"Unsure Whether Or Not To Keep..."
Direct Rewards Platinum® Review
Written by: lyyssa on 2008-03-19
Overall Satisfaction
Customer Service
Rewards
Account Management
Delivery Time
lyyssa's review: 
I applied for a Discover online but they declined me, and offered the Direct Rewards. I closed the webpage. They then sent me an e-mail, asking for me to call them for verification. I called, they verified, and declined me again, and tried to push the Direct Rewards. I declined again. This morning, I got another e-mail. I called again, and asked if they would please stop bouncing me e-mails. They offered AGAIN the Direct Rewards with the 2.9% intro for 6 months, 19.99% thereafter. $59 APR, but a cl of $300, which would be my lowest cl on my cards. She said she would send me the card, and if I did not use the card I would have 90 days to choose whether or not to keep it. Of course, if I decide not to keep it I have no obligation to the af.
I'm torn about this. I have 2 cards with Citi (no af), 1 with Chase (no af) and one with C-1 ($39 af that I waive). I've never done any banking or business of any sort with HSBC. I'm indecisive on whether or not the af is worth keeping for a card that I would probably only charge my movie rentals to.
I'll have to look over the T&C to see if it's worth it.
I applied for a Discover online but they declined me, and offered the Direct Rewards. I closed the webpage. They then sent me an e-mail, asking for me to call them for verification. I called, they verified, and declined me again, and tried to push the Direct Rewards. I declined again. This morning, I got another e-mail. I called again, and asked if they would please stop bouncing me e-mails. They offered AGAIN the Direct Rewards with the 2.9% intro for 6 months, 19.99% thereafter. $59 APR, but a cl of $300, which would be my lowest cl on my cards. She said she would send me the card, and if I did not use the card I would have 90 days to choose whether or not to keep it. Of course, if I decide not to keep it I have no obligation to the af.I'm torn about this. I have 2 cards with Citi (no af), 1 with Chase (no af) and one with C-1 ($39 af that I waive). I've never done any banking or business of any sort with HSBC. I'm indecisive on whether or not the af is worth keeping for a card that I would probably only charge my movie rentals to.
I'll have to look over the T&C to see if it's worth it.
9 Comments
Comment 1 by sethatco
Dump It 
on 2008-03-19
If they are only willing to give you a CL of 300 with an AF it's not worth, short of a FICO score of like 500 you should not pay to keep a piece of plastic in your wallet. HSBC is pathetic for credit limit increases on their cards. I recently closed out a few of my accounts with them and told them not to bother contacting me until they could give a credit line that is appropriate for my credit score and salary. You are better off paying down the current cards you have. This will show discover that your worth the risk and they will most likely give you card with a 500 limit to start and show them how you handle the account.
on 2008-03-19 If they are only willing to give you a CL of 300 with an AF it's not worth, short of a FICO score of like 500 you should not pay to keep a piece of plastic in your wallet. HSBC is pathetic for credit limit increases on their cards. I recently closed out a few of my accounts with them and told them not to bother contacting me until they could give a credit line that is appropriate for my credit score and salary. You are better off paying down the current cards you have. This will show discover that your worth the risk and they will most likely give you card with a 500 limit to start and show them how you handle the account.
Comment 2 by rivasglo
HSBC on 2008-03-20
I got this card last month with a CL of $900 and no annual fee. It was also offered after a decline for the the Discover More Card.
How come they gave you an annual fee? Is it because of ur scores?
on 2008-03-20 I got this card last month with a CL of $900 and no annual fee. It was also offered after a decline for the the Discover More Card. How come they gave you an annual fee? Is it because of ur scores?
Comment 3 by lyyssa
I'm Not Sure... on 2008-03-20
My scores are in the low to mid 600s. I've heard some people getting af, some not. I don't think I will be accepting this card, it's like Sethatco said, I don't think I need a card with an af.
Also, I have a rewards card with Chase with a higher cl and no af.
on 2008-03-20 My scores are in the low to mid 600s. I've heard some people getting af, some not. I don't think I will be accepting this card, it's like Sethatco said, I don't think I need a card with an af. Also, I have a rewards card with Chase with a higher cl and no af.
