MyPoints - Rewards Visa Card Review

My Points Rewards Visa, distributed by Washington Mutual Bank, is a great way to obtain a lot of points if you are a member of MyPoints.com.  Not only will you earn 3000 points when you receive and use this credit card, but you will also have a zero % interest rate for the first six months.

However, like most credit cards, if you have a late payment or go over your credit line, Washington Mutual Bank will increase your Annual Percentage Rate (APR).  I had an "oops" moment one month and sent in a late payment and was charged a $39 late payment fee.  I was relieved when the Customer Service Representative removed the fee as a one time gesture, although he failed to mention that my APR would increase from 11.99% to 18.24%.  Yikes!

Call me Clueless (you wouldn't be the first), but I had no idea about the rate increase until three months later!  I don't usually carry a balance each month but we had purchased tickets to Romania for our family and charged them to this card for the points (over 3000 points earned - yippee!), and had decided to carry the balance over for a while.  Needless to say, the higher interest that we paid removed most of the points benefits that we were receiving each month. 

On a good note, I contacted Customer Service and was immediately given a lower APR of 10.99%.  It was worth the hassle of a nine minute phone call and the sales pitch to try to get me to sign up for the credit report/alert program for "only" $17.99 per month. 

Overall, I think that the My Points Reward Visa is a great credit card if you are an active member of MyPoints.com.  Just use it wisely and let the points add up.