Countrywide Rewards Visa - 2% mortgage credit

BT, 3% of the amount of each transaction, but not less than $5.00 nor more than $75.00. With 0% on BT and purchases you can use it for both rewards and BT.

I wonder if a HELOC would count as "outstanding mortgage principal".

thanks OP. I got deferred, probably because I just did a Sony card app yesterday, both FirstUSA/Chase products. Would be great to get though.

I have to say this is an insanely good offer. Same great 2% as the discontinued FIA Fidelity 529 MasterCard but with a 12 month 0% kicker. Had I not so recently tanked my credit score with my AOR I'd be all over this.

As it is, my wife (clean credit) is going to be all over this. My plan is to forget the BT and just charge up $60k of personal/business purchases on this up over the next year. ($60k because that is the annual reward limit.)

For what its worth, this card is issued by Chase (First USA).

audex said: Too bad you can't pay your countrywide mortgage each month with your countrywide visa.
quote for the day, I agree with you at this point.

ThursdaysChild said: If you already have a Countrywide mortgage, do they still do a hard pull when you apply for their Visa card?

Yes, because it's not a Countrywide card, it's a Chase card. They'll (Chase) pull a hard everytime, and in my unfortunate experience, pull a hard inquiry for doing simple account services (ie CLI, re-allocating limits, consolidating cards, etc).

Good find...1200 bucks a year on mortgage reduction...not bad at all...


PlainGirlJane said: I searched and didn't find this topic...

I was just browsing the Countrywide website while looking at my mortgage statement. I noticed they have a Countrywide Rewards Visa Card. Per the website, "Each time you reach 2,500 points, redeem for:
- A $50 payment towards an outstanding mortgage principal balance with Countrywide Home Loans..." which is equal to 2% back to be applied to your Countrywide mortgage.

For Countrywide mortgage holders, this would be a great card to have for all those other purchases that would otherwise only be earning 1%.

I applied and got instantly approved!

http://bank.countrywide.com

The link is in a green box on the right side.

Hope this helps someone!

Auream said: ThursdaysChild said: If you already have a Countrywide mortgage, do they still do a hard pull when you apply for their Visa card?

Of course, the card is issued by Chase, they have no access to the mortgage application you made with Countrywide.
Wouldn't matter with Countrywide anyway's, They are pull happy. I got a pull for a CD then a few months later I opened the savingslink and got a second pull

ElectricSavant said: g10ny

Please excuse me for being naive, but can you explain a little more? Do you only get the 2% if you you refi?

g10ny said: Only downside is you can't refi except with Countrywide again.
If you refi at a different mortgage company you can't apply the 2%, can you?

ElectricSavant said: So the purpose of their promotion is retention...what is your point ?


Just answering your question. No need to be confrontational.

Thanks OP! My ad blocker was blocking this ad by default so I never would have seen it without this post!

I applied last week, got deferred but they still haven't done a hard pull? That can't be good, I did just apply and get approved for a Sony card the day before. Going to call and check tonight.

My wife received her card today. Guess how the rewards program works.

When you get 2500 points you can redeem them for $50 against your Countrywide Mortgage. This much you knew already. What I didn't know until just now is that when you redeem the points they just mail you a check made out to "Countrywide Home Loans" and you have to mail it in.

This is kind of a bummer because of the hassle and the postage. On the other hand, it opens the door to reducing your normal payment by $50 and using the Chase check to make up the difference. In other words, instead of prepaying your mortgage, you just pay it according to the normal schedule but pay less. You might want to do this if you had an especially favorable rate for example.

I guess this also answers the question of what kind of loans you can pay with this card. I think any loan with Countrywide which you can pay with a check made out to "Countrywide Home Loans" should work with this card.

The other thing some of you might be interested in is the card comes with a BT check attached to the card carrier. It's just like the Chase Sony card if you are familiar with that. The terms included with the card confirm that the check is treated as a 0% BT for 12 billing cycles following opening of the account. The fee is 3%, minimum $5, maximum $75. No points earned on the BT check.

I successfully wrote the check attached to the Sony card to myself and deposited it in my non-Chase checking account. Chase seems to allow these checks to be used that way. It even says "Write this check as you would a personal check."

how about their loan rates? Higher rates destroy the rewards.

jmz668 said: neuist said: how about their loan rates? Higher rates destroy the rewards.
My 5.25% loan is not too high.

ETA. Got my card today.
thanks, 5.25% is really not high while it depends on region and types

PugRanch said:

When you get 2500 points you can redeem them for $50 against your Countrywide Mortgage. This much you knew already. What I didn't know until just now is that when you redeem the points they just mail you a check made out to "Countrywide Home Loans" and you have to mail it in.

It seems a lot like the student loan checks from Citi's TY points.

I got approved instantly, my account got bought by Countrywide, my interest rate.

I did not get approved instantly online but got the card today. My mortgage was bought by CW.