Bofa/Fia Reportedly Ending 2% Cash Back Rewards Credit Card

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

In reading some banking forums lately, it seems that various holders of the very popular former Charles Schwab 2% cash back VISA credit card, which for the past year has been managed by FIA Card Services, a unit of Bank of America, have been getting letters from the bank indicating that the 2% flat rewards feature for all purchases will be ended effective Oct. 31, 2011.

According to the various forum reports, BofA is planning to replace the current Schwab credit cards with their own BofA branded credit cards, including issuing new card numbers, that have a lesser rewards/benefits package: specifically, 1% cash back on retail purchases, 2% on groceries and 3% on gas, with caps on the eligible rewards amounts under groceries and gas. Also, they reportedly are reducing the card's travel insurance coverage and eliminating two other benefits, theft recovery and price protection.

From the various accounts of customers who have received the BofA letter thus far (and I haven't as yet), it's not clear what will be the future status of the former Schwab card's feature of having no foreign currency fee on purchases. From the cardholder accounts I've read recapping the BofA letter, there's been no specific mention of any change on that one issue -- although most if not all of BofA's other credit cards do charge foreign currency fees, AFAIK.

http://www.fivecentnickel.com/2010/09/21/the-future-of-the-schwab-visa-cash-back-credit-card/

[el jefe]

I got the letter. No details about fees. I assume they will charge a foreign currency fee. I already have a Capital One card that doesn't charge a fee. I'll be using that one much more often. I'll also be getting the Fidelity Amex card for it's 2% rebate, but I doubt that will last long.

As for the Schwab/FIA card, as others have said, it was "the best card ever" and great while it lasted.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Cap One, in addition to its no foreign currency fee advantage, also has a 1% cash back "Cash Rewards" card, among the various different credit cards they offer. I believe that one also includes a once a year add-on bonus....

I'm trying to remember correctly... I'm thinking that the Fidelity AMEX card, while offering the 2%, also has a 1% foreign currency charge.... Is that right? So if so, that would kind of offset the cash back advantage when used abroad.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Yep.. as I recalled, the terms and conditions document for the Fidelity AMEX credit cards does say they have a 1% foreign currency fee...Not sure whether it's charged separately or simply passed along via a reduced exchange rate.

https://www.applyonl...entry?sc=VAA457

There's also a certain irony here... I noticed in looking at the Fidelity info...that their rewards credit card program is administered by none other than FIA Card Services....read... BofA... the same folks who are killing off the 2% rewards feature on the former Schwab card.

So effectively, the foreign currency fee charge on the Fidelity card would offset the 2% cash back feature and seem to make it similar to the Cap One Cash Rewards card...

Although.... the Cap One card also offers a once a year 50% bonus on the cardholder's rewards amount, effectively raising their return to 1.5%....

http://www.capitalon...ds-credit-card/

Edited September 26, 2011 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[vagabond48]

I started a thread about the problem booking Air Asia using a USA credit card. This got me thinking about my soon to be defunct Schwab CC. Any other suggestions on replacing it.

. visa issued not mastercard

. no annual fee

. for use primarily in Asia

. no foreign exchange fee

. or if there is a foreign exchange fee, it is offset by an equal or greater cash discount

. optionally allow a foreign mailing address. I have a US address if it is needed

Am I dreaming or do they still exist?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I'd say the Cap One Platinum Visa card...and/or Cash Back Rewards Visa.

no annual fee, VISA logo, no FCF, 1% cash back, with I believe, a 50% annual cash back bonus...

Only issue with them is, they're very fussy about maintaining a U.S. account address of record... And, you need to re-renotify them periodically of your foreign travel to avoid sudden and unexpected card declines.

Another good choice, if you want to join the Pentagon FCU, which is open to the general public, is their Promise VISA card... No annual fee, no FCF, very low revolving interest rate...I believe 7.9%, and frequent balance transfer offers for the life of the balance of 4.9%. But no cash back on that card.

PFCU has other cards that do have cash back, but not as good rates and terms. And they just changed to make all their credit cards no FCF.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

A bit of an update here on Bank of America's replacement card for the former Schwab/FIA card services credit card holders...

I finally got my replacement card in the mail lately, and it's branded as a BofA Cash Rewards VISA card, which has -- as described above -- a 1% cash back on all purchases, 2% cash back on groceries and 3% on gasoline purchases (with the bonus 2% and 3% amounts capped at applying to the first $1500 purchases in each calendar year quarter)..

But curiously, among the probably half dozen different letters I've received from BofA on this, including the ones with my new card, none of them have included any information about the fees associated with the new card, such as whether or not it carries a Foreign Currency Fee on purchases.

So today I called BofA, and after a LONG wait on hold, got a credit cards rep who, after hearing my question and checking a bit, replied with the answer that the new cards for former Schwab credit card holders will NOT carry any foreign currency fee.

I found that a bit hard to believe, and considering the accuracy of advice given by a lot of bank CSRs, I pressed the woman in several different ways on the subject. No, she couldn't point me to anyplace online to document that. No, the fees info wasn't among the info they mailed out. And yes, all of BofA's other credit card products carry a 3% foreign currency fee.

But the rep insisted that BofA was keeping the Schwab card fees structure the same for people who have been converted to the BofA Cash Rewards card -- even though she acknowledged that regular (non-Schwab) customers with that same BofA Cash Rewards card would have the 3% FCF.

She promised to mail me a full document of the fees schedule for the Schwab version of the BofA Cash Rewards card. So we'll see soon if that document back up her promises.

But meanwhile, I notice, no one here in this thread has posted about using the new BofA Cash Rewards card since receiving theirs and given any direct personal experience about whether they incurred any FCF or not.

