How Not To Improve Your Credit Score – AND Lower Your Self-Esteem!

Before this starts to sounds like a lot of whining, I should explain that recently I've been focused on improving my credit score.

I had fallen below the 760 level over the last six months because of a ton of new inquires and new accounts. So my goal was to prop my score back up to at least 760 - if not back into the 800 territory.

Why? Pure vanity. There is no other logical reason. I'm not buying a house anytime soon and I have all the consumer credit I could ever use. So since there are no dings on my credit history - why should I care right?

I'm a numbers guy, I get fixated. It's my vice.

So in looking through my cards I noticed that my Old Navy Card had a limit so low it was dragging my average card balance down substantially. It has a $600 limit.

So I called Old Navy and asked them to bump it up a little bit. I've been an account holder for years now and I've faithfully paid my bill in full every single month (average balance is like $60). I assumed they'd be falling over themselves to give me a $10,00 line of credit for board shirts and tank tees!

Wrong.

I was denied and I got this letter in the mail explaining their decision:

"Dear Thrifty Expat,

GE MONEY BANK has reviewed your recent request to increase the credit line on your Old Navy credit card account.

Your request has been denied for the following reason(s):

Insufficient information to determine bureau score

Our decision was based in part on a credit scoring system that was used to predict your creditworthiness. The reason(s) listed above indicate the credit characteristics where you did not score well in relation to other customers.

Some information used to make this decision was obtained from the credit reporting agency listed below. This reporting agency did not make this credit decision and is unable to provide you with the specific reason(s) for our action.

Equifax
1550 Peachtree Street
Maildrop H -13
Atlanta, GA 30309
1-800-685-1111

Sincerely,
GE MONEY BANK "

I have so many questions:

1. What does "Insufficient information to determine bureau score" mean and why is that my fault? Doesn't that sound like a computer glitch?

2. Why do they repeatedly write GE MONEY BANK in capital letters?

3. Why do I feel like I'm the last kid on the playground to get picked for kick-ball. I mean - I have an open offer for an American Express Platinum Card and Old Navy Credit won't give me more than $600 to spend in their stupid-store?

Bitter? Yes I am.

The sad part is I will keep this card because my wife keeps buying stuff from them once a month and they give $10-off coupons when I spend like a million* dollars - which is very very difficult to do $600 at a time.

* approximately

The Merit of Giving Out Teen Debit Cards

I remember when I got my first job and had to pay the bank $5 every other week to cash a check. Eventually I got sick of it ($5 was a hefty portion of my check back then) and started working on getting my own account. I was 16.

Being 16 I had to have a parent open the account and I distinctly remember that my Father was very hesitant about giving me this freedom. After all, he had to co-sign the account.

Fast-forward several years later and we arrive at the point where I recently set up an account for my not-quite-14-and-a-half-year-old daughter. Not just a checking account, but a checking Account with a Visa Debit Card.

At 14 my daughter has the power of plastic and the responsibility of a checking account. How far we have come.

We don't give her money - she has to earn it. So what started out as a an account with quite bit of Christmas money, quickly dwindled to nothing by Valentine's Day, but the lessons are still being learned.

Not only does my daughter check her account regularly to make sure she knows exactly how much she has, she also is learning a lesson or two about the international financial markets. In addition to checking her account balance, she also checks the currency rates before heading out to the store or the mall.

The only way I could be more proud is if she set up her own Microsoft Money Account.

We've also found other uses for this. When she recently went to London - we padded her account with some money and let her take that out as needed. What was left-over - we took back at the end of her trip.

I also ordered her an additional credit card for the credit card that I primarily use. That one stays locked up in the safe and hasn't been used yet, but the purpose will be for school trips and other times when she's not with us and might possibly need to buy something expensive. (Heaven forbid!)

For all the rest of her purchasing needs, she has a Visa Debit card and she got it years before I did. Hopefully she'll make better use of it than I did.

You know...

When she has money in it again.

A Letter From Capital One

What I once hailed as a great card for those of us overseas, has now turned ugly. I had written before about my good experiences with Capital One, my bad experiences with Capital One - and my frustrations.

On a previous post on Capital One I said that I was contesting what they meant by "The profitability of your account at your current purchase rate" as being a reason for denying me more credit.

