UA Chase Convenience Check Hell
 

Well there goes that.

I've been using UA MP Visa for many many years. I've used their convenience checks associated with my accounts for years as well.

Recently, they changed the fine print attached to their offers removing the $75 transaction fee cap. This according to them was done on only some of their promo mailings and they have said they have been doing it for over a year now.

I called to see if I could get my $600 transaction fee reduced to the former $75 fee or even $100. They immediately transferred me to a manager.

The manager put me on hold then came back on the line and said that because there was no bank error they could not help.

I pointed out that I have over 15 years of history with them and multiple cards, and pay over $200 a year in annual fees. I asked if there was still nothing they could do. Answer was no.

I then asked if she could hear the sound of my MP Visa going through my shredder.

She asked if she could assist in closing my accounts and I said I would do that later after I changed my recurring charges to a new banking relationship.

Hey. It's my fault. I missed the change in the fine print. :mad: Just don't want anyone else to get burned on this.

Good Luck!

Scho

Thanks Scho...that's actually VERY helpful. I just got another batch of checks in the mail yesterday, and most likely wouldn't have re-read the fine print.

Who am I kidding? There's no chance I would have.

I'm trying to reach retention but the systems are "updating" aka down. I hope I can salvage this relationship which is a win-win as far as I can see but who knows.

You can imagine the shock and awe when I logged onto to the web and saw a $600 fee.

Just don't want to see anyone else go down like this.

Scho

These were a very good value actually when the fee was capped at 75. I got a 3.99 life rate late last year and cashed $25k. Try to get that kind of rate anywhere else. One could easily park that money in a 5% savings acct and earn $250 a year.

I received a 4.99 rate this year and reread the fine print and noticed the cap gone. Won't be touching these again anytime soon.

I have NEVER used these checks, but I HAVE, from time to time, looked at the fine print. Even I, a non-user, noticed that the cap on the minimum charge had been lifted! And, I believe that a number of banks are doing this. @:-)

I wonder if the reason is that some users (take a look at the App-o-Rama threads at www.Fatwallet.com, for example) have been playing arbitrage games when they found low- or no-interest rate offers with these checks (and with balance transfers). Perhaps the banks decided to plug the loophole by removing the cap (and not coincidentally, blindsiding users who aren't so careful about reading the T&Cs).

Sorry to hear you'd got burned this way.

I always read the fine print of all the creditcard related offers (convenience checks, balance transfer, cash adcance, new applications..etc.) It's a hard lesson learned not to assume similar offers from the same bank would carry the same terms. Offers can change from time to time.

I did notice Chase had "cleverly" (:rolleyes: ) removed the $75 cap on balance transfer fee in my last couple of offers I received. I've been trying to find a good offer (translating: 0%APR purchase/BT ;) ) for a new cc in the last two months. It seems like a new trend among banks to "uncap" the limit on transaction fees. Some cc offers from Citi bank that I saw from the Sunday paper inserts don't cap at $75 either. Those $75 cap day might be gone very soon. :(

Exactly.

I just terminated 3 of 4 chase products. As soon as I get a new business visa in place I'll kill the 4th.

My products were great. 20K annual mileage for $150 in fees. Plus why let a balance sit on a home equity line at 5% when it can sit for 5-6 months at 0.99% APR.
Cheers,

Scho

Scho

Your math is actually a little bit off here. ;) From your example, your "physical" earn was only $177.50, i.e. $25K X (5%-3.99%)-$75(fee)= $177.50.

However, you were also paying a price. Carrying a $25K balance could have a major impact on your credit score for the whole year. (Of course if you have a very very high income/credit limits, $25K debt may not make any difference.) For some, they have to re-consider if $177.50 is worth the hit on their credit scores.

Now the $75 cap is gone, that kind of deal should turn into no deal at no time. Even you could take the hit of credit score, who in the right mind would pay $997.50 (3.99% APR)+ $750 (3% transaction fee) for a convenience check of $25K and expect to come out with any profit? :confused: I am not sure where to find a bank account with 6.99% APY.

It would actually be less than 177.50 for the first year since you have to pay back 2% per month (+the annual fee), however, since the rate is for the life of the balance you still get paid the next year (and the next), though the profit goes down after a while.

As a college student, I have no need for a good credit score at this point but when I graduate and have paid off the 25k I'm thinking the score will be pretty good.

p.s. I'm not sure what chase was thinking when they gave me a 27.5k credit line.

I would not call these stupidity checks, but, perhaps, suicide checks. Many are those who have had these checks stolen from the mail and cashed. That's why there are efforts to ban them.

Trying to get the 20 or 30K in fraudulent charges off your account can be a little difficult, as the bank does not really want to eat the fraud charges.

My wife had a set of checks stolen from Discover several years ago. While they did eat the costs they did act like they were doing her a favor to check into fraud on a set of checks she did not want nor request. To add insult to injury back then almost all the banks were clearly printing on the envelope that there were blank checks inside! Hello?!?

Here's the even weirder part. The check was used to pay someones rent a couple towns over, yet Discover could never catch the criminal? I mean ..., it's such an open and closed case it should have made News of the Weird.

It's not just Chase. I posted a warning about this a while ago, but I'm sorry it was part of another discussion and not a new thread. I've received checks from several different bank cards in the past few months which all have the fee uncapped.

Wow. Now we know where Chase is getting the money to fund all those $250 Freedom card account sign-up bonuses!

I got a Chase UA Visa for the 20K bonus-- it was just credited today.

I also received two checks- one for a 0.99% rate on transfers until november, and one for 4.99% for the life of the transfer.

The fine print says to please see my cardmember agreement for applicable transaction fees. I have no copy of this handy. I assume this is what you are refering to and this is ....?

thanks

If the checks came on one of those blue mailers, there's some fine print at the bottom of the front page. There should be some wording regarding a 3% fee fee. I noticed on a different offer that I had the the wording that had been removed was in parenthesis...
-----------------
(minumum $5 and maximum $99)
-----------------

If your checks are attached to a statement then the T&C may be in a different place.

If you cannot find the T&C, call before writing a check!!!!!!

Cheers,

Scho

BUT THIS WAS THE EXACT RATES THAT I WAS TRYING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SO BEWARE!!!!!