American Express Cardholder? Hurry Up and Vote in the Members Project

American Express is doing a really cool charity contest called Members Project. The way it works is simple. Am Ex members suggest projects that they think can help the world and then they collectively vote on them. Each Am Ex member who signs up and votes represents $1 that Am Ex will give to the winning project up to $5 million. I voted for DonorsChoose.org, a great charity that allows donors to choose specific projects to fund for kids at schools submitted by their teachers. You too can vote for this great project by registering at http://www.membersproject.com/ and choosing the project that says "Teachers Ask. You Choose. Students Learn." Outside of the great cash back features of my Am Ex Blue card I am proud to be giving something back to the world for spending 30 seconds to register at the site and vote. Hopefully you all will do the same! Be sure to hurry though as voting on the final 5 projects ends on August 7th, 2007. Also please Digg this post to help spread the word!

I Found a Wallet Today and Wells Fargo Wouldn't Help Me Get It Back to the Owner: What Gives?

So today I woke up and went outside (bed head fully intact) to pick up my newspaper. However, when I stepped onto my front lawn I noticed a wallet lying open there. I looked around and didn't see anybody so I went ahead and picked it up. Knowing how frantic I would be if I lost my wallet, I began looking for some way to get in touch with the owner.

Inside the wallet was some cash, a driver's license, a social security card, a Wells Fargo check card, a Saks employee ID, some various store credit cards, and the business cards of the boys Jane Doe met out at the bar last night.

Attempt #1 to return said wallet: I pop onto the Internet and go to whitepages.com. Enter Jane Doe's name. Not listed. Failure.

Attempt #2 to return said wallet: I jump in my car and drive the 10 blocks to the address on the license. I get to the apartment and look at the mail boxes. Jone Doe's box (#1) is blank. All the others have names. I ring the button for apartment #1. No answer. Damn. Failure.

Attempt #3 to return said wallet: I call Wells Fargo and explain the situation. I also explain that I understand they are not likely to be able to give me any information about Jane Doe. I ask may I please leave my contact information with you and can you call and give it to Jane Doe? No we don't do that sir, that is not our policy. Grrrr. Failure.

Attempt #4 to return said wallet: I go online and look up Saks. Thankfully there is only one in my city. I call Saks and ask for Jane Doe. I get connected to the cosmetics department:

Is Jane Doe there?
No she's not in today may I help you?
Well I have her wallet. Can someone call her with my contact information?
Sure let me take that down...

Needless to say 10 minutes later Jane Doe called and got her wallet back. It turns out she lived in an apartment next door and she lost it while chasing her dog through my yard. But what if she didn't work at Saks? Would I have had to give it to the police so it could sit in the lost and found forever? Would she have had to cancel all of her credit cards and get a new license and social security card?

It's all possible because Wells Fargo, which is a bank I am satisfied customer of, has a dumb policy in this regard. Here's just a tiny suggestion. If you want to build loyalty and have customers for life, help them get their wallet back if they lose it. That is if someone calls in and says, "I found a wallet will you please pass my contact information on to your customer?" For heaven's sake do it. I promise if I lost my wallet and you helped me get it back I would be a customer for life. This doesn't just go for Wells Fargo, all you credit card companies out there should be listening.

Getting a Loan? Be Sure to Maximize Your Credit Score First.

At some point in your life you will probably need to get a loan for a house or (hopefully not) a car. When it comes time to do this, the first thing you will want to do is maximize your credit score (e.g. FICO score) in order to minimize your interest rates and/or assure that you qualify for the loan. There are two categories of things you can do to maximize your score: 1) preventative maintenance and 2) close in priming.

Preventative maintenance on your credit score is a general way of life and should be done all the time. The key things you should be doing to make sure you have a high score are:

1. Always pay your bills on time, always. Missed payments kill your score and last a long time.
2. If you have a short credit history and decide you don't need an old credit card anymore (especially your oldest) shred the card but don't close the account. The longer your credit history is, the better your score is likely to be.
3. Don't take out significantly more credit than you need. That means not getting suckered into tons and tons of store credit cards just for a free promo. Four or five credit cards is probably fine (especially if you just kept a couple old accounts open to lengthen your history but don't use them), twenty is not a good idea.
4. Make sure your credit report is accurate. Go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com/ to get your free annual credit report and be sure everything is right. With all the fraud out there today, I definitely recommend doing this once per year.

Close in priming should consist of a couple of things:

1. Pay off your credit card bill the week before your statement closes for a couple of months before you need a big loan. Even if you pay off your card balance in full each month the prior month's balance shows up as money you owe on your credit line. Because credit card companies look at your total debt to your total credit line (called utilization) as a major factor in your score, paying off your card in advance so your balance is very low when you go to request credit will help your score.
2. Don't open a bunch of new cards or accounts before you go to get your big loan. Many recent credit inquiries make you look "credit hungry" and lower your FICO score.

Best Cash Back Credit Cards

Credit cards are generally considered "bad debt" because the interest rates they charge are so high. However, if you pay them off each month (and therefore pay no interest) they can deliver some great perks free. My personal favorite perk is cash back because it is 100% flexible; you are not locked in to any one airline or store like most rewards cards.

Without further adieu here is a list of my favorite cash back credit cards as well as some details about them:

First Place: American Express Blue Cash

• No Annual Fee
• When you spend from $1-$6500 1.0% cash back on everyday purchases (gas, grocery, drugstore) and 0.5% cash back on everything else.
• When you spend $6500+ 5.0% cash back on everyday purchases (see above) and 1.5% cash back on everything else.
• Cash is credited to your account once per year.
• No limit to how much you can earn.

Second Place: Chase Freedom Cash Visa

• No Annual Fee.
• Earn 1% cash back on all purchases.Earn an additional 2% cash back on purchases at Gas Stations, Grocery Stores, and Quick Service Restaurants on the first $600 per billing cycle. After $600 you just earn 1% on the purchases from there.
• If you save $50 you can redeem for $50. If you save $200 you can redeem for $250.
• No limit on how much you can earn.

Third Place: Discover More Card

• No Annual Fee
• $0-$1500 0.25% cash back on all purchases
• $1500-$3000 0.5% cash back on all purchases
• $3000+ 1.0% cash back on all purchases
• You can sometimes increase your award significantly by redeeming for retailer gift certificates. For example, right now you can double your rewards at Carnival Cruise Lines, Hyatt Hotels, Sharper Image, and more. There are nearly 70 partners that will increase your reward if you redeem with them. See the full list here.
• In 4 different categories per year you get 5% cash back typically up to $500 or $1000 in purchases ($25-$50 rebate). Past categories include restaurants one quarter, airfare another, online shopping another.
• Redeem your award anytime you have $20 in rewards.
• No limit to how much you can earn.

To see how these compare I am going to assume you spend $1500 per month on your credit card. Of that $500 is for gas and/or groceries. I will also assume that once per year you spend $500 on the Discover 5% cash back items. The rebate curves are below:

As you can see if you spend much less than $1500 per month then the Chase Visa is your best bet. If you spend much more than $1500 then the American Express Blue Cash becomes the better card. At around $1500 per month you roughly break even (Am Ex is better outright, but Chase is $15 ahead when you include the $250 they will give you for $200 in rewards credit). Note that Discover is far behind, but if you use some of their double reward options they can catch up fast.

Happy shopping!