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My card rate is -2% since I got 2% rebate on every purchase, 3%-5% for certain things like gas.
by ww520 16y ago
My card rate is -2% since I got 2% rebate on every purchase, 3%-5% for certain things like gas.
- jrmurad 16y agoWhich card is that? The best "cash-back" programs I could find only offer 1% on "every purchase".
- anamax 16y agoSchwab is/was 2% on every purchase, deposited into a schwab account. Costco Amex is 3% for gas and restaurants, 2% for "travel" (hotels, travel fare), and 1% everywhere else. (Anomaly - It's 1% inside theme parks, even for food, but 2% if you pay for things in advance.) Discover runs 5% promotions on various things that last a month or two. These things include gas, grocery, drug store purchases. However, make sure that you understand the terms. (Some of the travel promotions weren't much good because 5% only applied to the first $500.)
- tocomment 16y agoWhich card? I get nothing on mine :-(
- dminor 16y agoThis is pretty important - if you're not paying for everything with a rewards card, you're subsidizing those of us who do.
- oasisbob 16y agoYes, exactly. This is why rewards cards are ultimately so evil: they're based on a bastardization of an incentive structure that needs to die. Rewards payouts are funded by interchange fees which are paid by the retailer... aka the consumer. If you use rewards cards, your rewards payment is subsidized by populations whom don't use rewards cards. The whole reason interchange fees existed in the first place was to move some of the costs of operating the networks away from banks to merchants. Merchants have a natural incentive to accept cards (sales!), while banks originally didn't have the same incentive to offer them. Interchange fees were meant to level the field. In a competitive environment, interchange fees should go down and reach an socially efficient level. Instead, the US has the highest interchange fees in the world due to network consolidation and the four-party system catering to banks, not to merchants. IIRC, the average US household pays ~$400/yr in interchange fees. Rewards cards are silly and I'm glad they'll be dying a slow death soon.
- lrm242 16y agoAmerican Express Blue Cash card is the best deal around IMO. No fees, and cash back for purchases. Each year I get a check from American Express for about $1 - 2k which is our cash rebate.
- btilly 16y agoAmerican Express can afford to give the best deal to consumers because they give merchants the worst deal. That is why so many merchants don't accept American Express.
- lrm242 16y agoThe only time I have a hard time using it is in mom & pop shops. This isn't really an inconvenience to me.
- redrobot5050 16y agoAmazon.com accepts Amex. I practically buy everything there: Shoes, Aftershave, Books, etc.
- ww520 16y agoI have the Schwab FIA card and the HSBC Orchard card which are 2% on every purchase. Amex is 3% on gas/travel/restaurant. Discover is 5% on gas/other-stuffs sometime. Sometime there are promotion on Amex gift cards with 2% to 4% rebates. I would buy those with my Schwab card, getting effective 4% to 6% rebates. Edit: Funny story, I used this $3000 Amex gift card in Starbucks and the cashier said someone was really nice to you to give you that. I smiled. Yeah, I'm nice to myself.