If the new BofA card really doesn't have any FCF, does have a 1% cash back across the board and 2% back for grocery purchases, it would work out to be as good a value as the similar Capital One offerings... That's IF what the BofA rep advised is really true.

And, according to the various other BofA paperwork I received, the replacement card does still have various other benefits, including purchase protection, travel and emergency assistance, auto rental collision damage waiver, common carrier travel accident, death and dismemberment insurance up to $250,000, and various other lesser VISA type perks.

Unlike the Cap One CC's though, BofA's documents for the Schwab replacement cards indicate they'll only process cash back requests when the amount requested reaches at least $25. At that point, you can request a statement credit to your card, a mailed check, or a funds transfer to a checking or savings account.

They also say they'll offer a 10% bonus (i.e. 1.1% back) if the xfer is into a BofA checking or savings account, and also a way to automatically (without you having to make a specific request) have the cash back transferred to BofA whenever you reach the $25 amount, which then would become $27.50 because of the 10% bonus.

Edited December 24, 2011 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

So, to put it briefly, surely someone out there has used their cursed BofA replacement card since receiving one? What about the FCF for that card?

[vagabond48]

I have it too. Unless, I read otherwise, I will assume this card will charge 3% foreign exchange fee. I have the PenFed CU which also has a 1% cashback and NO foreign exchange fee. The one thing I don;t like about the PFCU CC is they take 2 to 3 business days to log the purchases. Even the balance update takes at least 1 business and if you purchase over the weekend add up to another 2 day delay. Hard to believe in the 21th century.

Edited December 26, 2011 by vagabond48

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Hey Vagabond... Haven't seen you around the banking circles for awhile... Good to hear from you again.

It's interesting how different banks and CUs seem to have different lag times for posting purchases/withdrawals to your account.

I have a lot of cards where if I make a purchase or ATM withdrawal here, by the time I ride home on the BTS, the transaction has already posted to my account. But I also have a few....that are as slow as you mention.

Meanwhile, it's really good that PenFed recently removed the foreign currency fee from most or all of their credit card products. Their Promise card has no cash back, but a terrific interest rate for anyone carrying balances. Their regular Platinum VISA has the cash back, but a higher but still very reasonable APR rate. The Promise card never carried a FCF, but the Platinum VISA did until recently having it removed.

As for BofA, it's going to take me awhile to receive their mailed statement of card fees, assuming they do as they promised. If you get the chance, if it's not inconvenient, you might consider giving BofA a call and asking them the same question about FCF for their former Schwab, now BofA Cash Rewards card. Be interesting to hear what they would say.

[vagabond48]

Hey Vagabond... Haven't seen you around the banking circles for awhile... Good to hear from you again.

As for BofA, it's going to take me awhile to receive their mailed statement of card fees, assuming they do as they promised. If you get the chance, if it's not inconvenient, you might consider giving BofA a call and asking them the same question about FCF for their former Schwab, now BofA Cash Rewards card. Be interesting to hear what they would say.

Thanks. I'm usually not a thread starter but I am happy to add my take on some issues. When I 1st found out about the change of CC from (old Schwab) to BIA, I called BiA and one rep told me that my card had the 3% foreign exchange fee but as we all know, if you ask the same question to multiple reps, you may not get the same answer. It was the same when awhile back I asked Fidelity if Visa charged a fee for using their DC and they would said a number of times yes when no fee was charged based on the exchange rate I got.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

As for BofA, it's going to take me awhile to receive their mailed statement of card fees, assuming they do as they promised. If you get the chance, if it's not inconvenient, you might consider giving BofA a call and asking them the same question about FCF for their former Schwab, now BofA Cash Rewards card. Be interesting to hear what they would say.

Regarding the BofA Cash Rewards credit card that has replaced the former Schwab Bank and FIA Card Services VISA credit cards, today in the mail I received the paper copy of the full account terms and conditions document for the new BofA credit card that people holding the old Schwab card have received.

And indeed, true to the word of the BofA CSR I spoke with on the phone some time back (which seems to rarely happen), the document makes no mention of any kind of foreign currency fees or transaction charges associated with the card.

However, the document does spell out a variety of other typical charges, including a range of 3% surcharges for all kinds of other activities, including regular cash advances and over-the-counter bank counter withdrawals.

So for anyone holding that card, even though it appears to have no foreign currency fee or transaction charge, you'd still pay an extra 3% if you tried to use that card to do a bank counter withdrawal in Thailand (or in the U.S. for that matter). And likewise, you'd pay an extra 3% if you used the credit card to withdraw any cash from an ATM in Thailand or anywhere else including the U.S.

But really, as long as you use the new BofA Cash Rewards card in the typical way of using a credit card for regular purchases even in Thailand, it should be fine. From all indications, no foreign currency or transaction fee.

Again, this is just in regards to the special BofA Cash Rewards card issued to those who used to have the Charles Schwab Bank 2% cash back VISA credit cards. All the other regular BofA credit cards, AFAIK, have some levels of foreign currency fees, typically 3%.

[vagabond48]

I finally got the BOA credit card that replaced the former Schwab/FIA CC. I have already used it a number of times and I can confirm that this card does NOT charge any foreign exchange fees. The exchange rate for baht purchases I am getting is pretty close to the one on x-rates.com. One early purchase was an item that I got on eBay for an euro amount. I was surprised to see that the dollar price conversion on BOA was $13.70 while eBay had it at approx $13.30. Upon researching the reason, I found out that Paypal charges a foreign exchange fee of 3%. In the future, when paying through Paypal, I'll use my bank account instead of my CC.

I am also thinking of getting a Cap One Cash CC but I was wondering if the foreign exchange rate for Mastercard is equal to Visa. I have always heard that the conversion rate you get for MC's DC was far worse than Visa's DC.

Edited February 14, 2012 by vagabond48