Jay Lowrey

This was my credit union throughout childhood because it was where my grandmother would always deposit the Christmas money. This is still one of the few banks out there where you feel like you know everyone. Especially in the branches in the Triad of NC, there is never any kind of wait and everyone is always eager to help you in any way possible. I was also lucky enough to get several scholarships from the credit union, so I am really indebted to this credit union in a number of ways.

I was a client of Truliant for a few months a year ago. I just had a small savings account, and I wanted to investigate having another place to put my money. I had all of my money in one place previously, and this worried me as I started to have more and more funds. I just had $10 in Truliant, and I honestly forgot about it. I eventually got over my fear of having all of my money in one place, and I went back later to close out this account. I found out that all of my money was gone due to an inactivity fee. I had never heard of such a fee in all my life, and I could not believe that they would take so much of my money simply for leaving it there. There was nothing I could do to get the money back, but it left a bad feeling in my opinion about this credit union.

Compared to other cards I have looked at, the Capital One Secured card is a much better way to build credit. The annual fee is pretty small and the security deposit required is low. The rate is a little high for the card, but there are not as many "gotcha" fees. It would be ideal if everyone could get a traditional credit card, but some do not have that option. This seems like a better way to build credit without getting sucked into traps.

This is a hard card for me to get excited about. It is really only good for getting the interest deferred on a tire purchase for a few months. Buried in the fine print, you can also see that all of the interest kicks in later if you miss even one payment. This should be made much more clear, and it seems like a way to trick customers. I think it would also be nice to offer some type of rewards program such as points towards new tires, etc. Overall, this card does not offer much value, and I would likely end up putting my purchase from this store on my standard credit card.

As far as store cards go, this one looks to be good. I appreciate how the card is actually a Visa card that can be used anywhere. That way points can be accumulated at many different stores. This makes it easier to accumulate points more easily. I also like how there are a variety of incentives for points (e.g. percentage off plus bonus cash). Having a nice birthday discount and exclusive sales several times a year also really helps to add value to this card.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is good overall. I like how you are able to get a large number of points very quickly and that the points are a one to one type of transfer to another point system with a company. The big problem I have with this card is that it has an annual fee. I know it is only after the first year, but it is hard for me to justify spending all this money on a card when there is very little chance that I will make back the needed number of points to justify this cost.

The Slate card from Chase looks like it is a pretty good deal. It has no annual fee which is always nice, and its rate is also fairly low even after the introductory period. I like that there is no interest on transfer for the first year too. This would help someone pay off their debts more quickly, and I can see how this might be helpful for me in the future. My current card is from a credit union, so it has a much better rate. I realize that this rate is unrealistic for most people, so I feel that the Chase card is good for many out there.

I banked with BBT for a short time, and I still have a credit card with them. I only started banking with them because I was offered $100 to open up a checking account after having a credit card for several years. I ended up getting the $100 but the hoops I had to jump through to get it were not very clear, and I had to keep my account open longer than I would have liked in order to avoid giving back the $100. I ended up closing the account after the waiting period because I would be charged for not having a direct deposit eventually. I was only notified of the change via mail, so I am glad I caught on to that and avoided any fees in my account! Would have been very easy to lose that $100 quickly if I had not noticed the fees.

This card looks good. One feature that I especially like is the receipt free return feature. This is often a real pain for me to keep up with, so I like that the card eliminates that. I also like that accumulating points on the card gives me actual cash back rather than a percentage off as with most cards. One thing I noticed was that the grace period was only 23 days. This seems very odd, and I feel like this would be a number that I would struggle to keep track of.

This is not a credit card that I would ever consider owning. My current credit card has no annual fee and a drastically lower APR. The fact that this card has so many fees is actually fairly worrisome to me. It makes me feel like the card company does not have my best interests at heart. I have never heard of a card that charges an initial fee, and the idea of a credit limit increase fee should be illegal! This card seems like a way to take advantage of people.

The Express Store Card seems like it is pretty good as far as store credit cards go. I like that it has a birthday reward and that it gives you bonus points for "VIP status." I wish that more of the actual rates for this card were listed. I typically do not carry a balance forward on my cards each month, but it would be nice to know what would happen if I did on this card. I am also confused by whether it is called the Express Card or Express Next Card based on the picture above.

State Employees has been my bank since I was a teenager. I have really enjoyed working with them. So much so to the point that my car loan, credit card, IRA and everything else are with the bank. The checking account is very easy to use and I especially like the online access features. A great bank!