[net.consumers] Free VISA & Mastercard

sunil@ut-ngp.UUCP (Sunil Trivedi) (06/10/85)

	I've been enticed by by the following for padding
	my wallet with more plastic:

		1) First National Bank in Albuquerque (FNBA)
		   AAA/VISA : No deposit required; AAA membership
			      initially required; 
			      $10/year;
			      Annual interest rate: 18.4% (?)
			      See local American Automobile Association
		2) CoreStates Bank of Delaware
		   P.O. Box 8924, Wilmington, DE 19899
		   VISA,MC  : No deposit required; 
			      $18/year each or $25/year for both;
			      Annual interest rate: 17.9%
			      1-800-833-3010
		3) Citibank, South Dakota (?)
		   VISA,MC  : No deposit required;
			      $20/year;
			      Get Citidollars (similar to AT&T Opp. Credits);
			      Annual interest rate: ?
		4) Interfirst Bank, Dallas
		   VISA/MC  : No deposit required;
			      No charge for first year;
			      Finance charges begin on day of purchase;
			      Annual interest rate: 21.0% (?)

	I was also offered the AMEX card, but for $35/year it was not as
	'attractive' as the VISA/Mastercard offers above.  Actually they
	(American Express) pestered me three times, telling me that I should 
	be honored to be offered an AMEX card.  But somehow I felt that
	I didn't need the 'honor'.  Interfirst Bank offered me a lure of
	a $1000 credit limit, but Interfirst (like all Texas banks) charges
	interest from the day of purchase unlike most 'normal' banks that
	give a grace period which extends after the date the bill arrives,
	so I declined it.

	If anyone can add to this list, please post it, since there are
	many out there who live on credit.

					      Sunil Trivedi
					    sunil@ut-ngp.ARPA
					...!ut-sally!ut-ngp!sunil

     "Beam me up fast Scotty - there's no toilet paper down here!"
         {No reference to 'discussion' on net.women/net.flame}

tkoppel@udenva.UUCP (Ted Koppel) (06/14/85)

In article <>, sunil@ut-ngp.UUCP (Sunil Trivedi) writes:
-->
-->	I've been enticed by by the following for padding
-->	my wallet with more plastic:
-->
-->		1) First National Bank in Albuquerque (FNBA)
-->		   AAA/VISA : No deposit required; AAA membership
-->			      initially required; 
-->			      $10/year;
-->			      Annual interest rate: 18.4% (?)
-->			      See local American Automobile Association
                                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The local AAAs have made arrangements with local banks; in Denver the
AAA-VISA is handled by United Bank of Denver and is predicated by
one's being a member of their LOCAL AAA. he cost is still low ($12/yr)
but the interest rate is no more (or less) competitive than any other
credit-card granting bank in the Denver area.

Advice:  Caveat emptor !!!
-- 
Ted Koppel : University of Denver Penrose Library : 303-871-3429
	{boulder, cires, cisden, denelcor, hao, nbires}!udenva!tkoppel
	{bilanc, csm9a, elsi, koala}!udenva!tkoppel

thomas@utah-gr.UUCP (Spencer W. Thomas) (06/18/85)

In article <1805@ut-ngp.UUCP> sunil@ut-ngp.UUCP (Sunil Trivedi) writes:
>	I was also offered the AMEX card, but for $35/year it was not as
>	'attractive' as the VISA/Mastercard offers above.  
I have been resisting AMEX, too.  I recently found a reason to have one,
however.  I was trying to guarantee a hotel reservation, only to have
the hotel tell me that they didn't take VISA or MC as guarantees
anymore.  Apparently, it is too easy for the customer to "weasel out" of
the charges when using one of these cards.  Then VISA or MC refuse to
pay the hotel.  So, I guess I'll break down and get a (green) AMEX card.

-- 
=Spencer   ({ihnp4,decvax}!utah-cs!thomas, thomas@utah-cs.ARPA)

ark@alice.UUCP (Andrew Koenig) (06/19/85)

Valley National Bank
Bogota, New Jersey 07603
No deposit required
No annual fee
No finance charges if you pay your bills on time
Current interest rate 19.68%

jer@peora.UUCP (J. Eric Roskos) (06/21/85)

> I have been resisting AMEX, too.  I recently found a reason to have one,
> however.  I was trying to guarantee a hotel reservation ...

AMEX is a different kind of card from Visa or MasterCard; it is a "charge
card", whereas the other 2 are "credit cards".  You have to pay the full
amount of the AMEX bill at the end of the month.

Personally, I am philosophically opposed to the use of credit cards (for
obscure reasons having to do with economics which are debatable, and which
I don't want to debate here).  However, after I graduated from college and
began work, I found that in the "real world" one is "guilty until proven
innocent" as far as the necessary business transactions of life are
concerned (I had great difficulty opening a savings account here in Florida,
since the banks required a Florida driver's license and a credit card;
apartments assume if you don't have a credit card it means you can't pay
their rent; etc), and thus reluctantly obtained a charge card.  I got the
American Express because it involves no real notion of credit, since you are
required to pay all of it at the end of the month.

(This philosophical opposition goes back to something Shakespeare said
once.  You know...

	Never a borrower, nor a lender be.
	Never forget.  Stay out of debt.
	If you take this good advice from me,
	You will always be free.
	There's just one other thing
	You ought to do...
	To thine own self be true.

[No, Shakespeare didn't really put it that way... that's from Gilligan's
Island.])
-- 
Shyy-Anzr:  J. Eric Roskos
UUCP:       ..!{decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!vax135!petsd!peora!jer
US Mail:    MS 795; Perkin-Elmer SDC;
	    2486 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, FL 32809-7642

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