Since there will be job losses (I'm assuming for MBNA), perhaps it's a good time to call in to get good BT offers - e.g. the 1.9 for life w/o BT fee. Some departing employees may want to exact revenge, and we could be the beneficiaries of that.

I don't think CSRs have to fear for their jobs. It's not like a BOA CSR can talk to two customers at the same time. More like management, sales, HR, accounting, & legal people will be let go.

There is currently not a single BOA credit card worth applying. Such crappy rewards compared with what MBNA offers.

The Fleet cards lost all their advantages after they become BofA cards (still sitting in my drawer). Now more useless cards: HGW1/HGW4, CGE4/CGFX, ...I certainly hope that the Fido card would stick with the flat 1.5% rate...

Big four "cc" companies: Citi, Chase, AMEX, BofA?

I am now BofAkid instead of MBNAkid??

They probably would. MBNA was a "monobank", i.e. offering mostly CC, and the billpay they offered was a tribute to that. Now BofA will be requiring you pay your bills out of your checking account, like "normal people" do.

CornHusker said:I just wondering if they will stop the excellent BillPay using CC.

whodini said:Yeah, I could have used an insider's tip, too. My plan would have been to use CC money to load up on MBNA call options. Alas, opportunity missed again.

BOA is on a rampage. They won't slow down until they pass Citicorp as biggest bank in America. Anyone know who their next target is? Suntrust? WAMU? Wachovia?

Well, I assume you mean biggest American bank ... Bank of America is probably already the biggest bank in America, but Citigroup has a much larger presence in other countries.

I have relationships with both companies, I love BofA and hate MBNA, so hopefully this will be good ...

As a bofa shareholder I'm disappointed that they've already said they'll be rebranding all their cards. Saw the same cycle with the broker elements of Fleet - throwing away valuable brands. At some point I hope bofa realizes they have the scale to maintain a brand like mbna.

As a mbna cardholder it's a shame, bofa's has been a very timid card issuer - hard to believe mbna will be nearly as aggressive. Also interesting that bofa said no decision had been made on the AMEX/mbna cards.

niktobos said:NEW YORK - Bank of America Corp.'s purchase of MBNA Corp. marks the latest consolidation in the credit card industry, which may translate to higher costs, fewer choices and poorer service for consumers.

Definately. You better believe that once this deal closes, there will be alot of "Change in terms" letters going out to MBNA customers. BofA will use this opportunity to close inactive/dormant accounts and to raise prices on accounts it (not MBNA) see's as underpriced (i.e. not priced correctly for risk).

In every merger, there has been a history of the acquired banks customers (not all, but a quite a few) getting rate jacked

MBNA is not perfect but they are way way better than BoA in term of value and customer service. Sad...

I do not have a credit card with either of these banks. Can I apply today for a card at each, and hopefully consolidate them after the merger? Would an MBNA card's terms and offers likely be grandfathered, and could I potentially choose which card I keep after consolidating?

Thanks.