g10ny said:(Pen)Ultimately, this thread can lead to something interesting (like the 7.5% savings accounts at BECU, for instance).
But it's so much to research and, frankly, the odds of getting cards up to par with the current FW deals are slim.

What am I really concerned with is: WTH is with this race of getting as many credit accounts as you can? I don't understand SuperCreditMan either (Initially it's acceptable, but after a certain point you'd better get into private banking or something; as scott says, better have fewer but higher credit lines.)

My buddy wants to get 1mil in 0%, and live off the interest
Even if we get a bunch of cards w/ no promos, as they age, the utilization should help the scores, so if I have a ton of 0% deals going on, they won't need to be paid down as much, or at all in future AORs. Some guys here have over 600k in personal credit.. if you have 250k in 0% you can make an easy 12k if you keep the fees down. Double that, and you can make a good living doing just that if you can reallocate correctly, and have a good reputation with the banks. Also all this cash to move around can open all kinds of doors to you. (like getting a Citigold acct)

g10ny said:Citi, MBNA and Cap1 (plus a few other individual cards) make a nice combo that don't even need 0% offers to "live off it" (of course, you won't get $1MM CL). Way better than CUs in question. Wait, there's also PenFed and the likes.

Which takes me back to my main critique: not focused enough on what it's really worth getting.

In my personal portfolio of cards, I have most of the majors banks, but for some, just 1 card. It's good to have backups too.
I don't have ANY CUs yet, the main advantage is alot have no fee BTs, and lower fixed APR, and sometimes generous CLs. (Cap1. and AMEX have that too, but I only have about 6k across 3cards) Some nice CashBack cards, one for each little thing (dining, gas, utilities, purchases, etc) and the rest to sit, and wait for offers to come in. Paid off, idle cards sometimes get unsolicited offers. I got a 0% for 5mos from BofA recently, with NO fee! I bet supercreditman gets alot of offers too, and he even told us of one. I heard Wells is good with giving offers. The more cards you have, the better the chance of getting an offer. I just paid off Barclays, and transfered back to it with an OK offer they gave. It might not always be 0% but cheap money anyways.
You can even call banks and ask for BT offers on your idle cards. I try to call them once a year at least to let them know I'm alive. One of my HSBC cards had this cool Direct Bill Pay feature for a few months. It was like the MBNA bill pay, except they gave you 90 days of 0% (And then 29.99..) I used that for about 9 months, and noticed I don't have it anymore (from abuse maybe?) I get alot of calls from banks trying to sell me insurance, which is a side affect. I am waiting for a dollar for dollar BT offer, which seem more rare presently.

g10ny said:I think it's the first time I ever heard of the Direct Bill Pay thingy.
Care to give more details?

Here's what I got off the HSBC site. This card was issued from Direct Merchants bank, and HSBC acquired them not too long ago.
It is an Ameriquest credit card (got converted from something I can't remember what without my asking)

What is Direct Bill Pay/How does it work?
Direct Bill Pay is a great new online service that lets you pay virtually any bill with your HSBC issued credit card. You can easily pay your bills by entering your payee information and the amount you wish to pay. The Direct Bill Pay service will even store an unlimited number of your designated payees, addresses and account numbers so you can make additional payments quickly whenever you need to. (Also see Who can I pay with this service?). You can make as many bill payments as you need as often as you like up to your available credit amount. (Please note that Direct Bill Pay requests will not be reflected in your available credit amount until after they post to your credit card account.) We process your requests by mailing checks to your payees for the amounts you indicate. All checks are sent via first-class mail. Once your payee receives and processes your payment, we will post the transaction to your credit card account as a promotional cash advance. Plus, you'll get a great promotional APR of 0% for a full 90 days on all your Direct Bill Pay requests (see Terms of Offer for details). There is no fee for the Direct Bill Pay service and it is available online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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Who can I pay with this service?
With the Direct Bill Pay service, you can pay virtually all your bills with just a few clicks of your mouse, including: everyday bills such as your electric, telephone and cable TV one-time bills such as a car repair, plumbing work or medical expenses ongoing bills like rent, car payments and even other credit cards Any bill you normally pay now by check can be paid using this service. Note that the Direct Bill Pay service cannot be used to make payments to yourself, to any HSBC issued credit card account or to payees with addresses outside the United States.

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How many bills can I pay - is there a limit?
You can pay as many bills as you wish as long as you don't exceed your account's available credit (Also see How is my current available credit calculated? ).The Make a Payment screen will let you request up to four payments at one time. To make additional payments, you can return to that screen after your first four payments have been submitted.

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How is my current available credit calculated?
Your Current Available Credit amount shown is based on your account credit line less any purchases, authorizations or transactions currently posted to your account. Any outstanding credit card transactions - including recent convenience checks and other Direct Bill Pay requests that have not yet posted to your account - would not be reflected in that amount. Direct Bill Pay requests can take up to 14 business days to post to your credit card account, so please keep this in mind when making your request.

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Is there a maximum or minimum payment amount?
The maximum payment amount for a single payee is $4,000 per request (subject to your available credit). The minimum payment amount is $5.

