Meet the new AT&T Universal Rewards credit card

In the coupon section of the Sunday paper, on the front page of the Valassis coupon book, we find a new offer for the revamped AT&T Universal card powered by Citibank.

What are the proposed benefits of this card?

0% APR on balance transfers until December 1, 2008

up to 10% off eligible AT&T products and services for the first 12 months. Read the fine print for the details

No annual fee (as if!)

Earn 1 point for every dollar you spend (the typical 1% reward)

The most interesting part of this card is obviously the 0% APR for 12 months, and from a rewards perspective the 10% off on AT&T products. According to their own fineprint, you get 10% off on AT&T products and services for the first 12 months, and 5% after the first 12 months. However, the maximum you can earn (save) from this is $350 per calendar year.

So if you are a heavy user of AT&T products and services, or if you like the 0% APR for 12 months, then you should take a look awt this credit card.

The 1% rewards program on all other purchases is just too average these days. The program is managed by the Thank You Network, which means that the rate for cash conversions is even lower than 1%. It is an effective 1% when you have enough poitns to redeem $100 gift cards however.

Review: Digital Camera Rewards by Citibank's Thank You Network rewards

Citibank's Thank You Network (formerly Thank You Merchants) rewards program features 18 digital cameras that you can redeem your earned points for. So are they a good deal? Let's take a look!

Samsung S630, 14500 points

Olympus FE115, 20400 points

Sony S650 (I think), 22600

Fuji A820, 23900

Philips 7" digital photo frame, 28500

Casio EX-Z1000 (10mp), 32500

Canon SD1000, 32700

Samsung S8x0 (8mp, 3x, 2.5" LCD) 32900

Sony W55 (model name not mentioned, my guess based on specs, 7mp, 3x, 2.5" LCD, LiIon, 58mb internal memory), 36300

Canon A550 + photo printer bundle, 36600

Samsung NV3, 36800

Casio EX-Z (not sure, maybe 1050?), 10mp, 3x, 2.6" wide LCD, 37900

Nikon L5, 39300

Panasonic FZ-8 (according to the picture), 41500

Fuji E900, 45600

Canon EOS Rebel XT (350D) 8.0 MP Digital SLR Kit with 18-55 EF-S lens, 113100.

Canon® 10MP EOS Digital Rebel XTi (400D) with 18-55 EF-S lens, 167300

Nikon D80 with 18-135 lens, 167300

Analysis: So how do you evaluate these as rewards options? One way is to compare them to the other available rewards offered by Thank You Network. For example, with 10,000 points you can get $100 gift card at a number of major electronic stores such as Circuit City, Best Buy, J&R, Staples. To make it an apples and oranges comparison, convert the points for each camera to dollars, by diving them by 100. So for example, the Nikon D80 with 18-135 lens will cost you the equivalent of $1673 in equivalent J&R World gift cards. This camera is now available at J&R for around $1150. Of course you do have to factor in shipping & handing and sales tax if you purchase from J&R, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc, instead of taking the reward. The camera rewards are shipped free and no sales tax is collected from them. But as it is shown in this case, there is a big difference.

Another way to look it however, is that the rewards are earned at the 1% and 5% level. So a camera that is worth 15000 points is the equivalent of $30 (if you only buy 5% reward items) instead of $150 if you use the flat 1% cashback rate most other credit cards offer. This is not the most financially-savvy choice but it's the more fun! You get an actual camera in your hands as a reward, instead of a gift card.

The logical decision is to compare the camera price in points (divide by 100) with the prices at your favorite retailers (eg Best Buy, J&R, Circuit City, Office Depot, etc). Do factor in the cost of shipping and handling and sales tax in each case. S&H will be more important in cheaper cameras, sales tax will be a bigger factor for more expensive cameras. And the logical choice is to go with the lower cost in points :)

The fun decision is to forget about the math, and just pick up the camera you want from the list. Not the most prudent use of points, but you still come out ahead if you compare them to the 1% flat rate of most other credit card rewards program. Take the Samsung S630 for example. It costs 14500 points ($145 equivalent). Most retailers sell it for $100. If you use the card for only 5% items, then the equivalent price compared to a flat-rate 1% card is $29. So you are getting this camera at the equivalent of $29 in cashback bonus from a generic credit card. If you have a balance of 1% and 5% purchases, it averages to 3%. So you are getting a $100 camera for the 1% equivalent of $50. Still good!

Citibank 7 month CD 5.35% APY

Citibank 7 month CD 5.35% APY. With a Citibank checking account. I guess that's one way to get more people to open checking accounts :-) But they do have options that have no monthly fees.

Citi American Airlnes Advantage credit card offers

Earn up to 40,000 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles depending on how much you spend the first few months of your membership. The requirements are moderate, they basically expect you to keep using your credit card, but not necessarily as your primary card. Read the ad or visit their website for more details

no annual fee for the first 12 months

be sure to check the terms, conditions and fineprint!

Credit Card Rewards Strategy session

This post will be growing organically.

Here are some suggestions on how to maximize your credit cards rewards:

For grocery, drugstore and gas station purchases, Citibank offers 5% rewards, either in a cash-only rewards program or a rewards program (Thank You Network or Thank You Redemptions or something like that). You can have both type of cards. You can't complain with 5%! There is an annual cap on your total rewards per individual credit card.

Chase has a new creative idea for their Chase Freedom card. They have fifteen (15) categories of purchases. Each month, they calculate your top three categories and give you a 3% reward on those purchases. Everything else earns 1%. The categories are computer-calculated for every statement. You have a choice of rewards or cash. You can switch between the two choices once per month

American Express has special mail-in and email offers to receive double points for purchases until August 31, 2007. This means your Amex Blue or Optima purchases earn 2% instead of 1%. Not bad for things that don't qualify for higher rewards in other cards.

Discover's Get More program offers featured rewards that change every quarter (every three months). These earn you a flat 5% reward on those featured purchases regardless of your regular reward percentage status. The 5% reward has a cap per quarterly promotion

As always with all these, make sure you read the fineprint!