Tag Archives: Discover It Credit Card

Supervalu / Albertsons / ACME / Jewel-Osco / Shaws / Star Market Data Breach and 12 Months of Free All Clear Identity Theft Monitoring

Supervalu Logo

Supervalu / Albertsons / ACME / Jewel-Osco / Shaws / Star Market Data Breach and 12 Months of Free All Clear Identity Theft Monitoring

This morning, I was reading the Wall Street Journal online and saw read this article: Supervalu Reports Second Hacking Incident – August Data Breach Affects Certain Albertsons, Acme, Jewel-Osco and Shaw’s Stores (link).  The part that really caught my attention said:

As a precaution, Supervalu and AB Acquisition said they will offer 12 months of free consumer-identity protection services through AllClear ID to customers whose information may have been compromised in the hacking incidents.

If you have at any of these supermarkets during the last few months, you may want to sign up for a free 12 month identity protection plan from All Clear (link).  The process is pretty simple, to start, just check the box and enter your full name and email address.

Sign Up for All Clear Secure Protection Page

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Random News: 3 $10 Amazon eGift Card Winners, New Chime Offers for Target and Chick-Fil-A, Update on Cell Phone Bill AMEX Offer, and Discover It 4th Quarter Bonus Categories Announced

2 Amazon Gift Cards

Random News: 3 $10 Amazon eGift Card Winners, New Chime Offers for Target and Chick-Fil-A, Update on Cell Phone Bill AMEX Offer, and Discover It 4th Quarter Bonus Categories Announced

Good evening everyone, I hope you had an exciting Labor Day Weekend.  I can’t believe today is Monday, it certainly doesn’t feel like it.  I can tell that most of you have been busy; my daily page views have dropped like a rock the past few days.

Blog Views and Visits

Without any further ado, here are my 3 favorite comments from the Amazon eGift Card giveaway.  I will email the winners a $10 Amazon eGift Card code as soon as this post is published.  Thank you for all of you who left a comment on my previous post.

Hank, I am still waiting for your finally tally on how many lobsters you ate this weekend…

HanksTravel Winner

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Don’t Close your Credit Card! Downgrade or Convert to these Credit Cards

Which Credit Card

Downgrade or Convert to these Credit Cards

This post is a combination of my recommendations and the recommendations from readers.  Thank you for contributing to this post.  The big question is, why should you downgrade or convert a credit card instead of closing it outright?

Pros of downgrading or converting a credit card:

  • Downgrading/converting your credit card lengthens the average age of your credit card accounts and improves your credit score (learn more about your credit score here).
  • Downgrading/converting your credit card keeps your credit utilization ratio lower, which is good for your credit score (see link above).
  • Downgrading/converting your credit card keeps your miles/points from expiring or being forfeited back to the credit card company.
  • Downgrading/converting your credit card results in no hard pull of your credit report.
  • Downgrading/converting your credit card is sometimes easier than outright applying.
  • Downgrading/converting your credit card makes it possible to get the same credit card multiple times (like 2 Chase Freedom or Bank of America Better Balance Reward cards).
  • Downgrading/converting your credit card may result in a sign up bonus on the new card (sometimes not, see cons below).

Cons of downgrading or converting a credit card:

  • Downgrading/converting your credit card may result in not get a sign up bonus for the new credit card.
  • Downgrading/converting your credit card may take a long time for the conversion process (Citi takes 60+ days).
  • Downgrading/converting your credit card may cause you to have “too much available credit” and may make it harder to be approved for future credit cards (mostly Barclays, but you can do recon calls to reverse their decision).
  • Downgrading/converting your credit card may interfere with the “churnability” of the credit card.

To read the full article, please click here.  Gotta go watch the Little League World Series now.

Weekend TWG Homework Assignment: What are the Best Credit Cards for Downgrades or Conversions?

Which Credit Card

Weekend TWG Homework Assignment: What are the Best Credit Cards for Downgrades or Conversions?

Good evening everyone, TGI (Thank Grant It’s) Thursday.  I will be flying up to San Francisco Friday night and coming home early Monday morning from Oakland.  I will not be blogging this weekend, but I will bring my phone so I can respond to emails and blog comments.  Since the collective knowledge of TWG readers is far superior than just my knowledge, I need your help.  I am working on compiling a page on best credit cards for downgrades or conversions.  For every annual fee credit card from a bank, there is a related no annual fee credit card.

Do you remember that kid in school who always asked the teacher if there was any homework due next week when the teacher clearly forgot to assign any?  Well, you can all thank Dan P for the suggestion (link):

I think a blog post about all the “good downgrading cards” would be great. Include the BoA Better Balance Rewards and the Citizens Bank Green$ense (pays you $0.25 per transaction, up to $20 per month; great for purchases under $5) in addition to other cards. Although other than those two I haven’t found any really useful, zero annual fee cards.

Steven got the ball rolling with this comment:

Best practice is to convert the Alaska card to a Better Balance card which will award $100 a year for minimal spending. I have 6 of them. :)

Followed by Jivepicnic’s comment:

I only have one Better Balance Card, so I have some work to do to catch up to Steven! I purchase an Amazon eGC for $0.50 each month, so I spend $6 per year to get $100. Actually for me it’s $120 because you get a $5 bonus per quarter if you have a BofA checking account as well.

Clearly, I have been living under a rock since I was unaware of this card until a few days ago.  I have closed several Bank of American credit card in the last 2 years to avoid the annual fee, when I could have earned $100 a year for keeping a credit card open (link).

BofA Better Balance Rewards

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New Discover It Chrome Card and Minor Changes to the PayPal Business Debit Card Terms

Discover It Chrome vs Regular

New Discover It Chrome Card and Minor Changes to the PayPal Business Debit Card Terms

In other credit card related news, Discover announced a new version of the Discover It… the Discover It Chrome Card.  I personally like the color better.  The new version of the Discover It credit card now earns 2% cash back on all restaurant purchases and gas station purchases, year round.  There is a cap, however.  You can only earn 2% cash back on the first $1,000 of combined purchases each quarter.

Discover It Chrome Card

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