New Fidelity Credit Card

[calmloki]

So Fidelity and US Bank have put out their official statements regarding the upcoming card changes:

https://www.fidelity.com/cash-manage...ardmember-faqs

Press Releases

Current earned rewards will transfer to the new program. Unclear to me if the current Fidelity Visa will be improved by the change to 2% cash back from the first dollar spent from it's current 2% after $15,000 spending, 1.5% up to $15k.

2% and no annual fee is pretty decent for a Visa card - now if Costco switches to Visa I'll be enthused.

[FIREd_2015]

Quote:

Originally Posted by calmloki ...now if Costco switches to Visa I'll be enthused.

Costco is switching to Visa on April 1, 2016. https://www.savingadvice.com/article...sa-switch.html

[Lsbcal]

It looks like one will need to have a Fidelity's brokerage account to get the 2% card.

[Senator]

I just applied. I am going to put one of my cards in the drawer after I receive it.

2% is not bad for everyday purchases, with a Visa card.

[calmloki]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lsbcal It looks like one will need to have a Fidelity's brokerage account to get the 2% card.

Back when we got the Fidelity Amex and Visa cards we opened a "Fidelity Cash Management Account". Which qualifies as a brokerage account for the new Visa card. Its sole use for us is to serve as a repository for the cash points to be deposited in. Opened it 4/16/2012 with $100 and all it has been doing is sitting there growing as the Visa and Amex points convert to cash and automatically transfer in.

When we get a wild desire for the money we can transfer it out of the Cash Management account. Right now it is just fun watching the free money grow.

[rayvt]

It says the threshold for automatic redemption is 5000 points -- $2500. Just like the other useless cards with their thresholds.
I don't think my Fid AMEX has a threshold, I get the 2% every month.

[Lsbcal]

Can't you just write a check to redeem the points?

[samclem]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayvt It says the threshold for automatic redemption is 5000 points -- $2500. Just like the other useless cards with their thresholds. I don't think my Fid AMEX has a threshold, I get the 2% every month.

It won't be hard for us to spend $2500, generating enough points for the automatic $50 payout, so the points won't be sitting there unconverted for very long. And at today's interest rates, it's not like we're losing out on much.

[mrfeh]

Too funny - I had a chat session w/ a Fidelity rep about a month ago complaining about FIA Card Services.

As a current Fidelity Amex holder, I applaud the change. FIA is horrible.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by calmloki So Fidelity and US Bank have put out their official statements regarding the upcoming card changes: https://www.fidelity.com/cash-manage...ardmember-faqs Press Releases Current earned rewards will transfer to the new program. Unclear to me if the current Fidelity Visa will be improved by the change to 2% cash back from the first dollar spent from it's current 2% after $15,000 spending, 1.5% up to $15k. 2% and no annual fee is pretty decent for a Visa card - now if Costco switches to Visa I'll be enthused.

I see that as a big improvement. That $15,000 hurdle is the reason I hadn't gotten a Fidelity VISA yet. Now they are fixing it for me!

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayvt It says the threshold for automatic redemption is 5000 points -- $2500. Just like the other useless cards with their thresholds. I don't think my Fid AMEX has a threshold, I get the 2% every month.

$50 - that has always been the min redemption for Fidelity AMEX. I have automatic redemptions, and some months skip because the threshold wasn't met.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrfeh Too funny - I had a chat session w/ a Fidelity rep about a month ago complaining about FIA Card Services. As a current Fidelity Amex holder, I applaud the change. FIA is horrible.

I'm hoping the website and fraud management are much better than FIA (I really don't know who handles what aspects of the card).

The web site is klutzy, I could not find any way to set up email alerts when anything is charged (I have that on my VISA and love it - charges show up near instantly in my email).

When I've had suspected fraud (suspected by them), they shut the card down, and don't let me know for a day or two. I got a generic call at that time, and was concerned it was a phishing attempt (they provide a number to call that is not on my card or statement!). So go on-line to verify, and I'm shut out of my account. So now, how can I verify the charges?

So I call, and I get the auto-announcement that there might be fraudulent charges, and I'm supposed to ack whether the charges the computer read to me are valid. Well, w/o looking at the entire list, it's a little hard to tell if they are duplicates or not, so I'm not going to verify them (and it turns out one did seem fishy, I thought it was a dup, but it was actually a delay before they posted it). So then I have to go the 'wait on hold' for a rep route. Really frustrating. Oh, and one of 'suspect' charges was a monthly bill I've been auto-paying for years!

So hopefully, whoever administers this for their VISA card has their act together - they couldn't be much worse!

-ERD50

[Lsbcal]

ERD50, I don't know if this addresses your concern but this is what Fidelity says about service:

Quote:

24/7 Cardmember support Rely on a U.S.-based customer service team to be available at any time, day or night.

link: https://www.fidelity.com/cash-manage...signature-card
It would be great if that US based service can speak good English and understand questions well. I've been really impressed with the Chase Sapphire card service but it doesn't have 2% on all categories and there is a service fee. It is NTF (No Foreign Transaction Fee) and the Fidelity Visa card may not be.

[RetireAge50]

Might have to consider the Fidelity card. I'll see what Costco comes up with and then decide.

We also use PenFed for 4.25% gas 2.55% groceries and no foreign transaction fees.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lsbcal ERD50, I don't know if this addresses your concern but this is what Fidelity says about service: link: https://www.fidelity.com/cash-manage...signature-card It would be great if that US based service can speak good English and understand questions well. I've been really impressed with the Chase Sapphire card service but it doesn't have 2% on all categories and there is a service fee. It is NTF (No Foreign Transaction Fee) and the Fidelity Visa card may not be.

There was no language barrier, just a 'common sense' barrier!

-ERD50

[Chuckanut]

2% every month. Free money. What is there to complain about?

[bingybear]

Just another fun thing. Presently I have a Fido MC. This looks like it will be vanishing somewhere mid year. But since I have my credit frozen, it should be fun to see what gyrations are required.

[athena53]

That will work well for us. We've been using our Fidelity Amex at Costco so this is a good outcome, especially since not all businesses take Amex. My main complaint would be that this is going to show up in our credit reports as a new card. We got the Amex 2.5 years ago, the Chase Sapphire after that and moved 6 months ago. I'd been planning to drop our Marriott Visa, which we'd had for years. We have no plans to take out loans but I like to keep our credit scores high just in case.

[foxfirev5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bingybear Just another fun thing. Presently I have a Fido MC. This looks like it will be vanishing somewhere mid year. But since I have my credit frozen, it should be fun to see what gyrations are required.

Likewise I have my credit frozen. I am debating over applying for the new card or just letting it run its course in July. The FAQ sections says you do not need to apply for the card and that it will switch over. New Year, new HSA bank, new health plan, new credit cards - an annual event.

[Chuckanut]

If they automatically switch over cards for everybody, I would think that would not generate a 'hard' hit on the credit report. Right?