Snapchat Rolls Out Snapcash Peer-to-Peer Payment App

Another player jumped into the mobile payments market the other day: Snapchat.

The ephemeral photo-sharing app now lets you send money to friends with Snapcash, a feature that works through the app’s chat function. It was developed with Square, the San Francisco-based mobile payments company, which will process money sent through the service.

To start, users 18 and older enter their Visa or MasterCard debit card information in the app, where it’s saved and used for transactions. To send your Snapchat friends money, type the dollar amount into a message—for example, “$20 for dinner.” The app will recognize the dollar symbol and turn the yellow “send” button into a green Snapcash button. When you press the green button, your money will be directly transferred to your contact’s debit card and processed in one or two business days.

You can send up to $250 a week, or upgrade to send up to $2,500. If you send more than $250 in a week, you’ll be asked to enter your full name, birth date and Social Security number for verification. You can receive up to $1,000 over a 30-day period, and will also be prompted to give your personal information if more than that is sent to you. The service only works within the 50 U.S. states.

Whether users will adopt the new feature remains to be seen, especially with a slew of other peer-to-peer payment platforms already established, including Venmo, Paypal and Square Cash. Mobile payments are expected to grow to a $142 billion industry in five years, according to Forrester Research.

“It’s questionable whether people who feel comfortable using Snapchat to send silly pictures to their friends will feel comfortable entering their debit card information,” says Heidi Liebenguth, managing partner at Crone Consulting, which advises clients on mobile payments strategies.

Skeptics took to Twitter to express doubts about Snapcash, including security concerns, almost as soon as the service was announced. Some cited an incident in which hackers made public thousands of private Snapchat photos last month.

“Soo a bunch of snaps get leaked and now they expect me to give them my bank info, no thanks #snapcash,” Twitter user Alex George said. On its website, Snapchat said Oct. 14 that the hack breached a third-party site that stores images sent with the app and warned that users of such add-ons may put themselves at risk by giving out their personal information.

The possibility of Snapcash being used to charge for pornography sent over Snapchat raises other security concerns, says Richard Crone, Crone Consulting’s founder. While pictures sent with the app display for no more than 10 seconds, delivering cash to the sender means providing your debit card information to Snapchat—and that won’t disappear.

“If anything, Snapchat is the antithesis of safety and security and authentication,” he says. “Snapchat is expired, perishable, vulnerable communication. You don’t want a funds transfer to be vulnerable.”

To protect against fraud, users can opt to be prompted to enter their debit card security code, called a CVV number, with every transaction. Additionally, since Square Cash processes the payments, money sent through Snapcash undergoes Square’s encrypted security process.

Katie Baynes, spokeswoman for Square, calls Snapchat a “natural gathering place” for discussing activities with friends that may call for money to change hands, such as buying concert tickets or party supplies. Snapcash will allow users to chip in “directly from their conversation,” she says.

---

Image of Snapchat app via Shutterstock.

The post Snapchat Rolls Out Snapcash Peer-to-Peer Payment App appeared first on NerdWallet Credit Card Blog.

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Snapchat Rolls Out Snapcash Peer-to-Peer Payment App

Another player jumped into the mobile payments market the other day: Snapchat.

The ephemeral photo-sharing app now lets you send money to friends with Snapcash, a feature that works through the app’s chat function. It was developed with Square, the San Francisco-based mobile payments company, which will process money sent through the service.

To start, users 18 and older enter their Visa or MasterCard debit card information in the app, where it’s saved and used for transactions. To send your Snapchat friends money, type the dollar amount into a message—for example, “$20 for dinner.” The app will recognize the dollar symbol and turn the yellow “send” button into a green Snapcash button. When you press the green button, your money will be directly transferred to your contact’s debit card and processed in one or two business days.

You can send up to $250 a week, or upgrade to send up to $2,500. If you send more than $250 in a week, you’ll be asked to enter your full name, birth date and Social Security number for verification. You can receive up to $1,000 over a 30-day period, and will also be prompted to give your personal information if more than that is sent to you. The service only works within the 50 U.S. states.

Whether users will adopt the new feature remains to be seen, especially with a slew of other peer-to-peer payment platforms already established, including Venmo, Paypal and Square Cash. Mobile payments are expected to grow to a $142 billion industry in five years, according to Forrester Research.

“It’s questionable whether people who feel comfortable using Snapchat to send silly pictures to their friends will feel comfortable entering their debit card information,” says Heidi Liebenguth, managing partner at Crone Consulting, which advises clients on mobile payments strategies.

