{"id":7198,"date":"2009-07-13T20:00:26","date_gmt":"2009-07-14T00:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/?p=7198"},"modified":"2009-07-13T20:00:26","modified_gmt":"2009-07-14T00:00:26","slug":"another-reason-to-shop-around-for-the-best-card","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/another-reason-to-shop-around-for-the-best-card\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Reason To Shop Around For The Best Card"},"content":{"rendered":"

It always bugged me the way employer’s in this country have an expectation that you should give them<\/strong> two weeks notice before resigning.\u00a0\u00a0 Certainly, very few employers will give you <\/strong>much notice before laying you off or firing you.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I have been laid off with less than a week’s notice, right before Christmas.\u00a0\u00a0 Furthermore, the “two weeks notice” custom is never much of an issue when they are hiring you in a pinch and they ask you if you can start as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

Fortunately or unfortunately, there is no such concept in the world of credit cards.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You can you cancel your credit card at any time, for any reason, and no one will give you a hard time.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Likewise, your credit card company can cancel you with no notice as well.<\/p>\n

What It Looks Like To Be Canceled
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

You never hear from people who complain that they were sitting at home one day, when they got a letter in the mail saying that their credit card company canceled them.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 People usually find these things out, to their embarrassment, when they attempt to make a purchase.\u00a0\u00a0 That makes sense when you consider that most credit card users are likely to use their card frequently, if not daily.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Even more common are the stories that you hear about your card being canceled while out of town.<\/p>\n

Today in The Consumerist, we are treated to this story<\/a>, about someone who had several Chase credit cards canceled at once.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It goes without saying that the cards were canceled without any notice.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 From the bank’s standpoint, what would be the point of giving notice?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They are canceling you because they no longer wish to incur the risk that you will default on your payments.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Giving you the opportunity to rack up more debt would defeat that purpose.\u00a0 Fortunately for Joey, the subject of the article, he was not traveling out of town when he got cut off.<\/p>\n

Consumerist Draws The Wrong Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

The advice from The Consumerist is merely to fight back with a “polite, professional, and firm” letter.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I disagree.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chase dumped you, and there is no reason to try and go crying back to them.\u00a0\u00a0 Move on, but learn some lessons from this experience.<\/p>\n

Lesson One: You Can Lose Access To Your Cards For Any Reason<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, your credit card company can cancel you, but there are several other ways that your credit card can be invalidated.\u00a0\u00a0 You can lose your card, or just have another card on your account lost.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When that happens, some banks actually have to cancel all<\/strong><\/em> of the cards on that account.\u00a0\u00a0 I am looking at you Capitol One. \u00a0 Sometimes, your magnetic strip dies, and your card is next to useless. \u00a0 Sure, the clerk at the store could enter your numbers in, but I have found that many cashiers are too laze, and will just tell you to use another card.\u00a0 You could also have your credit card number compromised by fraud.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Finally, American Express can just cut you off one day for their Financial Review<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lesson Two: Diversify Your Holdings<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a world where your credit card company can instantly cancel you at any time, for any reason, there is no reason to have 4 of your 5 credit cards with one company.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u00a0 depend on my credit cards as my primary method of payment.\u00a0\u00a0 I don’t carry cash or checks, and I rarely use my ATM card.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In order to ensure that I am not “cut off”, I always carry an American Express and at least one Visa or MasterCard. \u00a0 If I have additional cards, I leave one at home, in case my wallet is lost or stolen. \u00a0 If any company decides to cut me off for no reason, I can instantly whip out a different card and go about my business.<\/p>\n

Lesson Three: Do Not Stockpile Rewards<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the problems Joey had with his Chase cards being canceled was that he was forfeiting part of his rewards. \u00a0\u00a0 This is a major problem I have with\u00a0 some reward programs that essentially hold your reward in trust.\u00a0\u00a0 Your reward may be available at a certain time of the year, like the Costco Amex.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 See pitfalls here.<\/a> In other instances, your reward may be available only when your account is in good standing, like in this example<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 In Joey’s case, the rewards apparently were dispersed only when they reached a certain threshold.\u00a0\u00a0 I have set my Capitol One to disperse at the minimum threshold of $25.\u00a0\u00a0 With my Starwood Amex, I get StarPoints deposited into my account with Starwood Hotels once a month on the day that my statement closes.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In theory, the points are mine to keep even if I never pay my credit card bill.<\/p>\n

Lesson Four: Another Good Reason Not To Carry A Balance<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are a million good reasons to use credit cards as a method of payment, and not a method of finance.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The key is to always pay every bill on time and in full; never carry a balance.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now, there is a million and one reasons as you can easily move from one credit card to another when you don’t have your money tied up in any card for any time longer than your next due date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It always bugged me the way employer’s in this country have an expectation that you should give them two weeks notice before resigning.\u00a0\u00a0 Certainly, very few employers will give you much notice before laying you off or firing you.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I have been laid off with less than a week’s notice, right before Christmas.\u00a0\u00a0 Furthermore, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nAnother Reason To Shop Around For The Best Card<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/another-reason-to-shop-around-for-the-best-card\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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