Two Bites Of The Cherry
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday July 21, 1999
It seemed too good to be true, or at least too good to last.
To tempt credit card junkies across from its rivals, American Express has been offering an irresistible incentive. Transfer your balance from any other credit card to the blue American Express credit card and you earn one reward point for every dollar transferred, effectively allowing you to double dip on points. You don't even have to cancel the other credit card.
And there's more. After transferring the balance across to Amex, you get a further 55 days interest free. The idea, says an Amex spokeswoman, is to encourage people to consolidate all their spending on the Amex blue card, at the low rate of 13.85 per cent, and make it their primary card.
The more we checked things out, the better it got. From letting you transfer balances from other cards six times a year, Amex increased the deal to 12 times a year, mid-inquiry.
But just as we were confirming this last incredible change, along came another. As of September 7, the Amex credit card will start behaving like its rivals, any balance transfer will attract interest from day one.
© 1999 Sydney Morning Herald
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