Blue Cash® from American Express
American Express' Blue Cash Credit Card offers a great program for earning cash back on purchases. For every purchase made on the card, cardholders earn between .5% and 5% cash back. Here's how it works. When you use Blue Cash from American Express for purchases at drugstores, gas stations and supermarkets (but not wholesale clubs like BJ's or Sam's Club), you earn 1% cash back on your purchase. Any other purchases made with the card earn .5% cash back. This rate applies for all purchases made until you reach an annual spending number of $6,500. Once cardholders spend $6,500 their cash back rate goes up to 5% at supermarkets, drugstores and gas stations and 1.5% on all other purchases.
The card does have a catch to it. The cash-back accrued cannot be accessed until 14 months after you open the card. Once you hit the 14-month mark, your cash back rewards appears as a credit on your monthly statement. This can be a boon for people who have difficulty saving money, but if you're looking for a card that's going to regularly put cash into your bank account this isn't it.
The numbers of the card are competitive. Blue Cash offers an introductory 0% APR for purchases and 4.99% for balance transfers requested during the application process. Once the six-month introductory period ends, the rate stays reasonable. There is no annual fee and additional cards that share most of the benefits are available fee-free. As with most American Express cards, there is a heavy-duty package of additional benefits. There are loads of deal-sweeteners for shoppers like purchase protection, extended warranties, fraud protection and return protection, and frequent travelers can take advantage of an emergency card replacement service, assured hotel reservations, special travel offers and a global assist hotline.
Blue Cash from American Express is a good card for someone who wants to take advantage of the rebate program. It's especially good for those who can afford to spend large amounts on the card every year. The competitive APR makes it ok for cardholders to carry a balance every once in a while without fearing that they will be up to their eyeballs in debt before they know it. While the name Blue Cash may be a little misleading (since you never see any actual cash from the card), the yearly credit on your account is still a good, simple reward for someone who doesn't need frequent flyer miles or discounts on hotel stays. Review Date: 9/4/2006
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