If you have a Chase Freedom credit card (whether it’s a VISA or MasterCard), you’ve probably got a similar mailing in your mail box.  As you can tell above, I have too many Chase Freedom cards (although some of them are duplicate ones, I have a strange habit of keeping credit cards that are long-since expired).

Before you start thinking I went crazy with the credit card sign-ups, Chase basically converted all my credit cards to their “Freedom” lineup through out the years, as they consolidated their credit card program under their flagship card product and revamp their reward programs to the “Ultimate Reward” structure.

This is just a friendly reminder to anyone that may also have had their Chase credit card converted to a Chase Freedom card.  For the summer of 2010, you’ll get 5% cash back on travel related purchases, which in fact is a pretty sweet deal.

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Anyone that has been denied credit will remember the added-on fine print at the end of the denial letter telling you that you can receive a free credit report from a specific credit reporting agency.  Sometimes this will require you to mail in a written response to request the free credit report, sometimes it will be as simple as logging on to the reporting agency’s website and fill in a few information.

While it’s little solace to being denied credit (let’s face it, rejection blows), Federal law dictates that you should be given clear reason as to why you’ve been denied, and free access to your credit report so you better understand your credit history.

One problem in the previous solution is that by providing consumer with only their credit report, many people couldn’t make heads or tails on where they stand in terms of credit worthiness.  Unless you’ve read up on your credit report know-hows, it can be at times difficult to distinguish what’s positive or negative — if any — in your list of credit history.

Hot on the heels of numerous financial regulation reform and amendments, Senator Mark Udall of Colorado introduced the Fair Access to Credit Scores Act as an amendment to the hotly debated Wall Street Accountability legislation.  This amendment, which was approved by a voice vote by the Senate on Monday, will allow consumers to receive a free credit score whenever the score has negatively impacted the lending/approving decision process.

Here’s what you can expect if the amendment becomes part of law:

• If you’re denied credit or approved for a more disadvantaged rate, then you’ll have free access to your credit score.
• The credit score you’ll have access to is the specific score that impacted you in the decision making process, not some random score from an unknown company or credit reporting bureau, nor would it be a range of score.  Since most lenders are still using FICO scores, the leading credit scoring model, that means it would most likely be the credit score you’ll receive and not some “FAKO” score.
• No maximum amount or limit to the amount of scores you can get for free.  If you’re denied credit by lenders fifteen times, you’ll get fifteen scores. Though one prudent move may be to closely examine why your credit isn’t up to par before you apply for further loans.
• If credit score was one of the many factors in denying a potential employment, you will also receive a free credit score.  You should note however that credit report is but one of many hiring factors for many employers.

Despite the fact that FIA (formerly MBNA, now owned by Bank of America), told me to bend over as they slashed my credit limit on my Schwab credit card, I still prefer to use the Schwab credit card as my primary card.  It’s just too hard to ignore the 2% cash back on any purchase, and especially the absolutely zilch foreign transaction fee when you use the card while traveling abroad.

While in Italy last month, I extensively used this credit card along with my Schwab debit card as my traveling pals and I roam around tourist traps in a decisively awesome country:

As you can see above, had the Schwab credit card emulated other Visa, MasterCard, and American Express credit card’s usual 3% foreign transaction fee,  my traveling cost would have went up by an additional $21 or so dollars.  Not a whole lot of money in the grand scheme of things, but that’s still three-and-a-quarter-less margherita pizza I’d be able to eat.

And that, my friends, is what personal finance should truly be about: how many slices of pizza you may be missing out on.

 
Clearly, the credit crisis has done a number to the credit card industry, making the competition become a little tougher among credit card companies. In the past, credit card holders could earn substantial rewards with the kind of programs available through companies like Visa, MasterCard, Discover Card and Citibank. Back then, you could receive significant savings from online purchases when you register your reward credit card to earn points or from a cash back credit card that credits you a cash bonus on a regular basis.

