Americans: Rewards credit card recommendations?

[Loki]

The opposite would make more sense, for a lot of stores cash is more expensive and risky for them (robbery, cashiers who keep money, and it costs money to deposit cash or to get change, and more difficult administration). The only thing that can go wrong with a credit card is that the buyer claims the money back, I think? So unless the transaction fees are that high, a discount for using a card would make more sense.

Stores lose some money for every credit card transaction. The sheer scale of the "savings" offered by some businesses when using cash, however, strongly suggests that they can only do that if they don't pay taxes on the transaction.

[Hazir]

Stores lose some money for every credit card transaction. The sheer scale of the "savings" offered by some businesses when using cash, however, strongly suggests that they can only do that if they don't pay taxes on the transaction.

And inventories wouldn't show that ?

[Loki]

And inventories wouldn't show that ?

The government is going to look at inventories? It's well-known that most small and medium-sized businesses keep one set of books for the government and another for themselves.

Hazir: re: inventories, the government doesn't have anywhere near as good sense of store inventories since we don't have VAT reporting. Loki's probably right in some cases (esp. small non-chain businesses), though I'd prefer to imagine that it's because they've done the math for their average transaction size and found out that the costs of CC interchange fees is higher than cash management for their particular case.

The transaction fee for using a credit is 3% at best. Meanwhile, "cash discounts" seem to be eerily similar to the prevailing sales tax. Of course the store makes even more money because it not only doesn't pay the sales tax but also the tax on income.

wiggin, if you're thinking of ways to improve chances of getting that mortgage, credit card history won't be as important as your savings and employment history. Plus finding a bank whose own history of fiduciary responsibility is just as good as yours! ie, a community bank or credit union that holds and services the loans they originate, doesn't sell 90% of their loans to other banks, etc. If you're associated with a university or medical center, those almost always have "preferred" relationships with certain lenders.

Since you and your wife are both highly educated and gainfully employed in specialized hot fields, you're any mortgage lender's wet dream. You actually have the upper hand in this market (where housing and lending is all FUBAR), and the Banks need you more than you need them. Especially if you have 20% cash down.

The issue isn't being able to get the loan but rather the interest rate on that loan, and for that, credit scores matter...a lot.

[GGT]

The issue isn't being able to get the loan but rather the interest rate on that loan, and for that, credit scores matter...a lot.

Interest rates on mortgages are historically low, even though consumers have low savings rates, high debt and high unemployment. We used to be able to buy down rates by paying lenders points, traditionally 1% of the loan amount, but not sure how often that's done when rates are below 5%.

wiggin has everything a lender wants---savings, good income, advanced education and employment in the "right" field. If his credit scores don't reflect that, the fault lies in the credit rating agencies. If a mortgage company won't give him a low fixed rate, fixed term loan, with no prepayment penalty and low closing costs, the fault lies in the bank.

[wiggin]

Interest rates on mortgages are historically low, even though consumers have low savings rates, high debt and high unemployment. We used to be able to buy down rates by paying lenders points, traditionally 1% of the loan amount, but not sure how often that's done when rates are below 5%.

wiggin has everything a lender wants---savings, good income, advanced education and employment in the "right" field. If his credit scores don't reflect that, the fault lies in the credit rating agencies. If a mortgage company won't give him a low fixed rate, fixed term loan, with no prepayment penalty and low closing costs, the fault lies in the bank.

It's irrelevant if credit scores should work like that - they don't. They don't include income or savings, they just look at repayment behavior etc. Yes, banks can exercise some leeway based on a person's other situation, but it's largely irrelevant to getting a good loan, I'm afraid.

Also, I'm hardly looking for a mortgage right now, and rates are going to be far higher soon when I'm likely to actually be in the market for a house. Saving on rates could save me tens of thousands of dollars.