Applied for two new credit cards recently for business and personal purposes. Blue from American Express, and a Chase (Bank One) Business Platinum VISA card.

The actual card doesn't look that nice at all...
Blue offered “up to” 15 months 0%, low APR, and reward points.

 

Green, is a horrible color for a credit card.
Chase offered 15 months 0%, and 7.99% thereafter.

 

Got approved and received the Amex yesterday, and the Chase card today. (Applied for them 4/24/05)

Here’s the fun part. American Express gave me a $10,000 credit limit for the Blue, which is LOWER than the student card I have with them. They also tacked me with a higher APR with the Blue, a whopping 16% (compared to 11% with my student card). Now why I would even use this card when I have cards with prime rate boggles my mind. Plus, they didn’t even give me 12 months intro period, they give me 5 months. Five? What the. I won’t be carrying any balance with them, but still, 16%!? Oh well, after the silly intro period, I think I’ll have the two cards consolidated, and see if they can give me better rates. If anything, at least the limits will combine.

Same story with Chase. Got a regular VISA card, not platinum, not even gold. Granted, there’s little difference, and the extra “benefits” aren’t something I’ll need, and not something I care for much. They gave me the 15 months 0%, which is nice… BUT, they gave me a credit limit of $2,500 to use it with. I’m sure we all want a business card with no spending power. At least the rate after intro is acceptable, not that I’m planning to carry any balance with them too. Called to see if I can raise the limit before activation, no go. The guy kept pushing me to get the credit protection plan, I kept telling him no. He didn’t seem to understand NO THANKS.
This is a familiar practice with credit card companies though. I’m not surprised, just a bit amused that it finally happened to me. When you receive and apply for those “Pre-Approve” offers in the mail, or if you choose to apply for a card online/offline base on the rates you see, you may very well get something else that’s different than what you wanted. Lower or higher rates, different intro period, no intro period, different benefits or no benefits, different rewards structures or no reward structures, and at the end, really a completely different card. So read your Cardmember Agreement carefully when you receive the card you applied for, you may find some terms and condition that are completely different than what you thought.

At the end, I’m a bit annoyed. I got more inquries on my credit report for more open credit lines that I probably won’t use after the intro period. Sigh. I figured Chase would at least go near the limits of my other cards. Meh, guess not.