A Card for Garage Band Junkies
| October 26, 2011 | Filled under Card Reviews, Students |
The Capital One MTV Visa Credit Card is one option to help beginners with Average credit earn points rewards. As noted in a previous post, many students using their parents’ cards have limited credit histories and would not qualify for cards that offer optimal rewards. While the Capital One MTV Visa Credit Card is available under Excellent and Average credit, the rewards remain the same across the board:
*5 points per dollar spent on music, movies, video-games
*2 points per dollar spent on restaurants, fast food places, coffee shops
*1 point per dollar on all other purchases
*25 points each billing period that you pay on time
As with many rewards credit cards, there’s neither an expiration date nor a limit on the amount of points you can accumulate. Cardholders may redeem their points for travel, cash, merchandise, etc. by signing into Capital One online banking or by calling a central Rewards center. The number of points required varies based on the chosen reward, i.e. $25 in cash back for 5,000 points, a $50 gift card for 7,750 points or brand-name merchandise worth $100 for 20,000 points.
Pros:
*$0 Annual Fee
*0% Introductory APR until October 2012
*Rewards points on all your purchases
*Access to “Money Wise” program (available in English, Spanish) for credit and financial education
Cons:
*Slow point accumulation
*No cash back
*Transfer and Variable APR is 24.9% after October 2012, which can be significantly higher than the rates offered to applicants with an Excellent credit level (13.9%-19.9%).
Conclusion:
The main attraction of this card is its access to exclusive MTV fare. Cardholders can redeem their points for backstage passes and tickets to MTV events like the VMAs. The rewards structure obviously lends itself to youth – food, entertainment and miscellaneous (a.k.a. random and probably unecessary purchases) pretty much sums up the range of charges a student would make. But most other cards cover that, too. So unless grunge-tastic perks hook you, the higher-than-average APR that you’ll have to deal with after the introductory period is not worth it. Other credit cards designed for students offer 13% – 20% rates (at least 4% lower). It’s too bad though – for a generation still stuck on Teen Spirit, a corporate credit card with MTV’s legendary “Moon Man” icon might actually be worth the irony.
