I just got approved for a Plat MasterCard from DMB. Offer is 0% on purchases and balance transfers for 5 months, then it goes to a variable rate currently at 12.99% (credit limit is $2,800). I was planning to use this card for a balance transfer, but after reading this board and a few others, I'm hearing about 90% bad things about DMB and only 10% good things. My gut feeling is to just return the card without even signing it once I get it in the mail with a letter requesting that they cancel my account. I've read all sorts of stories about how DMB jacks your APR for no reason, lowers your credit limit for no reason, signs you up for all sorts of extra programs that you never enrolled in, loses payments, posts payments late, and has horrible customer service. My other two cards are a Citi Illumina card (9.9%) and a Capital One card (9.9%) both with credit lines near $10,000 but the utilization rate is high on each card (70%). Like I said, my gut feeling is to not take a chance with DMB. Does anyone have any advice or experience they would be willing to share? Thanks a lot!
i know of some people that had trouble with this bank. exactly for the reason you mentioned, the aprs gets increased for no reason, and i guess the customer service isn't anything to write home about either.
My brother in law has a DMB Plt. card with a 15k CL. He has never had trouble with them but I did convince him to pay off the balance and close the account. He has paid off the account but still is thinking about closing the account. Best regards, Mirage
Assuming no annual fee, why not just keep it and use it to your advantage? I've had it since 2000 and while they're not a prime card, I'm not chopping the card up. I've gotten my interest lowered to 10.99% and that seems to be it - for now. I did get 3.99% for six months. Just call and ask from time to time,you've already got the inquiry.
I say no. If you've already got Citi, I would pay down your balances and apply for another Citi card instead or go with Chase, National City, etc. DMB may treat others here OK, but alot more have been auto-enrolled in those car, shopping, travelers advantage programs, had limits cut, or payment problems, not to mention sky high punitive rates (Read: Don't ever be late). Bottom line is you can do alot better and I would shred this offer. Do what you are comfortable with and do your homework on DMB. Good luck
Thanks for the advice. My gut feeling is to not accept the card. I've actually already been approved and they said I'll have the card within 3 weeks, but I really don't want to take the chance of having them enroll me in all of these stupid programs without my consent. Or worse yet, if I did a huge balance transfer and then they jacked my APR a few months later. Forget it. I just don't need the hassle right now. Citibank and Capital One have been pretty good to me (so far). The only reason I could see keeping the DMB card would be if I used it for small things and paid it off every month. Then the APR wouldn't be an issue. But still...lost payments, payments posted late, website down, change of address lost...I don't know. I've heard way too many negatives about this bank, so there must be something going on for sure. Where there's smoke, there's fire. I think Brad J really hit the nail on the head when he said the best plan would be to pay down my current balances. I mean, think about it. I've got balances on two cards...do I really need another one? Thanks again for the feedback.
I've had them since the summer with absolutely no problems and great CS..they are the fastest in returning emails (online access)...faster than Chase, AMEX, any of them... I like mine... Not my absolute favorite but surely not my worst one either
I have a Direct Merchants Bank Mastercard since 2000 with a 11.74%apr. The only complaint I have is they stopped giving credit line increases.
Thanks for the feedback. I'm still not 100% sure what I'll do. I might keep the card and just use it for small items (pay it off each month). I know that there are some people out there who've had good experiences with them, so we'll see. Thanks again.
I am one of those people that had their interes rate raised for no reason i never was late or over limit.They raised my rate from 14.9 for purchases to 19.9 and from 19.9 for cash advances to 25.99.When i e-mailed them and asked why they just said the terms of the agreement allow them to raise the rates at anytime.GREAT ANSWER
I've had DMB for about 5 years now. Although my APR was high initially, it has since been lowered to about 8.15%. As for managing my account online, I believe DMB is comparable to others in that area! My payments are usually posted within 1-2 days, tops!
Well, I think I've changed my mind. I might take the balance transfer offer from DMB ($2,500) plus take $2,500 from my savings and pay off my Citibank card. Citibank just raised my APR from 8.9% to 11.9% (never late, never over my limit in two years). They said it was just a "business decision"...yeh, right. The DMB offer is 0% for 5 months, then to 12.9% variable. I guess if they pull a fast one on me and raise my APR to something crazy, I can always transfer it back to Citibank.
I just received an offer from them Friday. I applied online and my ISP connection was lost. I then called them and applied over the phone. I hope I don't get a double hard on this. My question is how long does it take for a decision? I didn't get an instant response. I don't know if thats good or bad. Did you call back or just wait for snail mail?
Re: Direct Merchants Bank (Yes or N Ok so you have some high utilization on those too cards. Your credit line will only be $2800.00. Not worth doing the transfer. Get the card but use it as back up for emergency's only.
