The credit card industry has been under the spotlight lately for charging high fees and hiking interest rates. But if you are in the military there may be some good credit card deals out there just for you. A number of credit card companies have special provisions in place for their military customers. Is your credit card company one of them? It’s important to ask.
Late last month Discover® Card announced a military promotion. From Memorial Day through Labor Day 2009, Discover Card members will receive double cash rewards (Cashback Bonus) or double Miles when they use their Discover Credit Card at worldwide military base commissaries or exchanges and online exchange stores for product and service purchases, including on-base purchases of gas, fast food, lodging, tickets and travel.
USAA, a company that provides banking, credit card and insurance services to military personnel, recently announced that USAA military members deployed overseas will be reimbursed the foreign transaction fee for USAA MasterCard and Visa credit or debit card purchases made overseas. While MasterCard and Visa will continue to charge USAA those fees, USAA will not pass on the costs to its deployed members. USAA must be notified in advance of your deployment to an overseas location; the new benefit is good for up to 12 months.
The Military Star® Card, designed to be used only at military-exchange facilities, frequently offers special promotions. One regular feature worth noting: the Military Clothing Plan. This Plan applies to purchases of official military clothing items sold by military-authorized dealers (not private vendors), and you will not be charged interest on the Military Clothing Plan portion of your card balance, provided you keep up with your total minimum monthly payment. And for all military personnel, the interest charged on your Military Star® Card balance will be reduced to 6% APR when you deploy.
An article on creditcards.com by Steve Holt dated July 25, 2008 listed a number of credit card companies that were helping out their military customers by going beyond the protections of the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act during deployment. Citi was cited as lowering pre-service interest rates to 0% during deployment; JPMorgan Chase as extending the 6% cap to a servicemember's entire credit card balance, including purchases made while on active duty, and not enforcing its usual minimum payment requirement; and Bank of America as setting the interest rate at 5.9% for military members and their spouses, as well as not applying late fees, over-limit fees and monthly fees during the time of deployment.
The bottom line: do you know if your credit card has any special terms for military personnel? Your credit card company doesn’t necessarily know that you’re in the service. It’s important to tell them and then ask if they have any special provisions for military customers. You may be pleasantly surprised! But it’s also worth shopping around to see if another credit card company can do better. One reminder: the benefits of a great rewards program may be cancelled out if you are paying interest on a balance every month. Know your own payment habits and get the card with the provisions that will work best for you. And if you do carry a balance, do your best to pay more than the minimum every month and chip away at that debt!
