Category Archives: Credit Cards

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US Bank Cash Plus Changes: $25 Minimum Redemption Amount, Postmates Benefit & More

Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  Yesterday, I wrote American Express Changes: $25 Account Reopening Fee, Forfeiting Points on Late Payments & Old Blue Cash Redemptions.  In today’s post, I will cover some recent changes that I saw in my US Bank Cash Plus Credit Card statement.

“Effective June 1, 2021, the minimum redemption amount required to redeem cash back in the form of a statement credit or a deposit made to your U.S. Bank Savings, Checking or Money Market Account will be $25 (previously, it was $0.01).”  This is bad news for credit card holders that earn less than $25.00 in cash back every month.  I love when my statement closes and I can redeem $5.25, or $8.63, or $12.99 as a statement credit toward my credit card bill.  Stating in June, I will have to accrue at least $25.00 in cash back before I can redeem for a statement credit.  Let’s go through the other changes and see what US Bank is up to.

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American Express Changes: $25 Account Reopening Fee, Forfeiting Points on Late Payments & Old Blue Cash Redemptions

Good afternoon everyone.  I was reviewing my recent American Express credit card statements and spotted a few changes that I wanted you to be aware of.  The first 2 changes were shown on my American Express Blue Business Plus Credit Card and the last change was specific to my AMEX Old Blue Cash Credit Card (no longer available).  The first 2 changes affect small business credit and charge cards that earn American Express Membership Rewards Points.  With that said, let’s go through the first change.

Effectively immediately, if your American Express card is closed (presumably by you), then you change your mind and want to reopen the card, you will now have to pay a $25 reopening fee.  Before you close your card, call American Express to see if you can get a retention offer, see if you can convert that card to another card, and redeem any points tied to that card.  If you do those steps, you should not need to reopen an account and incur the $25 reopening fee.

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My Real Time Rewards Redemptions on US Bank Business Leverage Credit Card (Observations & Theories)

Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend is off to a great start.  A few months ago, I applied for the US Bank Business Leverage Visa Credit Card.  The credit card offers $750 cash back after spending $7,500 in 4 months.  I had a large bill to pay via Plastiq and used this credit card to meet the minimum spending requirement.  (FYI, there is also a US Bank Business Cash Rewards Mastercard Credit Card that offers $500 cash back after spending $3,000 in 3 months – I will probably get this business credit card next.)

The sign up bonus posted on my first credit card statement and posted as US Bank Rewards Points (kind of like Altitude Reserve Points on the US Bank Altitude Reserve Credit Card, but these points are worth 1 cent each for all rewards).  Instead of redeeming my points for cash back, I enrolled my new credit card in US Bank Real Time Rewards (RTR) and made 2 purchases to redeem the bulk of my US Bank Rewards Points.  Here is what I learned about my new credit card and the RTR process.

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Wells Fargo Discontinues Temporary Debit Cards & ATM Access Code Feature (Effective April 1)

Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  A few months ago, I wrote Wells Fargo Discontinues Instant Issue Debit Cards Effective November 30.  In that post, I said:

After November 30, if you need a replacement debit card (if your current debit card was lost or stolen), you can no longer get a temporary debit card at a Wells Fargo branch – you will need to use the Wells Fargo app or call Wells Fargo (1-800-869-3557) to request a replacement debit card. Once your request is submitted, your replacement debit card will arrive via mail in 5-7 days.

November 30 came and went and there weren’t any more updates, until my recent Wells Fargo checking account statement closed a few days ago.  I will go into my details below, but long story short, Wells Fargo will no longer issue temporary debit cards and is discontinuing the ATM Access Code feature, both changes are effective on April 1, 2021.  Read on to learn more.

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Last Day to Register for Tomorrow’s FTU Virtual Seminar (Saturday February 20)

Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  I just wanted to remind you that today is the last day to register for tomorrow’s FTU Virtual Seminar.  If you have no plans tomorrow (Saturday February 20), I highly recommend attending the FTU Virtual Seminar (tickets available for $25).  The seminar starts on Saturday at 11am ET / 8am PT and will run for 3 hours with a virtual social mixer afterwards.  I really enjoyed attending the first FTU Virtual Seminar back on December 12 and I’m sure this seminar will be just as entertaining and educational.  If you have the FTU Online Annual Membership, you can attend the seminar for free.

If you register for the seminar, but are unable to watch the live stream, you can access the recording of the seminar and watch later on.  This is also a great way to re-watch your favorite presentations and catch any details that you may have missed.

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