Chase has just revamped their whole line up of credit card with slick designs and new names. The offering is the Chase Slate Card. They did not mention anything but I’ve noticed that they have not placed their traditional Platinum Visa or MasterCard on their site. Hence, I can only assume that the Slate is their new “vanilla” credit card. They have also added a couple of new “features” which I’ll review below.

I’ve taken a screen shot of the Chase page with some of their so called “features”. Let’s take them apart.

Avoid paying interest by paying in full – Well, this sounds kind of insulting but we all know that right. It appears that the Chase Slate Card is giving cardholders the option to pay in full for certain items and they will separate them on your bill. The problem I have with that is what is the difference with any other card? If you charged $5,000 last month and decide to pay off only $3000, does it matter what you “technically paid off”?

Pay off larger purchases at your own terms – This one is a misleading. The terms are not set by you but by Chase (ie your APR). Once again, this is such a marketing gimmick. Take the above example. If you charge $5,000 and pay only $3,000, you still have to carry a balance of $2,000 at their interest rate. Does it matter if you paid off the kids toys but not the airline ticket? I really do not understand this. It really strikes me as another fancy way to making a vanilla card looking better than it is!

Pay down your balance faster – Looks like Chase is offering a tool for you to pay down your balance faster. Which is a good thing (though here at Ask Mr Credit Card, we always recommend that you pay your balance in full every month).

Pay your spending – Nice feature, but most credit card issuers have this. Or you could use your quicken or mint.com!

Verdict – So after searching high and low through their site, this is all I came up with. There is no annual fee with this card and it really appears to be another vanilla credit card from Chase. The name is quite fancy but I’m not sure if folks will fall for this.

Here’s my view on vanilla cards. If you are someone that pays in full, get a card that gives you rewards like cash back. Don’t get one with no rewards or superficial features. If you are looking for a vanilla card with low rates, then you should shop around for other cards as they are probably cards with lower rates.

To sum up, this card has a fancy name and design. But in terms of features, they are just plain vanilla. The fact that they allow you to choose which items to pay off is meaningless. If you owe x amount, you still have to pay x amount with interest! And there is also no rewards at all. Even if you are looking for a no annual fee credit card, getting a card like the Citi® Platinum Select® MasterCard® which has a shopping portal that gives you rebate is much better.

Link to the original site

Related posts:

1. Chase Introduces Ultimate Rewards
2. Simple Cards
3. Chase Introduces Blueprint to Help Manage Cardholder Finances
4. Chase Credit Cards are Back
5. Chase Credit Cards Ends Forced Arbitration

Tags: Credit Card Tips // Add Comment »