Comment 4 by rivasglo
I Wouldn't Either... on 2008-03-20
Yea your better off without the card, specially with that low CL and AF... I also have Chase and they are good to me...:)
on 2008-03-20 Yea your better off without the card, specially with that low CL and AF... I also have Chase and they are good to me...:)
Comment 5 by casey
Love My Card on 2008-03-20
I really love my Direct Rewards Discover... Decent rate 13.99% no AF, started at a $2000 limit, last month, a received a $1000 CLI, new limit $3000. Been good to me so far. HSBC LIKES utilization, consistent charging, consistent payments, that is what an account supervisor told me once, once I started using the card, faithfully, BOOM!!! CLI.
on 2008-03-20 I really love my Direct Rewards Discover... Decent rate 13.99% no AF, started at a $2000 limit, last month, a received a $1000 CLI, new limit $3000. Been good to me so far. HSBC LIKES utilization, consistent charging, consistent payments, that is what an account supervisor told me once, once I started using the card, faithfully, BOOM!!! CLI.
Comment 6 by eric
HSBC Discover on 2008-03-20
I got this card back in July or Aug of 2007... Was approved for $1k with a 2.9% for 9 months... I didn get a CL of $300 in Jan... I also have a af of $59 which is making me want to close the card. The rewards are horrible impossible to get...25000 points for a walkman is not exactly what I want... Especially when I get $300 or a roundtrip plane ticket for my BofA Worldpoints Mastercard. The intro apr is nice but they cover the 2.9% with the $59 af! For the $300 I wouldnt get it... The af sucks and the rewards stick too.
on 2008-03-20 I got this card back in July or Aug of 2007... Was approved for $1k with a 2.9% for 9 months... I didn get a CL of $300 in Jan... I also have a af of $59 which is making me want to close the card. The rewards are horrible impossible to get...25000 points for a walkman is not exactly what I want... Especially when I get $300 or a roundtrip plane ticket for my BofA Worldpoints Mastercard. The intro apr is nice but they cover the 2.9% with the $59 af! For the $300 I wouldnt get it... The af sucks and the rewards stick too.
Comment 7 by steve-o
Was Tricked Into Getting This Card on 2008-03-21
I also applied for the discover card and was declined... I applied for the discover card to do a balance transfer... Discover pushed me into this card saying I would get 9 months 0% on my balance transfer if I accepted... My balance transfer was 1500 from my Citi card... Which is a very good card with low rate but I thought why not so I accepted... Well the card came in the mail and they only gave me a 500 dollar limit and said I wasn't allowed to use the 9 months with 0% because the card only had a 500 dollar limit... I was very mad because discover said if I accepted I would get my balance transfer of 1500 with this card... I argued for a while with the lady and finally just said fine and asked to just transfer 500 off my Citi card... She said no... I was like wait I have 9 months with 0% on balance transfers for the card why won't you transfer 500 off my Citi card... She said because my credit limit was too low... She said to take advantage of the balance transfer offer I have to have at least a 750 CL... So I argued some more but she wouldn't budge... I was totally tricked into accepting this card... I was about to cancel but the card had already lowered my score so I just kept it for a rainy day or something... It sits in my sock draw now. I use it once in a while but don't really touch it..
not a bad card...14.99% rate with NO annual fee..
but it was just such crap that discover and HSBC just played games with me like that... The discover lady jut flat out lied to me... She must have got commission for it or something... Complete bull..
I have
Citi platinum select 3000
wumu 1000
sunoco 1000
direct rewards discover 500
oh yea and my direct rewards is my highest interest rate..
on 2008-03-21 I also applied for the discover card and was declined... I applied for the discover card to do a balance transfer... Discover pushed me into this card saying I would get 9 months 0% on my balance transfer if I accepted... My balance transfer was 1500 from my Citi card... Which is a very good card with low rate but I thought why not so I accepted... Well the card came in the mail and they only gave me a 500 dollar limit and said I wasn't allowed to use the 9 months with 0% because the card only had a 500 dollar limit... I was very mad because discover said if I accepted I would get my balance transfer of 1500 with this card... I argued for a while with the lady and finally just said fine and asked to just transfer 500 off my Citi card... She said no... I was like wait I have 9 months with 0% on balance transfers for the card why won't you transfer 500 off my Citi card... She said because my credit limit was too low... She said to take advantage of the balance transfer offer I have to have at least a 750 CL... So I argued some more but she wouldn't budge... I was totally tricked into accepting this card... I was about to cancel but the card had already lowered my score so I just kept it for a rainy day or something... It sits in my sock draw now. I use it once in a while but don't really touch it..not a bad card...14.99% rate with NO annual fee..
but it was just such crap that discover and HSBC just played games with me like that... The discover lady jut flat out lied to me... She must have got commission for it or something... Complete bull..