Skeptics took to Twitter to express doubts about Snapcash, including security concerns, almost as soon as the service was announced. Some cited an incident in which hackers made public thousands of private Snapchat photos last month.

“Soo a bunch of snaps get leaked and now they expect me to give them my bank info, no thanks #snapcash,” Twitter user Alex George said. On its website, Snapchat said Oct. 14 that the hack breached a third-party site that stores images sent with the app and warned that users of such add-ons may put themselves at risk by giving out their personal information.

The possibility of Snapcash being used to charge for pornography sent over Snapchat raises other security concerns, says Richard Crone, Crone Consulting’s founder. While pictures sent with the app display for no more than 10 seconds, delivering cash to the sender means providing your debit card information to Snapchat—and that won’t disappear.

“If anything, Snapchat is the antithesis of safety and security and authentication,” he says. “Snapchat is expired, perishable, vulnerable communication. You don’t want a funds transfer to be vulnerable.”

To protect against fraud, users can opt to be prompted to enter their debit card security code, called a CVV number, with every transaction. Additionally, since Square Cash processes the payments, money sent through Snapcash undergoes Square’s encrypted security process.

Katie Baynes, spokeswoman for Square, calls Snapchat a “natural gathering place” for discussing activities with friends that may call for money to change hands, such as buying concert tickets or party supplies. Snapcash will allow users to chip in “directly from their conversation,” she says.

---

Image of Snapchat app via Shutterstock.

The post Snapchat Rolls Out Snapcash Peer-to-Peer Payment App appeared first on NerdWallet Credit Card Blog.

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Small Business Success Story: Netrepid’s Collaboration with the U.S. Small Business Administration

The road to being named “Veteran Small Business Person of the Year” by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Philadelphia District Office wasn’t always an easy one for Sam Coyl, president of Netrepid, an IT company based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Times were often so tough—and those times so frequent—that Coyl’s children had a special name for the rocky periods.

“My kids used to call them ‘Cheerios Weeks’ because, you know, owners get paid last, so my kids would open the cupboards and all they’d see is cereal and a bag of Tostitos,” Coyl says.

After nearly 10 years of bootstrapping his business, Coyl decided that Netrepid, along with his own financial stability, would benefit from outside funding. After hiring a chief financial officer in the summer of 2012, Coyl and Co. began looking for investors.

Tracking Netrepid’s growth

Netrepid’s current mission of helping clients “figure out how to evolve their technologies from traditional to cloud-based structures,” as Coyl describes it, was influenced by the numerous jobs he held prior to establishing the company in 2004. In addition to serving in the Marine Corps for eight years, Coyl gained valuable experience in the private sector, working for a firm that built Wi-Fi networks for hospitals and other businesses.

“Many clients would either severely underbuy or overbuy hardware and software without forecasting what their technology needs were going to be,” Coyl says.

The more Coyl encountered those types of scenarios, the faster the wheels in his head turned. A company that could provide IT consultation and support, Coyl figured, would be a welcome addition to the local business community. The budding entrepreneur also believed that cloud infrastructure would be the next big thing and that it should serve as the backbone of his business.

After initial success in the mid-2000s, Netrepid’s growth began to stall.

“We were kind of chugging along in a pretty bootstrapped environment, and it was working, but it was not going to give us the capacity we needed to grow,” Coyl says. “And as far as I’m concerned, if you’re stagnant, you’re dying.”

It was that mantra that motivated Coyl to look to the SBA for funding at a time when no one else was willing to take that risk.

Netrepid’s work with the SBA

Although it doesn’t directly provide loans, the SBA, which is backed by the U.S. government, works with traditional lenders like banks and credit unions to facilitate loans to businesses such as Netrepid.

“The SBA works with banks and credit unions, basically offering them loan guarantees from anywhere from 50% to 85-90% on the principle balance of the loan,” says Michael Kane, branch manager at SBA’s District Office in Harrisburg.

Those guarantees, says Kane, mitigate risk for lending institutions, which makes them more willing to offer loans to businesses that don’t have an extensive track record of success and growth. The SBA also provides financial counselling to business owners to empower them to make smart decisions with their money.

“No matter which way you slice it, some business owners are going to fall just outside the credit box that a lender has,” Kane says. “This program can really help push that small business over the finish line to get that capital that they need.”