And then I got this letter from Capital One:

"February 19, 2009

RE: Creditor: Capital One Bank (USA), N. A.

Dear [ThriftyExpat]:

Your recent correspondence requested additional information regarding a declined request for a credit limit increase. We are sorry to advise that we are upholding the decision on your account.

If you have any additional concerns that you would like to have addressed, you can contact the following credit reporting agencies directly:

<.....>

If you have questions regarding your account, please give us a call at <....>. Our Customer Service Representatives are available 24 hours a day. 7 days a week.

Sincerely,
Capital One Bank (USA), N.A."


Hell yeah I had questions. Really only one: "What do I need to do, and how long it will it take, to raise my credit limit with Capital One?"

Ok - that was two questions.

Truth be told, I ended up tossing this card towards the back of the desk drawer and I'm only using my Charles Schwab Bank Visa now. It's not worth the hassle using Capital One.

I have been getting zero percent transfer offers recently from Capital One, with no fees and at my current interest rate (which is the second lowest of 15 credit cards). Maybe they miss me?

More Ways To Avoid The Foreign Currency Transaction Fee

I found another card that claims to not charge any foreign currency transaction fees.

The card is the E*Trade Rewards Platinum Visa® Card but honestly the best feature it has looks to be the fact that it does not charge you a fee when you use the card outside the U.S.

Their interest rates look reasonable (although I counted 5 different possible interest rates they could charge you), there's no annual fee, and they have some sort of rewards program that lets you trade points for free brokerage trades using E*Trade, or travel rewards.

Yawn.

Except for the fact that they do not charge a foreign currency fee, I see very little other benefits.

But I would like to support them because I still believe that more cards should drop this fee.

The Charles Schwab Visa – Second Complaint

You get the bad with the good.

So far my only complaint about the Charles Schwab Visa was that it is not compatible with MS Money. (They say they are, but they’re really not.) I still really like this card because they don't charge you that foreign currency transaction fee that almost all other banks do.

Now I have a second complaint. I looked ahead and it looks like my first statement will cycle on March 5th. That gives me a payment due-date of 30 March. Since I get paid on the 31st of the month, I called Charles Schwab to see if they could move back my payment due date by one day.
I’ve done something similar to this before with other banks (USAA moved the due date by 15 days once) so I know it’s possible.

Chuck Schwab said “Sure – but it will take 2-3 billing cycles to take effect”.

I asked: “So I have to pay this bill on the 30th of March and I can’t pay it on the 31st?”

“That’s Right” she said.

“But in two months I can pay it on the 31st? Just not this month?”

“That’s correct.”

It’s not a big deal, and truth-be-told it’s almost not worth mentioning – other than in my mind it knocks their previously impeccable customer service rating down a notch. How hard would it have been to add one day to this one cycle? Even two cycles - I don't see the big deal.

But they are still better than Capital One.

UPDATE - 18 March:

Two weeks after I first asked them to move the due date - they did it. My new statement date is two weeks later (I was really only looking for two days) and it was effective my very first statement.

Why the lady gave me a hard time on the phone I'm not sure... Maybe she was managing expectations.

Anyway - I can take this off the complaint list. So far - only real complaint is Charles Schwab is not really compatible with MS Money's software. Which is just killing me.

Further Support for the Schwab Visa

Recently we were at Real buying phone cards (because when you purchase from Real, you get extra minutes for free with the Play cell phone service) and I decide to try out the exchange rates for my new Charles Schwab Visa. So I bought two cards at the same time - one with my trusty USAA MasterCard and one with my new Charles Schwab Visa.

This is what I found (I know it’s not scientific):

-The Exchange rate that I got for cash from the embassy (for government employees only) was 3.642.

-For the 50zl charge, USAA charged me $13.57 ($13.44 for the purchase plus a foreign currency fee of $0.13). Their ROE was 3.720 (plus $.13)

-For the 50zl charge, Schwab charged me $13.42 (vice $13.44 from USAA). Their ROE was 3.725 but with no extra fee.

For this transaction alone: USAA at the end of the year will give me 13 cents back – Schwab at the end of the month will give me 27 cents back.

Total end cost of the transaction shows USAA will give me that 50zl phone card for $13.44 whereas Schwab would give it to me for $13.15.

