Chase Freedom Unlimited.
 

Reported by a blog:
http://angelinatravels.boardingarea....675.1455857797

1.5% cash back on all purchases
No annual fee
No rotating categories
Not clear if transferable to Ultimate Rewards

Discuss...

Great for MS if transfer to UR option is retained. Hello Simon malls.....

it appears it'll replace existing freedom card. so it'll probably be UR earning.

1.5% cash back does not mean it is UR earning. Cash back is cash back.

If it is 1.5 UR per dollar then this immediately becomes the best credit card for all unbonused spend - amazing for anyone with high business/personal spend.

If it's just 1.5% cash back then it's useless.

the current Freedom card is marketed by Chase as a cash back card, though.

Chase has ALWAYS marketed the Freedom as it is now as a CB card so them marketing this rumored card as CB means little. Until we see who the rewards actually work is when we can tell

+1.

Agree with all the above. However, this seems very worrisome.

Why would Chase do this?

If it's just 1.5X which generates UR, then yeah, that would be awesome - for us - but it would be extremely costly for Chase. Do you think Chase would be foolish enough to do that? Look at their track record with other cards. Look at their recent (and increasing) restrictions on CC signup bonuses. They know all about this "hobby." Does it seem likely they would expose themselves to that? Why would they provide such a big potential benefit for a no-fee card?

Ideally, this would be considered a new product (so one could get a bonus for signing up), and the "Classic" Freedom would retained/grandfathered forever, with it's current benefits. That's what I'd love to see. But I highly doubt that's what'll happen - that seems like it would run completely counter to Chase's track record as well as its recent behavior.

I'll remain hopeful until we know more. But I got a bad feeling about this...

Agree. With all the Chase crackdowns especially on UR cards I think it's a bit naive to think this will be a UR card. I suspect we're looking at 1.5% straight cash.

It does seem like it's possible to offer 1.5 UR per regular dollar spent. There's plenty of cards out there that give a full 2% cash back. There's no way that giving everyone 1.5 UR per dollar costs them more than 2% cash back. What's the number of people that transfer transfer them anywhere? It has to be very small.

I'm trying not to get my hopes up and I'm just assuming it's going to be 1.5% cash back only. Because 1.5 UR per dollar would be unbelievable for me with high spend.

I think they chose 1.5% to better compete with Capital One & Discover.

I think they will allow the points to be transferred to other Ultimate Rewards accounts to again catch up with American Express. American Express issues three cards which offer more than 1 Membership Rewards point per dollar for general spending. The Chase product would appear to be simpler, which is what you need to do when you are offering a "me too" product.

The interesting aspect to me, is whether they will force convert existing Freedom cards to the new one. That's what they have done before, although it takes years to complete. If not, will they allow conversions to this product without an application, or will they loosen their 5 cards in 24 months policy for this card? New product introductions would seem to be hampered by this unpublished policy.

I guess it depends on what proportion of charges on current freedom cards are 5x vs. 1x.

IF this card actually becomes a reality,this is the part that would most concern me and probably many others who actively play the credit card game. If Chase enforces the 5/24 policy, this new card may be unavailable to us.

In my case, I basically only use Freedom for the 5% categories,with an occasional non-bonus transaction for good measure!

That may be the point of the 5/24 rule unfortunately.

All product conversions I've done with Chase have not required an application. Is the process different with new cards?