It's amazing how my daily life dictates my epinions.com reviews. I got the best offer of 8.5% on a Wachovia Platinum VISA today, but I found the "CATCH" in the small print.

I am not bragging when I say my credit is spotless. I have made sure that my bills and creditcard statements are paid the moment I get them. I have done this since I first started dealing with finances.

The curse of a good credit history is getting Platinum Card and other card offers EVERY SINGLE DAY of my life. I read them every day, grasping the small hope that someday I will get an offer that says "Mr. Lyles, we are going to pay you $50,000 a day to use this card!"....But seriously, I do take most of them into consideration.

On this day, the first thing to catch my eye, was an envelope from Wachovia Bank. It's advertisement stated that I would get the "...PRIME RATE FOR LIFE!! (CURRENTLY 8.5 %)".

WOW! What an offer. I haven't seen ANY bank offer less than that. My first thought is that it beats the 9.9% that I am currently getting with my current credit card company of five years (which is FIRST USA - see my review of them for the love affair I have with them).

As I read the information I could not find any catches. I read through the personal letter sent to me by the president (YEAH RIGHT!) and see that my wonderful credit record puts me in the 10% of Americans who are the only ones to get this offer (WOW! I feel a tear puddleing up).

But it only took turning the terms and conditions over to find that you can be honored and given the privilege to use this wonderful low rate card by paying an annual fee of $98 for the Platinum card.

Hmmmmm, let's see....so, the small difference between the percentages is 1.5%. To make up for the $98 annual fee, you would have to carry an average balance of $7,000 on this card. $7,000 a month would save you exactly $98 over the term of 12 months. AND EVEN THEN, YOU JUST "BREAK EVEN".

So I took a 2.9% offer from my stack of 'good' banks (which I still have no interest in), placed it into the return envelope to Wachovia, and told them to please take the time to review that I am getting offers from GOOD BANKS WHO DON'T HAVE TO HIDE THEIR SECRETS IN SMALL-SMALL-SMALL PRINT TO GET BUSINESS.

I wonder if they will write back?



Recommended: No