With the help of the SBA and other outside investors, Netrepid raised about $3.5 million. According to Coyl, those funds have enabled him and his “phenomenal” 12-person-strong team to “refresh some of the technologies we needed to upgrade” and “to go after some much bigger clients with a much broader solution set.”

“Other companies that start with a $20 million investment blow all their cash in 15 months because they don’t know how to make smart decisions,” Coyl says. “We treated the funds like we didn’t have any money.”

Tips for small business owners

Based on his own experience, Coyl stresses the importance of finding the right team of advisors to work with. Although doing so took some time, it has proven to be a valuable asset for Netrepid.

“It took me a long time to build a little core of mentors that could really sit down with me and be my coaches,” Coyl says. “They’re not my board of directors; they’re the guys who are there to coach me.”

Working with people with strong operational backgrounds has helped Coyl plan Netrepid’s growth as he looks to “expand its geographical footprint.”

Kane, meanwhile, underlines the importance of knowing the ins and outs of one’s business community.

“In general, small business owners need to make sure they are aware of who is lending in their community,” he says. “If you are looking for an SBA-guaranteed loan, you have to know who is actually lending in your marketplace.

“Many district offices will put out lender loan volume reports on a monthly basis, which outlines how much lending they are doing, in terms of the number of loans and the aggregate dollar amount of these loans,” Kane says.

For Sam Coyl, doing the necessary homework before reaching out to his local SBA office sparked Netrepid’s growth and helped ensure that the phrase “Cheerios Weeks” is merely a relic of more frugal times.

The post Small Business Success Story: Netrepid’s Collaboration with the U.S. Small Business Administration appeared first on NerdWallet Credit Card Blog.

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Small Business Success Story: Netrepid’s Collaboration with the U.S. Small Business Administration

The road to being named “Veteran Small Business Person of the Year” by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Philadelphia District Office wasn’t always an easy one for Sam Coyl, president of Netrepid, an IT company based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Times were often so tough—and those times so frequent—that Coyl’s children had a special name for the rocky periods.

“My kids used to call them ‘Cheerios Weeks’ because, you know, owners get paid last, so my kids would open the cupboards and all they’d see is cereal and a bag of Tostitos,” Coyl says.

After nearly 10 years of bootstrapping his business, Coyl decided that Netrepid, along with his own financial stability, would benefit from outside funding. After hiring a chief financial officer in the summer of 2012, Coyl and Co. began looking for investors.

Tracking Netrepid’s growth

Netrepid’s current mission of helping clients “figure out how to evolve their technologies from traditional to cloud-based structures,” as Coyl describes it, was influenced by the numerous jobs he held prior to establishing the company in 2004. In addition to serving in the Marine Corps for eight years, Coyl gained valuable experience in the private sector, working for a firm that built Wi-Fi networks for hospitals and other businesses.

“Many clients would either severely underbuy or overbuy hardware and software without forecasting what their technology needs were going to be,” Coyl says.

The more Coyl encountered those types of scenarios, the faster the wheels in his head turned. A company that could provide IT consultation and support, Coyl figured, would be a welcome addition to the local business community. The budding entrepreneur also believed that cloud infrastructure would be the next big thing and that it should serve as the backbone of his business.

After initial success in the mid-2000s, Netrepid’s growth began to stall.

“We were kind of chugging along in a pretty bootstrapped environment, and it was working, but it was not going to give us the capacity we needed to grow,” Coyl says. “And as far as I’m concerned, if you’re stagnant, you’re dying.”

It was that mantra that motivated Coyl to look to the SBA for funding at a time when no one else was willing to take that risk.

Netrepid’s work with the SBA

Although it doesn’t directly provide loans, the SBA, which is backed by the U.S. government, works with traditional lenders like banks and credit unions to facilitate loans to businesses such as Netrepid.

“The SBA works with banks and credit unions, basically offering them loan guarantees from anywhere from 50% to 85-90% on the principle balance of the loan,” says Michael Kane, branch manager at SBA’s District Office in Harrisburg.

Those guarantees, says Kane, mitigate risk for lending institutions, which makes them more willing to offer loans to businesses that don’t have an extensive track record of success and growth. The SBA also provides financial counselling to business owners to empower them to make smart decisions with their money.

“No matter which way you slice it, some business owners are going to fall just outside the credit box that a lender has,” Kane says. “This program can really help push that small business over the finish line to get that capital that they need.”

With the help of the SBA and other outside investors, Netrepid raised about $3.5 million. According to Coyl, those funds have enabled him and his “phenomenal” 12-person-strong team to “refresh some of the technologies we needed to upgrade” and “to go after some much bigger clients with a much broader solution set.”

