Credit Card Roll Call – April 2008

Credit Card Roll Call – April 2008

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NHL Credit CardI’ve been wanting to do this again since I eliminated the last of my credit card debt last month.

Should be interesting to see how things fall and how the credit card companies treat/tempt me now that I’m not carrying any balances.

For a recap, here’s how things panned out in previous roll calls:

  » June 2007 Roll Call : Limit = $98500, Balance = $13026

  » January 2008 Roll Call : Limit = $108400, Balance = $8125

I haven’t added any new cards since I started, and really, I haven’t gotten an offer sweet enough to even consider opening a new account. Anyway, here goes:

Bank of America Business MasterCard
Originally an MBNA account before they were bought out by Bank of America, I opened this account in March of 2005 when I started to divide my personal and business expenses and keep track of them separately. Turned out to be a great move as it was shortly there after I realized how much money I was bleeding on business expenses. I do not carry this card, but automatic payments are set-up for business expenses.
Balance: $0
Credit Limit: $26620 (up $2420 since January)
Rate: 9.9%

CitiBank AT&T Universal MasterCard
I opened this account in April of 2007 utilizing a 0% for 12 months offer. I wrote a $6000 check to myself, which I originally dropped into my ING Direct savings account to jump on the “arbitrage” bandwagon. Shortly afterwards, I pulled the money out to finance the siding project. Now paid off, this is the only card I carry in my waller for things like gas.
Balance: $0
Credit Limit: $8500
Rate: 13.48% 11.26%

Chase Bank Visa Card
This was one of my first credit cards. I opened the account in 1998 and it was one of the cards that I ran up a considerable balance on before I got my act together. The highest it ever went was $12905 and that was in October of 2005. By August of 2006, I’d eliminated the balance, but continued to use the card for gas and the occasional purchase. Balance was always paid in full each month. In June of 2007, I took advantage of a 4.9% for the life of the balance offer to fund the siding project. This was the last card with a balance that I paid off.
Balance: $0
Credit Limit: $19200
Rate: 17.27% 15.24%

Bank of America NHL MasterCard
Another of my original credit cards originally opened through MBNA in 1997 for a free t-shirt. This is also another card that I ran up a 5-figure balance on. In May of 2004, it topped out at $10915. By November of 2005, I had wiped the balance out. Now I have my internet service provider automatically bill to this card each month, and like clockwork, I pay back the $42.95 automatically on the same day using an autopay set up from the MBNA days. I do not carry this card and have not carried a balance since November of 2005.
Balance: $0
Credit Limit: $27400
Rate: 20.99% 18.74%

Bank of America Platinum Plus Visa Card
Originally opened in March of 2005 as a failed plan to use balance transfers to consolidate balances at a lower rate. At first I transferred $5000 to this card. Evidently, not having learned my lesson the first time, I transferred another $5000 to this card in March of 2006. Luckily the rate was only 6.25% for both transfers. I wiped out the balance, which topped out at $6925 in March of 2006, in January of 2007. I do not carry this card.
Balance: $0
Credit Limit: $15400
Rate: 18.24%

Bank of America LendingTree GoldOption Loan
This was a loan for $10000 I took out in December of 2002 to, again, consolidate a few balances and put some much needed cash in my hands. At the time, it was LendingTree.com that found me the loan at 9.9%, and when the big check made out to me came in the mail, it was from MBNA. After a couple years of paying it down in regular $226 intervals, MBNA sent me a credit card attached to the account and started treating it like a credit card. With each month, the rate would rise another half percent or so. Not cool. I made my final payment in March of 2005 when the rate had climbed to 13.24%. I do not carry this card and don’t plan to ever use this line of credit.
Balance: $0
Credit Limit: $13700
Rate: 24.99%

So, since January, other than a $0 balance, there isn’t really much to report. I’m a little suprised — I’d expected a little more movement.

My total credit limit increased $2420 and now totals $110820.

Apparently due to the Fed’s interest rate cuts, my card rates have also dropped around 2%. That’s always welcome even if I’m not paying finance charges these days.

Unfortunately, the cards that lowered their rate also happen to be the ones with rates so high that it’s unlikely that I’d choose to use them for a large purchase anyway.

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