djspray said:
Edit: Oh, and about the coding. They don't translate to anything meaningful online. You really have to just wait for your statement and double-check that it was earned.

Do your statements explicitly say how much reward $ were earned on each purchase, because mine don't - they just give the total rewards earned for the month. I guess you could figure out which purchases counted at 1% and which were 3% if you only bought a few things on the card each month.

stanwebber said:i applied for the chase freedom card in feb 2007. at the time the 3% CashBack bonus was only being paid for the gas, grocery, and fastfood fixed categories. i've known about the availability of the dynamic top 3 category rewards schedule since it was introduced, but never bothered to switch my card over. recently, chase sent me a notice in the mail announcing my card's eligibility for the new program which finally prompted me to call and switch the card over. the conversation i had with the csr detailing the new rewards program was not what i expected. specifically, here are the points i was told that differed from the standard program:

- instead of 3 categories, i earn a full 3% on 6 (out of 15) categories
- there is no monthly cap on the 3% reward categories (i questioned the csr at length on this, even pointing out the $600/month cap on my existing freedom card and $2000/month cap on my chase professional which the csr acknowledged)
- my existing reward points will be converted to the new program on a 1 to 1 basis (probably applies to everyone, but read some people told otherwise)
- all existing bt/introductory apr and terms continue to apply on the new card
- switching to the new program requires chase to mail me a new card (don't know if this is the case for everyone)

quite frankly this sounds too good to be true. has anyone else gotten this offer?

I called twice today to find out what I had to do to "switch" over to the new dynamic rewards. The first CSR actually offered me the offer above but near the end she read there was an annual fee of $30 per year. All the extra details threw me for a loop. I'd say $30 more for 6 out of 15 categories plus no limit is probably a good deal to those that have high monthly spend. I had her re-read the details and she did confirm that there was a $30 annual fee.

On my second call, the second csr confirmed that I already had been swtiched over to the dyanic program with rewards being paid out for the top 15 and my account reflected the change.

FWIW, I'd probably stick with the new current program. My regular monthly high spend is gas, market, and internet. Drug, Dept stores, and fast food vary month to month. My brother-in-law pays for the telecom and for everything else I rarely use plastic or they do not accept.

Hi all,

I see some posters asking about if certain merchants qualify or not.

The simplest way to tell is by the Merchant Category Code (MCC)

All merchants have to identify their establishment as one of these codes.

MasterCard has them listed here:

http://www.mastercard.com/us/wce/PDF/14992_MasterCard_Interchange_Rates_and_Criteria_-_October_2007.pdf

While not a full list, a huge percentage of merchants use only these codes to identify their establishment to their bank, who in turn communicate with Chase (our car issuer) via Visa of MasterCard. Also coincidently many of the Chase Freedom categories for rewards are listed on this document too—so it is easy matching.

For example fast food restaurants are 5814. So rather than asking does Starbucks qualify, rather Starbucks MCC is 5814 – fast food (what else would it be, supermarket??? There are not many options anyways), so you know it qualifies. That way it helps me and us all know that if all fast food restaurant qualify then my local deli must also as what would it likely be classified as (fast food, not a restaurant), McDonalds too, Starbucks, Subway, and even some variety stores or bodegas.

I have actually called Chase back when I first got the Freedom product and asked for the merchant category codes that qualify for my reward program – not the titles just the codes. The representative was a bit confused at first but put me on hold and returned after a lengthy delay with the exact information I needed.

I suggest we all call Chase – both 800# on the card and 302# (800 524 3880 or 302 594 8200) on the card and ask for a full list of merchant category codes that qualify for the new reward program as there are many categories now with this dynamic reward feature. It might be along list, but it might be good to phrase it for a particular category in which you are interested—telecommunications, telephone, cable, satellite, internet, radio. “What are the MCCs that qualify for the additional reward in the telecom category?” (Probably 4812, 4814 and 4899) Don’t ask for a merchant name or merchant location list: the agents often think you are asking for this which of course if way way too long to give to us.

It is public information, so they should provide it to you as this is how their computer identifies transactions that earn us additional rewards. If they balk, you can always retort: How are you guys identifying transactions that qualify for the additional reward as part of my reward program? (They won’t tell you or know because they (telephone reps) are uninformed but it is by the MCC, I know for sure). If you can’t get an answer at first, insist to be connected to someone who can provide you with the answer even if they have to research it for a minute and get back to you—that usually relieves their pressure.

Good luck!

P.S. Don’t forget to report back here which codes qualify to help us all out.

Also another note of my opinion – is the monthly limit ridiculously low?—up to $600 at 3% for only $12 back ---until the rest of your spend goes to 1%. Yes there is no cap on the total Cash Back you can get in one year – unlike Citi Dividend, but I for one with 15 categories now will likely reach the $600 limit at 3% in the first few billing days of my cycle—especially the way gas prices are!