“Other companies that start with a $20 million investment blow all their cash in 15 months because they don’t know how to make smart decisions,” Coyl says. “We treated the funds like we didn’t have any money.”

Tips for small business owners

Based on his own experience, Coyl stresses the importance of finding the right team of advisors to work with. Although doing so took some time, it has proven to be a valuable asset for Netrepid.

“It took me a long time to build a little core of mentors that could really sit down with me and be my coaches,” Coyl says. “They’re not my board of directors; they’re the guys who are there to coach me.”

Working with people with strong operational backgrounds has helped Coyl plan Netrepid’s growth as he looks to “expand its geographical footprint.”

Kane, meanwhile, underlines the importance of knowing the ins and outs of one’s business community.

“In general, small business owners need to make sure they are aware of who is lending in their community,” he says. “If you are looking for an SBA-guaranteed loan, you have to know who is actually lending in your marketplace.

“Many district offices will put out lender loan volume reports on a monthly basis, which outlines how much lending they are doing, in terms of the number of loans and the aggregate dollar amount of these loans,” Kane says.

For Sam Coyl, doing the necessary homework before reaching out to his local SBA office sparked Netrepid’s growth and helped ensure that the phrase “Cheerios Weeks” is merely a relic of more frugal times.

The post Small Business Success Story: Netrepid’s Collaboration with the U.S. Small Business Administration appeared first on NerdWallet Credit Card Blog.

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Libraries Offer Pre-Paid Visa Debit Cards to Patrons

Institutions in three states offer library cards that double as prepaid Visa debit cards, under a program started last summer by SirsiDynix, a Lehi, Utah-based software company. Participating libraries get a portion of the fees paid for the service, while patrons get a less expensive alternative to opening a checking account, if they don’t have one.

As a library service, the cards may be a boon to people who don’t know that prepaid debit cards are even an option for storing money and paying for merchandise without a bank account. Reloadable prepaid cards are most popular among younger Americans, who are also less likely than older consumers to have bank accounts, says the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., a U.S. bank regulator.

“Given their multiple functions, financial services cards are often marketed as an alternative to a traditional checking account and are frequently targeted to the unbanked or underbanked, students, and recent immigrants,” the agency said about reloadable prepaid debit cards in a 2009 report.

Unbanked and underbanked

Last year, 7.7% of American households were unbanked, or didn’t have a bank account, the FDIC says. Another 20% were underbanked, meaning they had an account but also used alternative financial services such as prepaid cards.

Libraries in poorer communities are more likely to serve unbanked or underbanked patrons. Kelli Staley, a library department manager in Lansing, Illinois, says she heard about the SirsiDynix program at a professional meeting. Most of those there worked at libraries in wealthier cities, and they weren’t interested in it. But Staley says it excited her because some people in Lansing don’t have access to banking services.

Staley anticipates the program, called I Love My Library Card by SirsiDynix, will help those who lack bank accounts gain access to modern financial services and convenience, such as the ability to have funds directly deposited to their cards. That way they can avoid check-cashing stores, where fees vary widely but tend to be costly. For example, 7-Eleven stores charge 0.99% of the check amount, while at Wal-Mart-Stores it costs $3 for sums under $1,000. Avoiding such expenses may help offset the price of using a prepaid card from the library.

Card’s costs

In addition to a one-time enrollment fee of $5.95, users pay a $5.95 monthly service charge. That’s higher than the monthly cost for the best prepaid debit cards chosen by NerdWallet, which ranges from zero to $5. Using the library debit card in an automated teller machine costs $2.50, and there’s a $1.95 charge for using a personal identification number (PIN) in a transaction. While adding money to the card and direct deposits of paychecks, tax returns or government benefits are free, merchant fees may apply to loading cash onto the card at a gas station or a store.

Some prepaid debit cards issued by banks or other companies that appear to have lower monthly fees actually come with hidden charges like making you pay to speak to a customer service representative, says Justin Swain, a spokesman at SirsiDynix, which makes library software. “Really, what it comes down to is transparency on the fees,” he says.

Responding to consumer and regulatory concerns, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed new rules governing fee disclosure, fund safety and other aspects of the increasingly popular cards and other prepaid debit accounts.

Appealing aspects

Ideally, library staff members would help patrons research debit card options to find the best mix of fees and services, rather than promoting one that pays the institution for acquiring new users. There’s no question a savvy shopper could find a prepaid debit card with lower fees than this one.

