I've earned over $1,000 in savings bonds
Written: Jul 18 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: earn savings bonds for charging
Cons: 12.9 interest rate
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| pcomsec's Full Review: Edvance(r) Platinum MasterCard (Fleet Bank) |
I’ve had my Fleet Edvance Mastercard for over 5 years and it is my absolute favorite card. Let me tell you why.
I was sent this offer in the mail. The thing that made me decide to switch to it and use it as my main card is that you can accumulate savings bond. It was advertised as a great way to save for your child’s education. The card even has a picture of a cap and diploma on it.
Since I don’t have kids, I called them up to make sure the savings bond did not have to be put in a child’s name and was told that anyone could use the bond, that’s just the way they advertised it. The bond comes in the cardholder’s name.
First, you “earn” points. I believe it is 1 point for every $1 you charge. (However, this does not include cash advances or balance transfers.) Once you hit 2,500 points, you are sent a $50 savings bond. It’s that simple. There are no forms to fill out and you do not have to contact them, they automatically send it to you.
Each month on your statement, they list how many points you have earned, how close you are to redemption and how many bonds per year you have earned. There is a limit to the number of bonds each year that you may earn. I believe the limit is 10 bonds, but again I am not positive, it has been 2 years since I hit the limit. When I did hit the limit, again there was a message on my statement saying I had reached my limit. So then I simply used my Discover card for the 3 months or so I had until I could start earning bonds again. (You can still of course, use your card, you just don’t get the bond credit.) Your year goes from the month when you first got your card, not calendar year.
The interest rate on this card is 12.9%, not the lowest around, nor the lowest rate on any card I have. So I called them up and asked if they could lower my rate, explaining that I had another card that gave me 9.9% interest. The customer service rep. said no, that with the savings bond plan, 12.9% was the lowest they could go.
Yes, I realize that the $50 savings bonds only cost them $25. But this is money that I will save as an "emergency" savings account, meaning I can't touch it till the bonds mature. Also, I have many regular expenses automatically billed to this card - my newspaper delivery, my cable, etc. Things I would normally write a check for, I can now earn savings bonds on.
I pay my entire bill each month, otherwise what I "made" in savings bonds, would be eaten in interest.
One more thing, when I get my bonds, sometimes I don’t even open them, I just stick them in my fireproof safe at home. Well, one year I hadn’t gotten my income tax refund and had to contact the IRS to get another check issued - this took about an extra 3 months. Here when I was going through my fireproof safe at the end of the year, consolidating all the savings bonds into one envelope, I found my original IRS check! I thought it was a savings bond and put it in the safe!! The envelopes are almost identical.
Morale to the story - open all envelopes!!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
pcomsec
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Member: dawn
Location: PA
Reviews written: 478
Trusted by: 44 members
About Me:
"Happy wife, happy life". Kudos to "The Real Housewives of New Jersey".
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