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Some stuff are just better when served cold.  Ice cream. Sushi. Revenge.

There was a joke somewhere in there, linking cold stuff to freezing credit reports, but if you’re reading up on credit freeze because of identity theft problems, the last thing you’d probably want is a lame joke from an online financial nerd.

Fair enough. Here’s a complete breakdown on credit freeze, links to the major credit reporting agency (credit bureau) so you can request a freeze, and links to the fees for freezing your credit reports.

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Ever since Experian and Fair Isaac stopped offering an Experian based FICO score to consumers, I’ve had a large, unfulfilled hole in my life. The woe and despair that I felt was equivalent to having my dinner stolen from me after spending a good hour preparing and making omurice.

Thankfully, the good folks at Quizzle.com came to the rescue, pulling me from the depths of depression, providing me hope and courage to make another Japanese dish for dinner.

Quizzle.com is a free web service from Quicken Loans (formerly Rock Financial Corporation) that provides you with a free credit report, score, home value and budgeting tools.  I’ve wrote a review on Quizzle about 7 months ago, and in that review, I went over most aspect of the service.  If you’re interested, check the review out.

What I neglected to mention in the review was that Quizzle provides you with a free credit report and score every six months and that the credit report and credit score is based on your Experian report.  So for those of us that are looking for a free source to get an Experian-based credit score, Quizzle.com is the perfect place to visit.

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In a lovely Valentine’s gift to consumers, Experian has decided to pull out of its agreement with Fair Isaac and will no long allow Fair Issac to sell FICO scores based on Experian’s data to consumers.

This is actually a fairly big deal, as lenders will continue to be able to get FICO score based on Experian reports through Fair Isaac, but consumers won’t be able to do the same.   It puts us, the consumers, at a fairly big disadvantage — especially when we apply for credit from a lender that uses Experian’s data to determine credit worthiness.  Want to check your FICO score based on Experian before you apply for credit?  Not gonna happen.

The decision by Experian will come into full effect on Feburary 14, 2009.  So if you need your Experian FICO score for whatever reason, you should check your Experian FICO score now before it’s too late. (Discount code for 20% off is embedded in the link, appears at checkout).

You may recall that just about a month ago, I applied for a Schwab 2% cash back Visa card.

Every time I apply for a financial product that requires credit approval, a little bit of anxiety builds up.  Will I be approved? Will I get rejected?  The horrendous waiting-for-an-answer just like when I tried to ask this one girl to the co-ed dance back in high school… maybe if I had shown her my credit report, she would have said yes…

After weeks of waiting and the occasional checking of the application status, I received an approval message from the online application query tool:

A few days later, I received the card and account related literature in the mail:

A credit line of $5,000 was enough to get me the Visa Signature benefits, which is nothing too special as a Signature card has its pro and cons — but I was a bit surprised by the semi-low credit limit granted to me.  Though I rarely spend more than $5,000 per month, there are occasions where I may need to spend over that amount (e.g., buying plane tickets for group of family or friends for a trip).

Hopefully FIA will find it in their grace to increase my credit limit in the future, or I’ll be testing out the no pre-set spending limit “feature” of a Visa Signature card.

All in all, the process was just like applying at any major credit card issuers. FIA Card Service (formerly MBNA) made the process fairly seamless, and integrated their system for the Schwab brand well enough.

After receiving the Schwab Invest First Visa, I promptly opened a Schwab One brokerage account (another inquiry to the credit history), and soon enough linked the Schwab One account to the Invest First Visa card, for future cash-back accumulation (you can do this in the credit card’s online account access).

Because the Invest First Visa card is issued and administered by FIA Card Service, some people may get slightly confused as they’re required to use a different website (schwabbankcreditcard.com) to access their card’s online account services.

Look for a possible full review on the Schwab Invest First Visa in the future where I’ll go over all the nooks and crannies of this cash back credit card.

If you have any question about this particular credit card, feel free to ask. Great wise Cap will steal other people’s answer and copy/paste it in for you.