Some of you may have received a special from Discover® card saying that ‘We recently sent you a Discover card and we’ve noticed it hasn’t been used for any purchases yet. …You’ll get a $5 Cashback Bonus® on the first purchase you make between now and ‘certain date’. 

It is a trick. Don’t fall for it. The offer says ‘See reverse for details’. On the reverse, there is no further explanation. However after you have made a purchase, you will not see a $5 cash back applied to your balance. If you call them they will tell you that the cash back has to accumulate to $20 before you can redeem. So essentially the $5 cash back bonus you earned is a waste, if you do not intend to use the card further.

I don’t intend to use Discover® card further because they have so many tricks up their sleeve. First of all, their cash back is tiered so that in order to even earn 1% you have to go through so many purchases. And then when it comes time to redeem, they will try to get you to redeem against their merchants. Or worst still, play the guilt trip on you and ask you to donate to one of their worthwhile charities.

This is a card that really knows how to frustrate the user. They have more fine print and caveats than a bad lawyer.

Always use a comparison chart to find a good credit card that suits you. Also, I like to see all the details upfront. You can find comparison tables on all major credit cards on  lookupcreditcards.com, which state the facts upfront in clear table format.

Credit card companies MUST be required to have a clear ‘fact sheet’, similar to ‘Nutrition’ label for food. Everything credit cards do is very similar, so it only makes sense that all the facts should be clearly listed. Otherwise we will see the credit card companies make a fool of the general population and drive them to bankruptcy.

It is about time Congress woke up and clearly demanded that credit card companies come up with a clear table like ‘Nutrition’ label. All special promotions should also be part of a label in a table format. No fine print, no caveats, no hidden meaning.

Write to your congressman, so you won’t be duped the next time. Email them this article.