Staley expects some interest from patrons who have bank accounts but see other value in prepaid cards, such as information security.

“I’ve been trying to promote the fact that you can put on a certain amount of money and it’s safer in the event of a data breach,” Staley says. The cards may also appeal to people who see them as a way to help their library financially. Separately, the card offer may provide a way to stay relevant and attract young people to the library.

So far, Staley’s institution has issued 216 cards, but only 15 have been activated by their holders. Libraries in Maryland’s Frederick County and Mississippi’s Lamar County also participate in SirsiDynix’s program. Among the three, about 100 debit cards have been activated and generated around $600 in library revenue.

Swain, the SirsiDynix spokesman, says the cards can serve as an educational tool to help people learn how to pay with plastic in a responsible way. Because users can’t overdraw their funds on the cards, they can’t run up big unpaid balances as can happen with a credit card.

While the debit card program may increase financial literacy among some users, it can help libraries financially while also broadening the scope of the services they provide in a quickly changing world. So it may be worth a look if it becomes an option at your library.

---

Money book image via Shutterstock.

The post Libraries Offer Pre-Paid Visa Debit Cards to Patrons appeared first on NerdWallet Credit Card Blog.

Source Article http://ift.tt/1y39EC7

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Libraries Offer Pre-Paid Visa Debit Cards to Patrons

Institutions in three states offer library cards that double as prepaid Visa debit cards, under a program started last summer by SirsiDynix, a Lehi, Utah-based software company. Participating libraries get a portion of the fees paid for the service, while patrons get a less expensive alternative to opening a checking account, if they don’t have one.

As a library service, the cards may be a boon to people who don’t know that prepaid debit cards are even an option for storing money and paying for merchandise without a bank account. Reloadable prepaid cards are most popular among younger Americans, who are also less likely than older consumers to have bank accounts, says the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., a U.S. bank regulator.

“Given their multiple functions, financial services cards are often marketed as an alternative to a traditional checking account and are frequently targeted to the unbanked or underbanked, students, and recent immigrants,” the agency said about reloadable prepaid debit cards in a 2009 report.

Unbanked and underbanked

Last year, 7.7% of American households were unbanked, or didn’t have a bank account, the FDIC says. Another 20% were underbanked, meaning they had an account but also used alternative financial services such as prepaid cards.

Libraries in poorer communities are more likely to serve unbanked or underbanked patrons. Kelli Staley, a library department manager in Lansing, Illinois, says she heard about the SirsiDynix program at a professional meeting. Most of those there worked at libraries in wealthier cities, and they weren’t interested in it. But Staley says it excited her because some people in Lansing don’t have access to banking services.

Staley anticipates the program, called I Love My Library Card by SirsiDynix, will help those who lack bank accounts gain access to modern financial services and convenience, such as the ability to have funds directly deposited to their cards. That way they can avoid check-cashing stores, where fees vary widely but tend to be costly. For example, 7-Eleven stores charge 0.99% of the check amount, while at Wal-Mart-Stores it costs $3 for sums under $1,000. Avoiding such expenses may help offset the price of using a prepaid card from the library.

Card’s costs

In addition to a one-time enrollment fee of $5.95, users pay a $5.95 monthly service charge. That’s higher than the monthly cost for the best prepaid debit cards chosen by NerdWallet, which ranges from zero to $5. Using the library debit card in an automated teller machine costs $2.50, and there’s a $1.95 charge for using a personal identification number (PIN) in a transaction. While adding money to the card and direct deposits of paychecks, tax returns or government benefits are free, merchant fees may apply to loading cash onto the card at a gas station or a store.

Some prepaid debit cards issued by banks or other companies that appear to have lower monthly fees actually come with hidden charges like making you pay to speak to a customer service representative, says Justin Swain, a spokesman at SirsiDynix, which makes library software. “Really, what it comes down to is transparency on the fees,” he says.

Responding to consumer and regulatory concerns, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed new rules governing fee disclosure, fund safety and other aspects of the increasingly popular cards and other prepaid debit accounts.

Appealing aspects

Ideally, library staff members would help patrons research debit card options to find the best mix of fees and services, rather than promoting one that pays the institution for acquiring new users. There’s no question a savvy shopper could find a prepaid debit card with lower fees than this one.

Staley expects some interest from patrons who have bank accounts but see other value in prepaid cards, such as information security.

