MBNA credit cards - good for balance transfers
Written: Mar 25 '02 (Updated Nov 14 '02)
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Pros: generally good for balance transfers
Cons: web site authentication security is questionable, customer service inconsistent
The Bottom Line: Good for balance transfers, but watch out for late fees and identity theft
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| Arthur.Rubin's Full Review: MBNA |
MBNA has been generally a good card for me -- but, first let me tell you something about my financial situation. I have enough credit cards and lines to buy a small house here in Southern California (if the seller would accept credit cards), and enough credit on my 3 (formerly 4 -- see below) MBNA credit cards to buy a large house in rural Idaho. (I have a cousin who used to live in Rigby.) I only use them for balance transfers, and the occasional special offers (probably amounting to less than $100 / year). I know it's a bad idea to use the same card for balance transfers and purchases. See my review on promotional card use. Hence I'm only familiar with features related to balance transfers, statements, and payments. Others will have to comment on their handling of unauthorized merchant charges.
One of the cards is cobranded with AAA of Arizona, but there seem to be no significant differences.
There are three specific incidents I would like to report.
A few years ago, I called about a promotional balance transfer offer, and the agent offered to check to see if credit limit could be transferred between the credit cards. It could be, and hence I only had to pay one maximum transfer fee (then $35) rather than two, in order to use most of the limit those lines. Also, although you'd have to check with an industry insider to be sure, I don't think this counts against the promotional rate "clock" -- most credit cards don't want to use their promotional rate continuously, and will usually not offer a new promotional rate until 6 months after the old one expires.
On the other hand, a few weeks ago, I received a 0% promotional offer (this one does apply to purchases, as well), and I requested that they transfer credit limits. They did, and added me or my wife to various cards so that they would have the same ownership so that limits could be transferred, but they then closed one of the cards -- and I have been unable to reopen it, even by retransferring credit limit from another card. I think they're on to me.
Update Nov 14 '02: I know they're on to me. Last June, when I applied for an Star Trek credit card (also with MBNA), they decided that "I had too much debt for my income", and closed two more accounts. Never mind that I had less debt and more income than when I had originally applied for the cards. I haven't used the remaining card since then, but I have received balance transfer offers at 4.9%.
Finally, I have not been able to get a late fee removed from the account, even though I mailed the payment one week before the due date -- it didn't clear until a full week after the due date, and I couldn't convince them it was more likely that the check was lost somewhere in their system than that it was lost in the mail.
Ah, yes, the web site. I only have one serious complaint. There seems to be no way to pull up a previously created ID if the password is lost. This may be a good thing, but it means that you can have more than one ID/password connected to the same credit card, as well as more than one MBNA credit card connected to the same ID/password The authentication system for connecting a credit card to an ID/password requires less information than I would like. I probably shouldn't say this, but I'm sure professional credit thieves know it already. If you have the card, and know the victim's zip code, you have a choice of three authenticators to convince them that you are the owner. One of them is the date of birth, which can be obtained from web sites such as http://www.anybirthday.com. Now the thief may not be able to use this to initiate balance transfers (I haven't tried), but he can see when the card is reported stolen.
Nominal interest rate: 12.97-13.97% (the 13.97% may be a standard card rather than a Platinum card)
Promotional balance transfer interest rate: 0-3.99% (most recent offer on each card)
(The promotional rate does not apply to new purchases)
Promotional rate term: Approximately 6 months
Balance transfer fee: 3% (minimum $5, maximum $40) (usually not waived for promotional transfers, but you can always ask)
Grace period (actual): 28-33 days, as taken from the last few statements. There is, of course, no actual grace period on cash advances, but, by this, I mean, the time from the statement closing date to the payment due date.
Late fee: $29 (increasing shortly to $35 if the payment due is more than nominal)
Over-limit fee: $29 (increasing shortly to $35 if the amount over the limit is more than nominal)
My related reviews:
http://www.epinion.com/content_2580455556 on Credit Card Promotional Rates
http://www.epinions.com/content_60183907972 on Discover Card
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Arthur.Rubin
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 in Personal Finance |
 in Personal Finance |
 - Top 500 |
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Member: Arthur Rubin
Location: Brea, CA, USA
Reviews written: 97
Trusted by: 108 members
About Me:
Expert in mathematics, computers, income tax, with a wide variety of interests.
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