MBNA offer in the mail.

[Stu.Padaso]

I see my GF got an offer, via direct mail, from MBNA today. I can't open it up because, well, I'm an honest guy and my GF won't be back until 5pm today.

 

Splattered across the outside of the envelope says "0% AIR for 12 months on Balance Transfers and Cheque Cash Advances."

 

(yeah, it says AIR instead of the standard APR. I never seen it like that before. I assume it simply stands for Annual Interest Rate. Right?)

 

We don't poke into each others personal finances too much. She's still quite embarassed about the state of her finances just prior to the separation/divorce, and I can relate to that and completely understand so I don't ask many questions or pry too deeply. She can't get her online report from Equifax or Transunion because she keeps failing those little 'tests' that they do to verify her identity. We suspect she's failing those tests because her ex-husband did some things that she isn't aware of. She tried three or four different times, failed, and got frustrated and hasn't tried since. I told her to mail away for the reports, but she just hasn't gotten around to doing it.

 

She has a TD Visa that she got last summer and a HBC card and a Sears Card that she has a long history with. And I think a Mastercard that I'm tempted to say is Capital One but I'm not entirely certain who issued it. She got that MC about 2 years ago, shortly after the separation. Balances and credit limits are unknown. I'm pretty sure she carries some balances on her cards, but how much I do not know. I suspect it isn't too bad.

 

Her FICO score can't be that bad. I'm guessing it must be above the 700 mark and her credit report must be fairly clean. I say that only because she was approved by TD Visa back in the summer and I know they're quite strict. But who knows.

 

So does anybody have any opinions of MBNA? Are they strict/easy for approvals? What about credit limits? Customer service? I see they have a nice variety of cards available, does anyone have a favourite/recommended MBNA card she should be considering? (assuming she has a choice.)

 

Any info would be appreciated.

[Quasei2]

If she's going with MBNA I'd go with the SmartCash card. It's an amazing deal. The 0% BT offer is a really sweet deal too if she has balances hanging around elsewhere. Of the MBNA cards though I'd definitely go smartcash, but I don't think it's among their 0% BT cards.

[Stu.Padaso]

Well, I think she chucked it into the garbage. So I guess there isn't much more to say.

 

I have one last statement to make: My God does MBNA ever have a lot of different cards.

[Stu.Padaso]

My GF got another offer in the mail. This time it was a TD offer addressed directly to her. It was for the TD Emerald Visa which has the low interest rate tied to prime. She already has a TD Visa, but I think it's just a plain TD Green Visa. Might be a Rebate Rewards, I don't know.

 

She tore up the offer without even looking at it. I was surprised and asked why she didn't check it out because it's such a low interest rate, but I think she's still embarassed to discuss her finances with me. I'm pretty sure she's carrying a balance on her HBC card, so why she wouldn't take the Emerald and do a balance transfer is beyond me. I didn't push the issue. Just trying to gently push her in the right direction, that's all. If I hadn't been standing there she might have at least given a look at what the Emerald Visa had to offer. But oh well.

 

She's a proud person and I know she thinks asking me for advice would be a sign of weakness or something. So I just let it go.

Edited January 15, 2010 by Stu.Padaso

[Quasei2]

Yikes! That's a sad red flag right there. Makes me worry for her. I hope she can open up to you in the future about it. It's definitely a difficult road to walk alone.

 

There's certainly something to be said for Suze Orman's philosophy about being honest about our finances with ourselves and everyone around us as well as not hiding it from anyone including ourselves. It's so freeing. While I don't go out of my way to tell people around me my financial situation, (outside this board lol) I am quite comfortable speaking about it in conversation or when asked. I also don't have any problem saying no to anything that is outside my budget and being quite frank about why I'm saying no.

 

I really hope she didn't lose out on a good deal for the sake of pride. Pride is an expensive thing.