Credit Card Roll Call – May 2013

So it’s been 3 years since I last did this, which kinda disappoints me because I like constant and plentiful data…

Bank of America Business MasterCard
Limit: $26580 | Rate: 9.99% | Account Opened in 2005
This is the credit card that I use for all of my business related purchases. For a long time my personal spending and business spending all came from the same pool but obtaining this credit card put an end to that. My income is all still flowing into one pool but my expenses are clearly divided.

Bank of America MasterCard
Limit: $14000 | Rate: 12.99% | Account Opened in 1997
I have no clue where this credit card is. Physically, it’s probably in the still un-opened envelope it arrived in buried in one of my big “piles of stuff”. As such, as I became quite certain that it was slated to be my next plastic casualty due to lack of use (where the account would close automatically), so I recently used one of those convenient checks — which I still receive in the mail on a near weekly basis — to show some “activity” and keep the line open.

A little bit of credit card advice — don’t let your accounts evaporate.

Citi AT&T Universal Rewards World MasterCard
Limit: $12500 | Rate: 17.99% | Account Opened in 2007
This is the card that I use for day-to-day purchases when I don’t have cash in my back pocket. The ony reason it’s the card on top is because it offers the best rewards — rewards I haven’t taken advantage of for years now cause they tend to be, well, less than exciting…

Slate from Chase VISA
Limit: $19200 | Rate: 18.24% | Account Opened in 1998
I have a sticker on the front and back of this card that says “GAS ONLY”. It’s not a gas card — just a regular old credit card — but I did that to shame myself from using it for any other purchases. I’m pretty disciplined anyway but this really keeps me from running up multiple (and un-payable) balances.

You’d also think that 15 years of loyal use (and on-time payments) would be rewarded with a more competitive rate. Clearly, that isn’t how they operate. My oldest card is also my worst.

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It’s funny to me that my current line-up is predominently MasterCard.

For reasons unknown, possibly because it’s what my parents usually carried, when I think of a credit card, VISA is what comes to mind first.

I know I had at least one, and possibly five or six, VISA cards in the past but they’ve all apparently now fallen victim to various bank mergers and automatic account closures due to inactivity.

Hmmmm… Might be time to seek out a VISA card with CapitalOne…

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Here’s the recap of past roll calls:

» Jun 2007 : Limit = $98500, Balance = $13026
» Jan 2008 : Limit = $108400, Balance = $8125
» Apr 2008 : Limit = $110820, Balance = $0
» Dec 2008 : Limit = $111820, Balance = $0
» May 2009 : Limit = $98420, Balance = $0
» Apr 2010 : Limit = $69320, Balance = $0
» May 2013 : Limit = $72280, Balance = $0

Looks like an upswing!