:13 AM   #41
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I'm thinking of changing things up a bit, adding this new Fidelity VISA (2% back on everything?) and an Amazon.com Store Card (5% back at Amazon.com), and effectively replacing (or closing?) the Amazon.com VISA account. I'd still use the AMEX at supermarkets (it is actually convenient for budgeting to have all the transactions for our most common purchase stacked up in one account with no other purchases), and take advantage of whatever the Discover Card 5% cashback category is and to address my spouse's drugstore.com addiction, but use the new card for everything else.

I don't see a downside. Am I missing something?
Keep the Amazon.com store card set up on-line, then put it away in a drawer. Do not close the Amazon Visa card, as it could impact your credit by closing it. just put it in a drawer.

I am also going to consolidate my cards. After I charge my rental car (5%) this month, I am leaving my USB Cash Plus card at home. I have it set up for auto-pay for Cell Phone purchases (5%). Other than that, the categories are ones I seldom use.

Then, gas is all at 5% discount with my Sam's club card. I carry the Sam's card anyway. It also has 3% discount at Restaurants. I always also use gas coupons (on Tuesday for double cents off) and restaurants and

The Fidelity card will be used for everything else. I have a Chase card that is good for 3% off at Home Improvement stores, but it has limits, etc. I hate to get big charges and them be denied rebates due to some arbitrary quarterly limit. I also do not want to carry too many cards. Two is enough in my wallet.
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Old 01-05-2016, 08:10 AM   #42
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...
I'm thinking of changing things up a bit, adding this new Fidelity VISA (2% back on everything?) and an Amazon.com Store Card (5% back at Amazon.com), and effectively replacing (or closing?) the Amazon.com VISA account....
Drat, now you've gone and tempted me. I have the Amazon.com VISA and it's autopayed through our Chase account. But that 5% card is hard to ignore.
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Old 01-05-2016, 08:17 AM   #43
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If a Chase customer is tempted, a Fidelity customer would be crazy not to consider the switch.
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Old 01-05-2016, 10:21 AM   #44
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For our protection we have security freezes in place with the credit agencies. I'm finding that applying for this card with a security freeze in place (with the 3 rating agencies) is not so easy. Apparently Elan Financial is the Fidelity source for the cards. When you apply, they could use any one of the 3 agencies.

An Elan rep (at 1.800.523.5354) suggested this:
1) lift the freeze on one service (TransUnion, or Experian, or Equifax)
2) fill out the application and submit. 33% chance of success.
3) if your credit check does not go through then maybe call Elan Underwriting at 1.800.364.9648
4) Hope that you do not have to lift with the other 2 credit agencies

Then to get the 2% money back you need a Fidelity account like the Cash Management account.

Seems like a hassle.

Has anyone successfully navigated this yet with security freezes on their accounts?
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Old 01-05-2016, 11:11 AM   #45
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For our protection we have security freezes in place with the credit agencies. I'm finding that applying for this card with a security freeze in place (with the 3 rating agencies) is not so easy. Apparently Elan Financial is the Fidelity source for the cards. When you apply, they could use any one of the 3 agencies.

An Elan rep (at 1.800.523.5354) suggested this:
1) lift the freeze on one service (TransUnion, or Experian, or Equifax)
2) fill out the application and submit. 33% chance of success.
3) if your credit check does not go through then maybe call Elan Underwriting at 1.800.364.9648
4) Hope that you do not have to lift with the other 2 credit agencies

Then to get the 2% money back you need a Fidelity account like the Cash Management account.

Seems like a hassle.

Has anyone successfully navigated this yet with security freezes on their accounts?
I haven't tried it, but I'm rapidly losing interest in the credit card. I just spent the last 6 months getting a cash flow plan in place using Fidelity cash management and their cc. Now I think I'll simplify and just w/d a lump sum and deposit it in an online bank transferring monthly to my local bank, just like my paycheck today. Besides that I really don't want the hassle of charging everything on a card to get a rebate. I really believe that most people will spend considerably less when they have to shell out actual dollars for each purchase. So maybe Fido is doing me a favor.
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Old 01-05-2016, 11:44 AM   #46
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I think the my fido card (and other major cards) show up on all 3 credit bureaus, so my guess is all would need unfrozen. Technically you should not need a complete unfreeze. I believe you can temporarily unfreeze for a specified company and a specific time frame.

I would expect that they will need to add a new account which would need the unfreeze unless fidelity is the one actually doing the credit reporting. I think they will have to close the old account an open up a new one, not just change the card numbers.
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Old 01-05-2016, 04:46 PM   #47
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I think the my fido card (and other major cards) show up on all 3 credit bureaus, so my guess is all would need unfrozen. Technically you should not need a complete unfreeze. I believe you can temporarily unfreeze for a specified company and a specific time frame.

I would expect that they will need to add a new account which would need the unfreeze unless fidelity is the one actually doing the credit reporting. I think they will have to close the old account an open up a new one, not just change the card numbers.
It's up to Fido to determine if they want my business or not. Simple
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Old 01-06-2016, 03:15 AM   #48
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Expecting applicants to unfreeze their credit when applying for a credit card seems very reasonable, given that freezing of credit is, among other things, intended to block unauthorized folks from obtaining credit in someone else's name.
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Old 01-06-2016, 03:49 AM   #49
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To avoid playing "Credit Bureau Roulette" and trying to guess which bureaus(s) a card issuer uses, I just applied without thawing and was subsequently rejected.

After receiving the rejection, I called the number on the rejection notice and inquired about the problem. They told me the bureau that they use. I then thawed and then called them back. They were then able to approve me on the spot during the phone call.

My example was using the Barclays Arrivial+ card. YMMV.

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Old 01-07-2016, 12:57 PM   #50
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I talked with fidelity and the new card administrator. They say they should be able to do the change using the old card info and the history will remain. So it doesn't look like new credit, but existing credit.
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Old 01-07-2016, 03:17 PM   #51
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Can you have two accounts (one account with two cards, one card for me, one card for DW), and then a separate account (with just one card) in the same household?

This would allow us to continue to get 2% rewards on everything (including the places that don't accept AMEX), and would allow us to put all our recurring auto-charges on a 2% card (they are now split between this AMEX and a 1% Amazon Visa card now, for those places that don't accept AMEX).

But it would be nice to keep all the auto-recurring on their own card that we don't use anywhere else. That should cut down on the minor hassle of updating those if the main card gets a fraud alert. And we'd still have our 1% Amazon (3% for Amazon purchases) as a back up if the new Fidelity Visa got denied.

Sound like a good plan? Can they do that?

-ERD50
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Old 01-07-2016, 03:48 PM   #52
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Can you have two accounts (one account with two cards, one card for me, one card for DW), and then a separate account (with just one card) in the same household?

This would allow us to continue to get 2% rewards on everything (including the places that don't accept AMEX), and would allow us to put all our recurring auto-charges on a 2% card (they are now split between this AMEX and a 1% Amazon Visa card now, for those places that don't accept AMEX).

But it would be nice to keep all the auto-recurring on their own card that we don't use anywhere else. That should cut down on the minor hassle of updating those if the main card gets a fraud alert. And we'd still have our 1% Amazon (3% for Amazon purchases) as a back up if the new Fidelity Visa got denied.

Sound like a good plan? Can they do that?

-ERD50
In the past I've had multiple cards from the same provider, so I think they can issue two cards. The question is what is their policy. I would call and ask.
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Old 01-07-2016, 09:39 PM   #53
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American Express will issue different card numbers for each card holder - that's standard. But none of the other cards I've had have worked that way, including the FIA services card. With those all card holders have the same number.
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