I hope they increase it to $1000 or more or better yet abolish the monthly cap. The trick is that they hope cardholders don’t realize when they hit $600 in monthly spend (and could otherwise use a higher earning card) and therefore continue to use the Chase Freedom card even though they get 1% back after that initial 3% when they could use another card in their wallet that eanrs them more than 1% in cash or miles or points.

There is a column -- Merchant Category
It then gives the name of the category (that corresponds to that interchange rate) and a four digit # next to that. It is hard to miss! - 5814, 4121, 5412 etc.... pg 43 or so is ideal

You don't know what a particular merchant's code is but one can pretty much gather since the categories are so limited. We all know Wal-Mart seems to be excluded as it is warehouse, but Starbucks - they are not table services, they are counter services so-- fast food.

We all seem to be wondering if some merchant qualifies or not and Chase does not make it easier by making their categories so broad. They do it by the MCC -- that is the offical qualifier for the extra rewards, so as a matter of best practice we all should do it by MCC too.

You can always call Chase and ask them what merchant category code is for a particular charge on your account -- it has to be a transaction as they won't just look up merchant names for you.

Here is another list: It is old from Visa and hosted by the USDA--no idea why -- but should not be relied upon I would think http://www.usda.gov/procurement/card/card_x/mcc.pdf

The second to the last page here has a great description of what your business has to be like to qualify for certain category codes -- but also for thw quick payment system. It is a old document and not hosted on the MC website, but should stil be true information.

http://www.merchantservicestotal.com/QPS_Manual.pdf

Well, if it were truly obvious what merchant categories were, then this thread would be unnecessary. That's the whole point.

I went to a fried chicken restaurant, which had a counter but also a room of tables. Does that classify as restaurant or fast food? Actually, it was registered as grocery. Apparently a clerical error, but the point is, that's how it's classified.

Sure, you can find out after the fact whether or not something qualified for bonus %, but that's really too late, isn't it? Case in point, different card but same concept, I needed to buy $1K or so of stuff from Lumber Liquidators. I've got a card that gives 3% off at home improvement, 1% off otherwise. So I assume that LL qualifies as home improvement and make my purchase, then find out after the fact that it only qualified as a 1% transaction. Fat lot of good that does me now. That's the point of the list, so I can know beforehand whether a particular merchant is coded to qualify for the 3%.

So, it might be interesting to get that list of merchant codes, but without knowing what merchant code a particular merchant is registered as before I make the transaction, it seems of limited value. Now if someone could produce a list of specific merchants and their merchant codes, now that would be gold.

Chris.

Thwunk! (Sound of hand hitting forehead.) I am blind. Thanks!

Chris.

With Chase I have never been able to see MCC or category name listed on statements, online or downloadable.

With Citi I have been able, after a statement closes, to view MCC and category title.

I would not be surprised if Chase has specifically excluded WalMart as a whole merchant despite some locations or all WalMart’s classifying the transaction as 5411—supermarket as you see on your Citi statements.

If Chase specifically says no Wal Mart then no WalMart but if they say no warehouse stores, and Wal Mart comes up as supermarket even though common sense is that it is a warehouse store then you should get bonus rewards based on 5411 supermarket.

It is a fine line between merchant name versus merchant category exclusions for bonus rewards. (Maybe we are all wrong and some Wal Mart stores are included if they (the location) says that they are 5411—my whole point that MCCs are VIP and the determining factor.)

It looks like that Chase T&C says a merchant type (category) exclusion not a specific merchant name exclusion. So if a merchant that is normally associated with an excluded category, is in fact classified in the computer as an included category it should earn rewards. I would gather Citi has the same phrasing.

Again your issuing banks' computer systems determine if a transaction qualifies for bonus rewards based on how they receive the MCC from the merchant’s bank via MA or Visa-- nothing else – no long merchant names list in the computer to cross check or every merchant location or every POS terminal in one locations is coded separately. I am quite sure of this.

Yes this thread is helpful. Should we all look again at the assumption that we write off Wal Mart alltogether based on Chris’ findings?

Anyone know if Comcast charges a fee for paying online with a credit card?

Just added that Denny's qualifies for fast food and quick service restaurants.

Trying to deduce how things are classifed from your statement is difficult. I made oa list of the items that looked like they qualifed for 3% putting the doubtful ones as the bottom, added up the value of the funds spent on these, and took 2% of these. I then divided the number of bonus dollars by .02 (difference between 3% and 1%) and compared it with different values for the possible elibible categories. It quickly became clear that the difference between what I might have hoped for and what they credited was $35 and the it was possible to scan the short list for a $35 item and realize they had not included it (in my case a paypal payment labeled Drugstore was not considered a Drugstore).

An exact fit could be obtained only if they calculated the rebate on each item to the penny and rounded up (generous of them) to the next penny.