If I didn't lose you with the incredibly boring numbers - The Charles Schwab Visa is blowing away its closest competitor, IMHO. Their biggest flaw still is that they don't allow you to sync with MS Money... But if I'm paying less everytime I use the card- I guess I can take the trade-off.

Yet Again, Not Happy With Captial One

Several months ago my wife and I quit going to Oh-Sushi, our then-favorite restaurant for Sushi. The reason we quit going wasn’t the food, but the fact that every time I used my Capital One card, I was being charged in U.S. Dollars (at a really bad exchange rate) rather than being charged in Polish Zloty.

They claimed that the machine processed the transaction automatically and there was nothing they could do about it. While I would have liked to believe them, I never had a problem before – so I wrote about it and we just stopped going to that restaurant. We found another Sushi place that took my Capital One card and always charged me in PLN rather than USD.

I was ready to write it off as an uncooperative merchant, but recently I went with a big group of people to another restaurant in Wilanow called Castello’s. I paid for the whole bill with my Capital One card and imagine my shock when I went to sign for eh card and noticed that they had already converted the Exchange rate for me into USD – at a really terrible rate (3.25 vs. the rate of the day which was closer to 3.75).

I was a bit livid and tore into the guy for charging me in USD. He insisted (and I believe him) that the machine automatically calculated the amount, probably based on the fact it was a US Dollar-based credit card.

I started to see a pattern. So I went back to Castello's this past weekend and paid with my shiny new Charles Schwab card. There was no problem paying in Polish Zloty and I got the fair exchange rate and presumably I will get back the full 2% back in cash rebates.

I cannot find anything about this online, but it looks to me that Capital One and Polcard have an agreement that in some establishments (possibly limited to certain restaurants), the credit card will be charged in the base currency of card. Polcard makes a substantial profit from the crappy exchange rate, and I assume that somehow there is an incentive for Capital One because they do not charge a foreign currency transaction fee.

This is yet another reason to ditch my Capital One card. I unfairly blamed the restaurants, but now I see this is definitely a problem with the credit card company – specifically Capital One.

My advice - If you do use a Capital One card overseas - carefully monitor how you are being charged. If ever given the option select the local currency, and if not given the option - use another credit card.

My Take on the Charles Schwab Visa

Not too long ago I wrote about the new (at least new for me) Charles Schwab Bank Visa Card. It's two biggest advantages are that it does not charge that evil foreign currency transaction fee, and it will pay you 2% back on all purchases.

Right after I wrote about it - I applied for one. I couldn't resist.

Here's what I found:

-I applied for the card over the internet, but it told me that they would have to review my application and get back to me. I thought that was a nice way of saying that I had been declined, but a couple of weeks later I did get a shiny new card in the mail.

-8 months ago Capital One issued me a card with a ridiculously low credit limit. I feared that this was a reflection on my credit rating. It turns out Capital One just sucks - Charles Schwab gave me a credit limit 7 1/2 times that of what Capital One gave me no questions asked.

-When I got the card, I made multiple calls and the people on the other end were sooo friendly! They answered every question they could to my utmost satisfaction. One lady even recognized that I had called earlier. That was actually a nice touch.

-The interest rate is pretty high compared to other cards that I have, but I don't plan to carry a balance. They don't have any annual fees, and did I mention that they don't charge the foreign currency transaction fee?!?

My only disappointment came the first night when I was trying to sync with MS Money. When I was checking out the card I read on their website: "Users of Intuit's Quicken or Microsoft's Money can quickly download their Schwab Bank account information to their computers for more convenient management of their finances."

When I called and asked why I couldn't get my software to sync, the dude on the other end told me that I could only download once a month after the statement cycled through.

You have got to be kidding me...

This little detail is the only problem, that I have with the bank. This is extraordinarily painful to those of us that use MS Money as a part of our financial management - especially those of us who use different currencies where we don't know the exact amount charged until after it posts to our accounts.

The other side of the coin to this is that you have to sign up for a Charles Schwab Brokerage account to hold the 2% rebate. This process was a tad laborious and a just little bit painful. The folks on the brokerage side are not as friendly as the banking folks and going through the process is just too time consuming. Luckily, the brokerage side of the house is compatible with MS Money.