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How quickly will my payment request be made?
Once your payment request has been submitted, we will send payment to your payees within 2 business days. Payment is currently made via a check sent by first-class mail, so you should allow a total of 7-10 business days for the payment to be received and processed by your payees. Once a payment is processed by your payee, we will post the transaction to your credit card account. It may take up to 14 business days before you see the transaction posted to your credit card account. HSBC is not responsible for any late payment fees or other related charges assessed by your payees - so be sure to allow enough time for your payments to be received by the payee's due date.

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What is the APR for Direct Bill Pay transactions?
Direct Bill Pay transactions receive 0% APR for a full 90 days from the transaction posting date and are considered promotional cash advances. Plus, they are free of any transaction fees. Detailed information regarding the applicable annual percentage rate and Terms of Offer for your account are provided on the Make a Payment page. You will be asked to agree to those Terms before your payment requests can be accepted.

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When/How will my payment requests show up on my credit card statement?
Once a payment is processed by your payee, we will post the transaction to your credit card account. It may take 14 business days or more before you see the transaction posted to your credit card account. Payments will appear individually on your statement as "DIRECT BILL PAY REQUEST" and the amount of that request.

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How many payees can I have?/How often can I change my payee information?
You can enter and store as many payees as you wish for your convenience. You may add, edit and delete payees as often as you like. Payee changes you make will be available immediately from that point forward. However, edits to a payee (such as an account number or address change) will NOT change that information for any payments you have already requested and submitted for that payee.

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How can I be sure my payment was sent?
We know how important it is that you receive verification that your requested bill payments have been made. So there are three ways that we provide you confirmation of your payment when you make a payment online:

1. At the end of each successful bill pay request, you will see a Payment Confirmation page listing your request and stating that it was processed.
2. Additionally, you will receive an immediate confirmation message in your Account Central Email History listing the payment request information, including payee, date requested and payment amount.
3. Finally, when the physical checks are sent to your payees, another confirmation notice is sent to you via first class mail listing that same information and the date the payments were actually sent. If you ever have any questions or concerns about your payments, you can always call Cardmember Services at 877-288-2516 for assistance.

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What if my payee says my payment was never received?
If you ever have any questions or concerns about your payments, you can always call Cardmember Services for assistance. They can determine if the payment in question posted to your credit card account and, upon request, send you a copy of the check (there may be a fee for this service). And in the unlikely case the payment was never received by your payee or posted to your credit card account, Cardmember Services can put a stop payment on the check and assist in reissuing another payment. Our goal is to make Direct Bill Pay a truly convenient and beneficial service for our Cardmembers.

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It was accessed under "payment center" and then there was something called "pay other bills" which is gone from me now. I haven't called them yet about it, but I just paid it off hoping to max it. It is a measly 4000 CL though.

Is this DirectBill like MBBA.FIA/BofA Billpay. I can't believe my eyes. Does it say 90 days of float on every payment?? Is this for real? This deserves a separate thread I think.

Good question a couple of posts back. Who does TJX pull, being that it's serviced by Cap1?
Also, does anybody have a Certegy serviced card like the Bank of KY personal card? What bureau do they pull?

MC&HNY

SCM

Anyone having luck using the "I worship in xxx" to get into an out of state CU ?

PolarDude said:Anyone having luck using the "I worship in xxx" to get into an out of state CU ?
It worked, but the eligible city is only 60 miles in the other state.

062703 said:PolarDude said:Anyone having luck using the "I worship in xxx" to get into an out of state CU ?

If you're not eligible, then don't say you are.

Some CUs are more motivated than others in letting new members in, even if they don't fit the advertised profile. Based on the research I've done, it seems as if virtually anyone with a Business can become a selected organization, and as an employee of the business you can get your foot in the door. Some CSRs even suggest things to people who aren't elgible, but want to join. This is likely a YMMV situation.

PolarDude said:

Some CUs are more motivated than others in letting new members in, even if they don't fit the advertised profile. Based on the research I've done, it seems as if virtually anyone with a Business can become a selected organization, and as an employee of the business you can get your foot in the door. Some CSRs even suggest things to people who aren't elgible, but want to join. This is likely a YMMV situation.
Remember for the most part it's not that the CU's don't want more members but to be a tax free CU they are suppose to be local or for a specific group. Seems they are pushing the limits with some of the ways they allow anyone to join. Banking lobbies right now are putting on a big push that CU's should lose the tax free status because many do not follow the rules that were set up for CU's

cameron2003 said:Is this DirectBill like MBBA.FIA/BofA Billpay. I can't believe my eyes. Does it say 90 days of float on every payment?? Is this for real? This deserves a separate thread I think.

I just called HSBC, and they said it has been discontinued as of the 1st of this month
It was across the board, so it wasn't my abuse of the promo
The guy said I would be notified if it is reinstated. The way it was set up, I got a direct mail confirmation every bill pay I did. I just setup about 10 payees before it was cut off, so I am disappointed now. I never get any BT offers on this acct. One time I called, and got $20 just to keep my acct because I was complaining it sucked.