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No Annual Fee
We reported that the BBVA is offering the NBA credit card with no-annual-fee for life if you apply before 6/30/15. The good news is that they’ve now extended that offer until 8/31/15. (Direct Link)
The standard offer on this card is that the first year is without an annual fee and after that it’s $50 per year. Under this offer, they will NEVER charge you an annual fee for the card, even past the first year.
The $100 signup bonus is still available.
(Note that the Fine Print on the actual application is still stating the deadline of 6/30/15. We’ve seen this before that it takes them time to update the Fine Print on the actual application. It’s worth saving a screenshot to be safe.)
Recommendation
Many people are asking for a recommendation whether to get this card or not. The main question is whether they’ll continue having the 5x-everywhere offers twice per year or if they’ll drop that. For now, that offer is still showing up along with all the card details. My guess is that if they do change something (which is likely) it will be in the form of adding a cap on the rewards (a la Old Blue Cash and the TD 5% card), rather than scrapping the benefit completely.
If you’re applying solely for the 5x reward benefit, it’s a hard call. But it’s worth remembering that aside from that there are a number of other benefits here:
- $100 signup bonus
- it’s a fee-free Amex card (I estimated the value to be $100-$200 per year)
- they have other bonus offers which run periodically, such as the current travel promo offer and the (expired) grocery store offer
- Grocery stores were actually earning 6x rewards during the 5x promo period
If we’ll assume that there’ll always be some sort of promo during the Playoffs and Allstar (even if it’s capped or whatnot), this can really be a valuable card. That said, if you’re in it just for the 5x offer, it may be worth biding your time and noting August 31 on your calendar to see what’s being shown then on the offer page.
Note that applying for this card is usually an Experian pull which many of us don’t like.
HT: Reader P
For anyone still considering this card, the AF appears to have been eliminated altogether. The application landing page and disclosures all read ‘no annual fee’ without mention of application deadline.
I am curious why the change. Not enough sign-ups during AF ‘waived for life’ launch period? Too much bad press from the NBA finals cashback bonus fiasco? Will the rewards program get nerfed without the inherently limiting factor of an AF?
5 days passed already. Still under review. Anyone knows the backdoor/recon number of this issuer?
I applied this past Saturday as part of a mini-app-o-Rama. Was approved online, but today got a call from them to “verify my application”. After reviewing my name, address and SSN, the guy said my application would be reviewed by another team and I would either get the card or a letter in the mail. He couldn’t explain why I got “approved” online, but was being reviewed now. Hum.
Never mind. I stopped reading the application results page after the giant “slam dunk” heading. Turns out the page did say under review. I got my “your card is on the way” email today. All worried for nothing.
How many authorized users can you add fee free to this card?
Not sure if there’s a limit, but it won’t help you for Amex Offers if that’s what you’re after since the card number is the same.
I applied for the BBVA card two weeks before their no-annual-fee-for-life promotion started, and they said there will be an annual fee on my card. But I just called them again and they said the annual fee would be waived for the life of my account… any clarifications please? thanks!
Just applied and got approved instantly. My main motivation was for a zero AF Amex card for amex offers, but am open to other bonuses along the way as well! Thanks again Doctor, for the heads up.
How does BBVA compare to other bank such as Discover, Chase, and BOA in term of customer service?
If that is one of your primary concerns, you should look elsewhere. For many of us, the NBA Finals/bonus cashback period just completed was an epic sh*tshow of customer service failure.
Still no rewards from 6.17 and 6.18. Wish it had gone to Game 7!
I have rewards from then, so it’s not a lack of game 7 issue.
Me too, and I had called their phone customer service after the last game ended and was told that I could still get 5% back through the end of the week.
Just to clarify, by “me too”, I mean that I have so far apparently not gotten 5% back for spending on 6/17 and 6/18.
I can definitely see holding onto this card to pay big expenses twice a year.
Also 0% interest for six months which is worth something.