So aside from the really disappointing news that I have to enter my own transactions, this is going to be our card of choice. 2% back and no transaction fee is just awesome, and the fact that the money is returned monthly is just gravy. So far it looks like their exchange rate is at least as fair (if not slightly more-so) than other cards - so for now - this is the only one I use.

Still Looking for the Perfect Card

So at the bar the other night I met a very nice lady who told me about her Bank of America, Military Bank credit card that did not charge any foreign currency transaction fees.

Too good to be true I thought.

So I went to BOA's web site, and they did have a web site for military banking - but when I clicked on the terms and conditions of the credit card, their web site was non-operational and said I should call their 800-number. (The fact that their web sit was not working should have probably alerted me this was not going to easy).

So I called. The woman said "I have a great offer for you" and proceeded to offer me a card with 3% foreign currency transaction fee.

I thanked her and tried to hang up, but then she persisted and asked specifically what I was looking for. When I said I wanted a card that did not charge a foreign currency fee, she put me on hold for a couple of minutes more.

When she came back she told me "I have another great offer for you". Apparently Bank of America is full of great offers.

This offer I thought was very interesting - She offered me a "Bank Of America Military Preferred American Express" and insisted this card only carries a 1% foreign currency transaction fee.

There is no cash-back program with this card (only points that I'd never use) but the interesting part was this is the only American Express card I've ever heard of that charges only 1% for purchases in a different currency. Usually it's between 2.7 and 3% depending on the issuing bank.

I find this encouraging, because frankly I think this fee should be abolished. Visa, MasterCard and American Express already make a decent profit on every transaction charged to the vendor - there is no reason to bill the card member / traveler again for the same purchase.

There are banks that don't charge these fees. I'd just really like to see more of them.

More Options in the Pursuit of Avoiding the Foreign Currency Fee

I've got my USAA MasterCard - Back when life was simple, that's all I thought I'd ever need.

Last week I was happy to brag that I found a new Credit Card that not only did not charge foreign currency transaction fees, but also gave you 2% cash back.

Well there's at least a third credit card that doesn't charge the fees. It's an HSBC Premier World MasterCard. The bad news- I've hear horror stories about HSBC and I don't see any other benefits in owning the card.

But I am on a crusade against this fee, and I'm really looking for a card with no hassles that allows me to buy things in Poland, the same way I buy them in the U.S. - without being penalized for it.

And by the way - AAA used to offer a Visa with no foreign currency transaction fees, but apparently starting 1 June 2009, they are going to start 2%. The search continues...

UPDATE: Apparently you have to maintain a $100,000 balance with HSBC to keep the premier status. Pass on this card after all - it's a dog.

Capital One Kind of Sucks

This has me over the edge -

Not too long ago I wrote about my experiences with Capital One here and here.

In January I asked for a higher credit limit on my newly acquired card because my initial limit is painfully low. I was denied a second time for an increase and this is the text of the letter they sent me explaining why:

"Thank you for your recent request to increase your credit limit. We regret that we cannot approve the requested change. The reason(s) for our decision are as follows:

Insufficient length of Capital One relationship

The profitability of your account at your current purchase rate

Your Capital One account is too new "

The first and last bullet are the same thing essentially - I haven't been a customer long enough. I have been a customer for six months though - and faithfully paid my bill in full every time, but I could almost concede that point.

But to deny me because of profitability of my account at my current purchase rate!?! What does that mean?

These are the only things that I can even guess:

1. I charge (modestly lately) on my account and pay it off every month. I never carry a balance.

2. I did request Capital One's "Military Rate" which allows me a substantially lower interest rate and waives several fees - but I never take advantage because I pay it off every month. Even their military rate is higher than the regular interest rate that USAA gives me so if I ever need to carry a balance - it won't be on this card.

3. Because I use it overseas, and Capital One is the only card issuer that doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee, they feel like I'm taking advantage of them and don't want to give me the chance to spend more of their money.

Regardless of the reason - this is ridiculous. I seriously considered canceling the card, but instead, I've decided to maximize the damage I can do.

Since they give me back 2% on gas and grocery purchases and they don't charge that foreign currency transaction fee, I will use this card to purchase only gas and groceries - and only overseas. I will continue to pay it off every month and I will cash out on the cash rewards as soon as humanly possible. Possibly monthly with the way we go through gas and groceries.

