Banks shit me every day

[callistra]

My credit card statement got generated overnight last night, which is good. So, I'm cruising around, adding the amount to me calendar so I know how much money I need to have come the 27th and etc, and then I see this:

IMPORTANT SECURITY MESSAGE. WITHIN THE NEXT MONTH, YOU'LL BE RECEIVING A NEW ALTITUDE AMERICAN EXPRESS CARD IN THE MAIL WITH DETAILS ON HOW TO ACTIVATE IT. CHECK YOUR MAIL REGULARLY FOR YOUR NEW CARD AND FULL DETAILS. THIS NEW CARD OFFERS YOU 2 POINTS PER $1 SPENT ON PURCHASES AND IS A COMPANION CARD TO YOUR CURRENT ALTITUDE VISA CARD, WHICH EARNS YOU 1 POINT PER $1 SPENT. THE ALTITUDE AMERICAN EXPRESS CARD IS AT NO ADDITIONAL COST AND WITH NO CHANGES TO YOUR EXISTING ACCOUNT. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR IF YOU DON'T RECEIVE THE CARD, PLEASE CALL 1300 737 226, 9AM - 8PM EST MON-FRI.

WTF?
They're going to send me a second card to the same account but it's Amex?

WTF?
No one takes Amex. So I get 2 points per dollar. While this means the next Eee upgrade might come faster, there's no other benefit. If i activate it, then I'm going to have TWO credit cards, to the SAME account. So if I go over and get bounced, I can't even pull out the second card to use, cos that will bounce too.

I'm kind of cranky about this whole thing. Why don't they just make the original card get 2 points per dollar? Why, because it's a different brand. So Amex is trying to sneak up behind Visa to try and get my business.

This whole this is just *weird*.

Comments

[mortonhall.livejournal.com]

you're not with Westpac are you?

When we got our new accounts, they automatically gave us an AMEX which we didn't want. I think they have done some deal. Ours is locked away securely to never ever be used

[callistra.livejournal.com]

Yes, we are.
:-/

They've been good so far. This whole thing just smells odd, you know? No one takes Amex, and when I pointed that out the girl said "Yes, major companies do, just use the Amex one first and the other one if they don't like it."

Maybe they want those fees.
:-/

[shrydar.livejournal.com]

We got that when we signed up with Westpac after remortgaging - they just gave us two cards from the start. After a couple of shops told me that they accept Amex but have a higher surcharge than on Visa (more than covering the extra cent per dollar the second point is worth), I started leaving the Amex at home.

[callistra.livejournal.com]

I thought they had a higher surcharge.

Well, it's not like we have to activate it. GO used to send us cards with letters hoping we'd activate their cards. We hadn't actually wanted a GO credit card, so we never did.

And realistically, if we wanted an upgraded Eee we'd just go and get one. I'm not convinced it's worth that extra charges to get it earlier.

[huckle.livejournal.com]

I had exactly the same thing happen to me. I thought 'sod it, 2 points and the card is free, might as well use it' and used the Amex at Woolies/Coles. Next thing, some thief was using my Amex number on the net to try and buy stuff so they cancelled both my amex and my normal credit card because they are on the same account. I was sooo pissed off. They sent me another amex card, have not used it. I haven't gotten around to going into the bank to cancel the bloody thing once and for all.

[callistra.livejournal.com]

This is not filling me with good cheer.
:-)

I hate this 'send you a CC' thing. I think it's rude and an imposition I don't want to suffer.
:-/

I get funny about odd things, but not getting any more credit cards is worth getting funny about. Westpac used to send us "pre-approved just sign here" forms and I rang them and abused them until they stopped sending them to this house.

We have one credit card. That's enough for me.

[cricketk.livejournal.com]

Dear God that is weird.

Westpac sent me a new credit card with a chip in it of some kind a few months ago. I just have to start using it and cut up the old one. But I won't. Because they haven't clearly explained why I need a new card and why it couldn't wait until my current one expired. And I distrust banks on principle.

[strangedave.livejournal.com]

I got the same from Westpac a while ago. They are now pushing to change the Visa to a Mastercard (though keeping the Amex).

I figure I'll basically just keep it for convenience when travelling.

Having a second card does seem to be entirely useless except in the very occasional situation where you might be in a place that accepts Amex but not the others, which basically never happens. Even if you lose once card, the bank will immediately cancel the second one, because they are dicks, so it doesn't even work usefully as a spare.

[ariaflame.livejournal.com]

I got the chip card, I believe we're starting the move over to chip readers instead of swipe. UK has already moved to chip readers. My westpac card was unreadable in them and the chip looks corroded or diseased. Luckily the swipe bit still works. Mostly.

[nightmancyr.livejournal.com]

Banks, shmanks.I don't think there are any good ones. Mine charges me a $5 "fall below fee" if my account goes under $1000! Then, because it's obviously SO much trouble to do that...they then charge me a further $15. To 'process' it. "ooh, look, you're under a grand, we'll have to punish you...damn, I can't figure out what buttons to press now in order to take your money, so now I have a headache...soooo I'll just take this extra 15 bucks. You don't mind, right?" And I believe if you want to open a new account with them, you need a minimum of $500 to deposit! They have the dumbest rules ever!!!

[foamiethegreeny.livejournal.com]

We use Members Equity bank, it's all online, no branches so if you need to deposit money or chq you do it at a post office, that is the one and only draw back. Otherwise they are fantastic very competitive rates on both mortgage ( cheaper than the big bank) and interest they actually pay you. Their credit cards are a fraction of the big banks and their customer service is out of this world. When we were in China member equity didn't have a facility to automatically pay our credit card at the end of the month (if we could not get internet access ) so the person at the customer service put a note in her diary to clear it for us.

[caitlen.livejournal.com]

You're with W***P**.

Mum's got this. She's got the AMEX card and tries to use it EVERYWHERE, and usually succeeds. She does have the mastercard as well, for the times when she can't use the AMEX. She's got stacks of frequent flyers now.

[caitlen.livejournal.com]

I got a $40 fee for being overdrawn on my debit mastercard account last month - for 2 days. *sob*

[lucretiae.livejournal.com]

I hate to state the obvious but why don't you phone the bank (or send them a stern letter) saying you don't want them to issue you with an Amex card? If you accept it and don't activiate it then thay are half way to getting you onto it already. Just refuse to play their game. Surely they can't force you to take it, regardless of the fact that it's on the same account as your existing card.

I also hate getting those credit card offers from people like amex. I used to write "deceased - return to sender" on the envelopes and pop them back in the mail, but it didn't seem to deter them. Now I get much more satisfaction out of using the reply paid envelopes that they kindly supply and sending them some of my junk mail. I know they can't tell where the reply is coming from so it won't stop them sending me stuff, but it makes me feel better.