I have four Bank cards, as follows: AMEX Green CASHBACK: Opened 8/01 $14,500 CITIBANK Dividend Select: Opened 3/01 $13,300 BANK ONE free cash Rewards: Opened 9/02 $14,500 CHASE Perfectcard: Opened 5/03 $10,000 I use the AMEX and Chase all the time and pay my bills in full each month. I don't need a fourth card, really. I am thinking of canceling either the Bank One Card or the Citibank, rather than sock-drawering it.. The Citibank has a $100 tier, and I have satisfied that. Once they send me my $100 check, the only card I can convert this to (with instant rewards) would be the Shell Mastercard. (I use all sorts of gas). Which is a better card and company, Citibank or Bank One? If I keep the fourth card (if it's Citibank, I don't want to start down the $100 road again), it would not get used. Any opinions? Transunion 765 Experian 741 Equifax 752
First of all, think about your ratios. If you cancel Bank One or Citi, and your ratio goes up, Chase may well jack your rate. Ask GEORGE about this one! I personally would get rid of Chase, I have no use for them and have canceled every account I had with them, including an unsecured line of credit.
What I meant to include was that I wouldn't cancel any of them. If you want to sock drawer them, OK, but with Chase as one of your cards you may need the others someday.
If I were you, I would NOT cancel any card. I'd sock-drawer them, and let them age with time and adding a nice bump to my FICO score. As an answer to your second question, unquestionably Citibank is better than Bank One. Better customer service, and better card terms (one-cycle vs. two-cycle average daily balance, lower interest rates than BankOne in general, etc.) If you are looking for a good suggestion for a possible fourth card ... may I suggest Drivers Edge Platinum Select from Citibank (I have this). You can accumulate points, 1 per dollar, and you can redeem them at any time towards qualifying auto-related purchases. Oil changes, tires for your car, any repairs, etc. No minimum level of rewards to accumulate before you can redeem those points. I recently redeemed $48 worth of points towards replacing front brakes. [ Sorry; gas, windshield fluid and engine oils don't count ]
BankOne doesn't do two cycle billing on all of their cards. I have 2 FirstUSA cards, and they have one-cycle billing. I'd rate them about equal with Citibank, based on my experiences.
If you don't like the citi dividend see if you can convert it to their Diamond card. I think their Citirewards prgram is really good and this card has some nifty extras. If not the Diamond then their regular Plat. select. The rewards program is not listed as a feature on this card but I was able to sign up for it when I asked.
Re: Re: Which of Four BankCards To Hedwig - just curious - which first usa card do you have with one-cycle billing? last month i received a notice from them that they're changing over my one-cycle billing card to a 2-cycle. The rep claimed that they were changing over all their cards.
Re: Re: Re: Which of Four BankCards To BANK ONE "AOL" CARD IS 2-CYCLE Two-cycle average daily balance method (including new purchases). CUT AND PASTED BUT...6.99% 2-cycle is PROBABLY still BETTER than 9.99% 1-cycle... MY UNITED VISA (BANK ONE) IS 1-CYCLE...I don't pay any interest...paying interest on a MILES CARD is counter productive... (UNLESS I GOT THAT INFORMATION WITH THE INCREASE IN THE INTEREST RATE LETTER (WAS ONLY 0.25% MORE AND I DON'T PAY INTEREST...SO I DIDN'T CARE)
Re: Re: Re: Which of Four BankCards To Average daily balance method (including new purchases). BANK ONE UNITED VISA...just looked