The downside is that charging near the top of your spending limit (and in this case that is pretty easy to do) is actually bad for your credit score. But I'm not planning on making any major purchases in the next few months so I think I'll be okay. With the current exchange rate against the zloty - their meager exchange rate is probably enough for just our gas and groceries.

I think I'll be much happier with sticking it to Capital One (vice jsut cancelling the card) until they up my limit. I say beat 'em at their own game.

And of course the story is not over. I've sent a letter to Capital One under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, asking them to clarify the reasons for denial. I've specifically asked if the account is not profitable because I don't carry a balance or because of the low interest rate. I'll post any updates as I get them.

PayPal - The Forgotten Friend

I've found a renewed interest in PayPal lately.


PayPal, for those not familiar, is a service that allows to you send and receive money to just about anyone. Anyone with an email address and a bank account. Its kind of like Western Union for the 21st century.


Most people who have an account, use it for eBay. By design, eBay makes it easy to use Paypal and hard to use anything else.

Recently I paid for shipping my new motorcycle with an international company. They took my credit card, but charged me over $40 for the privilege of doing so. They said I could do a bank transfer, but that would mean bank fees. Turns out - they took PayPal. I could have sent the cash from my checking account for free and saved the $40. Ironically - I ended up paying their credit card fees with PayPal.

Lately I've also used it to send money for Girl Scout Cookies, paid a couple of bills and even entered a Scrapbooking Challenge (okay, that last one was for my wife).


The only reason that I even mention them is that I recently found out more about the other end of what they do (Collecting money rather than giving it). If you have a small business, their credit card rates are pretty good, and with one major exception - they are practically hassle-free.

So if you don't have an account - you can get one here.

There's a New Card in Town

I just found a very interesting article in the New York Times about being a Frugal Traveler.

This guy thought it was novel to make arrangements before planning a big trip overseas.
This is my life.

He had some interesting points, and many that those of us who live overseas have already figured out how to navigate on our own. But do check out the article at the above link.

But the best thing I took away was that Charles Schwab Bank has a Visa credit card that will allow you to make purchases overseas without that dreaded foreign currency transaction fee.

Go to their website or click here for details about the card.

This is a Visa that will let you charge all you want overseas without paying transaction fees, and it will deposit 2% of your total purchases into a Schwab One® brokerage account. I assume that you could make deposits into the brokerage account and withdraw as needed - but on the other hand - Maybe it's a good idea to have a little slush fund that's gaining interest (like a money market account). It's not like you're using your cash back credit card as your major source of income - I'm guessing that you probably won't ever miss it.

I think I will check it out. Maybe not right now since I've still got 7 credit checks on my credit reports from buying my motorcycle, but within a few months. This would be what I need to justify cutting up my Capital One credit card. The only other card that doesn't charge a foreign currency transaction fee...

Are Interest Rates Getting Better?

Is it just me, or are credit card interest rates getting better?

I admit, I don't keep constant tabs on the interest rates on my credit cards (at least not before now), but about every six months I try to take a look and make sure that I know what the rates are and what the maximum limits on my cards are. If I have to carry a balance (like in the post-holiday season), I carry it only on the lowest card.

But this time around I did notice that my interest rates (on most cards) have gone down. Out of 12 credit cards, my average rate is 9.78%. I haven't been keeping close track, but that's at least 1% to 2% less than the last time I did this.

Of course this is very unscientific. My Old Navy card is still at 21% and one MasterCard is bottomed 4%. Everything else is in between.

Also - every card of course is different. Some are a fixed rate, some are tied to the prime interest rate, and I swear that some are in tune with the lunar cycle of the third moon of Saturn.

Best I can tell, the current prime interest rate is 3.25%. If you've got a bank that uses a fixed rate (like 19% for example) might be time to find a new bank - especially if you carry a balance.

Oh - and that 4% on the MasterCard is better than any other deal on the market, but I think that's a special rate for long-term customers. If you have a bank that you've dealt with a long time - try asking them if they'll lower the rate. Seriously, what could it hurt?

A colleague told me that he called his bank recently and the guy mentioned to him that they could reduce his interest rate... If my colleague asked them to. But he had to ask. So my colleague said "Can I have a lower interest rate?" and the guy on the other end said "Of course, we're happy to lower that for you!" He was a good customer, but their policy is the customer has to ask. I don't remember what bank he had - but I'd assume all of them are like that...