“I’ve been trying to promote the fact that you can put on a certain amount of money and it’s safer in the event of a data breach,” Staley says. The cards may also appeal to people who see them as a way to help their library financially. Separately, the card offer may provide a way to stay relevant and attract young people to the library.

So far, Staley’s institution has issued 216 cards, but only 15 have been activated by their holders. Libraries in Maryland’s Frederick County and Mississippi’s Lamar County also participate in SirsiDynix’s program. Among the three, about 100 debit cards have been activated and generated around $600 in library revenue.

Swain, the SirsiDynix spokesman, says the cards can serve as an educational tool to help people learn how to pay with plastic in a responsible way. Because users can’t overdraw their funds on the cards, they can’t run up big unpaid balances as can happen with a credit card.

While the debit card program may increase financial literacy among some users, it can help libraries financially while also broadening the scope of the services they provide in a quickly changing world. So it may be worth a look if it becomes an option at your library.

---

Money book image via Shutterstock.

The post Libraries Offer Pre-Paid Visa Debit Cards to Patrons appeared first on NerdWallet Credit Card Blog.

Source Article :http://bit.ly/1qTvpiX

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Love Your Chase Freedom® Credit Card? Here’s What to Look Forward to in 2015

If you’re a loyal Chase Freedom® user, you probably already know you’ve made a great credit card choice. It’s one of the Nerds’ favorite cash-back cards, and will really come in handy during the 2014 holiday shopping season.

But the great news is that the Chase Freedom® has some tricks up its sleeve for 2015. Ready to find out more? Let’s dig in.

Chase Freedom®: The basics

Before diving into the new information, here’s a quick reminder of what the Chase Freedom® offers:

• You’ll earn 5% cash back in rotating quarterly bonus categories, up to $1,500 spent per quarter. For the fourth quarter of 2014, you’ll score 5% cash back on every dollar spent at select department stores, Zappos.com and Amazon.com.


• You’ll also earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases throughout the year.


• You’ll have the opportunity to score a signup bonus: Get a $200 Bonus after spending $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.


• The annual fee is $0

It’s also worth noting that with the Chase Freedom® you’re earning Chase Ultimate Reward points. You can redeem them for cash back, but if you also have the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you also have the option to transfer them to that account and cash them in for a trip. If you shop smart and take advantage of the Chase Freedom®’s 5% categories, this could add up to a lot of points to travel with.

Finally, if you’re an iPhone 6 user, don’t forget that your Chase Freedom® is compatible with Apple Pay. As more and more retailers begin installing the infrastructure to accept mobile payments, you’ll be able to easily rack up Ultimate Rewards points with a single tap.

Exciting news about the Chase Freedom® in 2015

As if all the perks above weren’t enough, the Nerds just got some exciting information about what’s new for the Chase Freedom® in 2015. Let’s start with rewards: For the first quarter of 2015, you’ll be able to earn 5% cash back on every dollar spent at grocery stores (except Target and WalMart), movie theaters and Starbucks. Remember, you’ll earn the bonus cash back up to $1,500 spent between January and March 2015. After that, you’ll earn the standard (and unlimited) 1% cash back.

Also, newly issued and reissued Chase Freedom® will start coming with EMV chip technology. This upgrade is beginning in November 2014 and will continue throughout 2015. Getting a Chase Freedom® with a chip will help you prepare for the U.S. transition to EMV, which is expected to be complete by October 2015. This will lead to safer credit card transactions, and, consequently, more peace of mind for consumers.

Other tips for getting the most out of your Chase Freedom®

The Chase Freedom® offers a lot of great benefits, but here are a few Nerd tips for getting even more value out of the card:

• Explore all of your redemption options. In addition to using your points for cash back or transferring them to your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card for travel, you can also use them for gift cards or to make purchases through Amazon.com. This flexibility means you’ll have an easy time finding something that has value for you.


• When you’re buying items online, try to shop through the Chase Ultimate Rewards bonus mall. You could earn 2%-15% back on your purchases.


• Sign up for alerts so that you’ll know when to go online and opt into new 5% categories. Although you can earn the bonus cash back retroactively, it would be a shame to totally miss out on the chance to score extra rewards.

For all the reasons described above, the Chase Freedom® is a great choice for 2015 and beyond. Be sure to keep it in mind, and check back with the Nerds as often as you can for other important updates!

Excited face image via Shutterstock

The post Love Your Chase Freedom® Credit Card? Here’s What to Look Forward to in 2015 appeared first on NerdWallet Credit Card Blog.

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