I have
Citi platinum select 3000
wumu 1000
sunoco 1000
direct rewards discover 500
oh yea and my direct rewards is my highest interest rate..
Comment 8 by goldenladi
Not Sure About This Card on 2008-03-21
I got an instant approval on line with this card in Sep 07, the approval didn't indicate what the credit limit was. I called the 800 number and gave the rep my ssn and was told that I was approved for $600.
I got the card and agreement in the mail 5 to 7 days later. My APR is 19% and it has a rewards program which allows you to accumulate points based on your monthly spending total towards gift cards and other merchandise. The on line account service is okay- except it doesn't post your pending transactions. I do like that it tracks your spending habits and you can create reports. According to the website, they don't give customer initiated cli.
Overall, this is a sock drawer kind of card. I've used it for small purchases and pay in full each month.
on 2008-03-21 I got an instant approval on line with this card in Sep 07, the approval didn't indicate what the credit limit was. I called the 800 number and gave the rep my ssn and was told that I was approved for $600. I got the card and agreement in the mail 5 to 7 days later. My APR is 19% and it has a rewards program which allows you to accumulate points based on your monthly spending total towards gift cards and other merchandise. The on line account service is okay- except it doesn't post your pending transactions. I do like that it tracks your spending habits and you can create reports. According to the website, they don't give customer initiated cli.
Overall, this is a sock drawer kind of card. I've used it for small purchases and pay in full each month.
Comment 9 by lyyssa
Update: on 2008-03-22
I got an e-mail this morning from HSBC about the account, showing they had generated an account # (all I could see was the last 4 digits). I called and spoke with a csr, who was incredible unhelpful. I told him the situation, that I was approved with a prime lender with no af and a higher credit limit (at this point I hadn't given any of my account info). He immediately went into this script about how he couldn't raise my cl or waive my annual fee. I said: "How do you know? You don't even have my account #." and he said: "You said yourself you haven't received the card yet!" JERK! So I said: "Can't you look it up with my ssn?" And he said "YES!!" Real rudely too, mind you.
He looks it up and transfers me to retention services. Teresa explained to me that because my uti is just over 40% they couldn't give me a cli (actually, we paid that crap down in Feb and they haven't reported yet to the credit bureau). But she did waive the annual fee.
So since the af is waived (and that's what I originally wanted when I called), I'll keep the card for a year and see how it goes. Like I said, I'll use my movie rentals for it. But I suspect this card will be smelling socks for the majority of its life. :)
on 2008-03-22 I got an e-mail this morning from HSBC about the account, showing they had generated an account # (all I could see was the last 4 digits). I called and spoke with a csr, who was incredible unhelpful. I told him the situation, that I was approved with a prime lender with no af and a higher credit limit (at this point I hadn't given any of my account info). He immediately went into this script about how he couldn't raise my cl or waive my annual fee. I said: "How do you know? You don't even have my account #." and he said: "You said yourself you haven't received the card yet!" JERK! So I said: "Can't you look it up with my ssn?" And he said "YES!!" Real rudely too, mind you. He looks it up and transfers me to retention services. Teresa explained to me that because my uti is just over 40% they couldn't give me a cli (actually, we paid that crap down in Feb and they haven't reported yet to the credit bureau). But she did waive the annual fee.
So since the af is waived (and that's what I originally wanted when I called), I'll keep the card for a year and see how it goes. Like I said, I'll use my movie rentals for it. But I suspect this card will be smelling socks for the majority of its life. :)
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Disclaimer: This content is not provided by Direct Merchants Bank. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by Direct Merchants Bank. Review content is powered by Finance Globe.