My credit score is affected by what!?!?

In these times where credit is beginning to dry up, it almost comes as no surprise that it’s possible your credit score may be hurt by the types of transactions you make. But that doesn’t make it any less infuriating.

MSN reports that the Federal Trade Commission filed a law suit against card issuer CompuCredit for using purchasing patterns as a basis for cutting credit lines for card holders who visited certain establishments such as tire and retreading shops, massage parlors, bars, billiard halls and marriage counseling offices.

Most of us are familiar with the idea that our credit scores can be used for more and more things. If your credit history is bad, in many states you might pay more in auto insurance or worse, you might not qualify for a better job; my credit score been used as a qualifier for renting an apartment for as long as I can remember. But the thought that your card issuer may restrict your credit line because you shoot pool every Thursday night is a bit disturbing.

Possibly the biggest downer is that the FTC is not suing CompuCredit because they used purchases as a determinate of their credit line, but that they didn’t disclose that they were doing it. Has anyone ever really read through their Credit Card’s disclosure statements?

So depending on how frequently you visit the club – you might want to consider paying cash. I’m not sure how that works for our overseas purchases since half of the merchant categories for everything I buy are wrong or misleading to say the least. I know that my Mokpol on the corner of my street is listed as "Speciality Merchandise". One can only guess what U.S. merchants are also labeled as "Speciality Merchandise". Good luck.

The End of Free Money

Today, November 13th, is a milestone for me. Today I am officially debt free! Again. Sort of...
The last time I had zero dollars in revolving credit card debt was June 2004. That was back in the days when free credit was rampant and I, like many Americans, got a bazillion offers in the mail for transferring my debt to zero interest credit cards… So being a red-blooded American when I was told that I could have free-money – well yeah, hell yeah I took it.

Since that was three PCSs ago, the extra cash came in handy and I floated the monthly balances for a while instead of paying it off – taking special care never to get saddled with interest charges. Since both my credit history and the economy could float that type of banking, I always thought it was win-win.

Now I do think I got the best end of the deal. Instead of paying off that debt (approx eight grand at its peak) I rolled the debt over to new credit cards and used my free cash to roll into my TSP, make sure I paid all my other balances in full, paid cash for a car along the way… and I spent what was left over on magic beans.

I must have taken up that last zero-percent offer November last year because the offers have stopped coming. Much to my ego’s relief, it’s not because of a down-turn in my credit history, it’s across the board in the banking industry.

Now over the last several years I’ve been planning for this day and today that last payment to that last credit card is easily absorbed in the family's budget. If it would be a problem though – would there be another chance? There are a few companies that are still giving out zero-percent offers but they are few and far between and only for six months at a time – and the vast majority are now charging a lot of balance transfer fees. So all in all, that ship seems to have sailed.

The Only Four Reasons That I Still Have a Capital One Card:

Since last friday was a rant against Capital One, I only thought it fair to say some nice things about them - I was going to list ten, but I could only think of four:

4. No foreign currency transaction fees. They’re the only bank that I found so far that really doesn’t charge you foreign currency transaction fees.

3. Premium rebate on gas and [most] groceries. 2% is better than 1% and with a family of six, we do buy a lot of groceries and gas.

2. I get to pick my own picture to put on the card. Do I put a picture of my lovely wife or darling children on my card? No, I put my Suzuki VX-800 motorcycle on the front of my card!

1. Military Discounts. Just for being Active Duty Military they reduced my interest rate (purchases and cash advance) to 6%. There are no membership/annual fees, pay-by-phone fees, cash advance fees, past-due fees, over-the-credit-limit fees or returned payment fees. Any fees that I would have had amassed while on active duty would have been retroactively credited back to my account. And they reduced my monthly payment to 2% or $10 (the higher of the two) when the rest of the industry is raising theirs (although I think that has just been changed again by federal law).

As far as I see, that last one makes the Capital One card by far a better deal than USAA, Navy Federal or the Pentagon Federal Credit Union – which is a little sad.

Top Ten Reasons I Hate Capital One

In an earlier post I mentioned that the best card that I found for use overseas was one offered by Capital One. Some people mistakenly thought I was endorsing Capital One as a Credit Card.
I most certainly was not. In fact - I have assembled a top ten list of the things I really can't stand about Capital One for your reading pleasure:

10. Their customer service is awful. Their phone operators in India are reading out of a script and have trouble answering questions beyond account balance and last payment history without getting a supervisor. The fact that they’re in India is not what bothers me, it’s that they can’t answer my questions without transferring me which makes the calls longer – and since I’m overseas, I’m paying for every minute.

9. Their website help-desk or “message center” is completely useless. I've sent five emails asking for clarifications about different aspects of my account and all I got back were generic, auto-response emails. Completely worthless.

8. They are not compatible with MS Money’s download service. They are like the only ones on earth who aren’t. In fairness, you do have the ability to manually download transactions, but that's a royal pain, and so 1997.

7. Their merchant categories are incomplete and confusing – at least for overseas merchants. For all grocery stores the merchant category generically reads “merchandise” and you have to drill through their website to find out if you get credit for buying at a grocery store or not. This is unnecessarily time consuming.

6. Their fraud department is unnecessarily hyper. They put a hold on my account after my first charge. I called them for something else and was transferred to the Fraud Department – The Dude asked me if I really made a purchase at a Shell station in Poland. When I said I did – he asked me “Well how long will you be staying overseas?” Dude, I live here.

5. They request letters of correspondence be sent by fax and not by email. Apparently their customer service headquarters is located in the year 1990.

4. Despite the fact I have an excellent credit history, have had previous Capital One Credit Cards, and have a really high credit limit on every other card I have – for the first three months they put me on a probationary spending limit of $2,000 a month. Are you kidding? I spend that much on gas – Just ask ACA!

3. I would bet money that when I signed up for the Cash Rewards Card they advertised 3% back. When I got the card, it said 2% - and the web site had changed. I’m not saying it’s a conspiracy, but my office mate said the same thing. I called and asked when they changed it and their only answer was “Sir, That’s the rate you’ve always had" – emphasis on the you… It is a conspiracy, I know it is!

2. After having their card for two months I applied for a Motorcycle Loan. Their lowest advertised loan was 5.47% - but they only offered me 5.87%. I asked why and was told that rate was for their best customers - Amex wants to send me a Platinum Card, but Capital One won't give me that extra .4% on a loan? They risk alienating a customer over 50 cents a month? Give me a break!

1. Every time I go to pay for something I can’t help but to imagine some hairy Viking standing next to me shouting “What’s in YOUR Wallet?”

US Cards Might Not Work Overseas

Not too long ago I stumbled upon this headline in another blog: "Why Your Credit Card Might Be Useless Overseas". I clicked through to the cited Los Angeles Times Article that highlights several portions of one man's trip through Europe where his American-issued credit cards just didn't work.

While this is unlikely to affect any of us during our tours in Poland, it does raise a good point. In Europe, many banks issue a credit card with a “pin” number and a security chip that is supposed to make using your credit card safe. This is not the same as our US-based credit cards and the cash advance PIN that some of us have on them.

This "pin card" really isn't an emerging problem in Warsaw, but there is an automated kiosk in the movie theater in Galeria Mokotow that allows you to skip the really long lines (most recently I noticed at the premiere of Mamma Mia) and buy your tickets right at the little kiosk. The problem with that kiosk is that you need that magic credit card with pin. As I was creating a line back-up, I tried two US-based credit cards with pins as well as my debit charge card that also has a pin. Nothing worked – I had to go stand in the long line.

You need that same pin card to use the automated check-out line (where the line is a thousand times shorter) at the Carrefour in Arkadia. Otherwise, and I know from personal experience, the people behind you will hate you and be tempted to throw things at the back of your head.

You'll notice everywhere else you shop, they have a little place that you can have your card swiped, or that little strange device where you put your card in and enter a pin. I think we are a very long way away from not being able to use our credit cards overseas.

Just Say No to Being Charged in USD!

I mentioned it before but was reminded again – never select a currency other than the local currency when making purchases overseas. Trust me on this!

‘Oh Sushi charged my credit card in USD the last time I went at an ROE of 2.24 (the exchange rate that day was actually 2.44!). When I became irritated, the waitress told me that the computer did it by itself; however the time before that they did ask me what currency I wanted to pay in.

I fully concede that maybe it wasn’t her fault, but we went ahead and found a new Sushi place.