"A Long History"
Bank of America WorldPoints Platinum Plus® MasterCard® Credit Card Review
Written by: ross154 on 2009-01-13
Overall Satisfaction
Customer Service
Rewards
Account Management
Delivery Time
ross154's review: 
I actually first applied for this card through the Planetary Society as a Visa 10 years ago... Go ahead and laugh! It was my first card, and originally issued through MBNA. I will only be commenting on my experiences with BofA here.
My APR when BofA acquired MBNA was 28% due to one (one!) late payment in college. This is years later. About two years ago I called BofA to ask for an interest rate decrease - they declined. Keep in mind, this is with a $19,000 credit limit and perfect payment history on all accounts for years. 28% APR. My solution was to never use the card.
A year ago I received a letter from BofA that basically said "Please use your card, we'll lower your APR to 10% if you do so by XXXX date." I charged a lunch on it and waited to see if it would go down - it did. I began to use the card more after that.
I converted the card to this type a few months ago since the Visa wasn't giving me any points. I expected they'd keep it a Visa, so imagine my surprise when a MasterCard shows up in the mail! I recently asked to have the card converted to a Visa Signature card. That's in progress, if it's anything like the last time I changed products I'll receive the card (or a Visa Platinum) in a couple weeks. Currently the card has a beautiful picture of Saturn with the Planetary Society logo... I'll miss that if they remove it on the new Visa.
Credit line increases have been regular with BofA. The APR has also since dropped without having to contact them. Currently, my account sits at 24,000 with 8% APR. It started at 1,200 back in '98 with MBNA.
Customer service has been great although hold times can be several minutes. Interacting with BofA online is quick, email gets a response within hours not days. I've only dinged them for not letting me know I'd be getting a MasterCard when I opted for a rewards card conversion.
I give this card 4 stars for account management because it can take a few days for payments to appear. My USAA cards reflect payments instantly. I do like the flexibility of all the alerts/notifications they provide for free.
Overall though, BofA has been good to me and I'd recommend them.
I actually first applied for this card through the Planetary Society as a Visa 10 years ago... Go ahead and laugh! It was my first card, and originally issued through MBNA. I will only be commenting on my experiences with BofA here.My APR when BofA acquired MBNA was 28% due to one (one!) late payment in college. This is years later. About two years ago I called BofA to ask for an interest rate decrease - they declined. Keep in mind, this is with a $19,000 credit limit and perfect payment history on all accounts for years. 28% APR. My solution was to never use the card.
A year ago I received a letter from BofA that basically said "Please use your card, we'll lower your APR to 10% if you do so by XXXX date." I charged a lunch on it and waited to see if it would go down - it did. I began to use the card more after that.
I converted the card to this type a few months ago since the Visa wasn't giving me any points. I expected they'd keep it a Visa, so imagine my surprise when a MasterCard shows up in the mail! I recently asked to have the card converted to a Visa Signature card. That's in progress, if it's anything like the last time I changed products I'll receive the card (or a Visa Platinum) in a couple weeks. Currently the card has a beautiful picture of Saturn with the Planetary Society logo... I'll miss that if they remove it on the new Visa.
Credit line increases have been regular with BofA. The APR has also since dropped without having to contact them. Currently, my account sits at 24,000 with 8% APR. It started at 1,200 back in '98 with MBNA.
Customer service has been great although hold times can be several minutes. Interacting with BofA online is quick, email gets a response within hours not days. I've only dinged them for not letting me know I'd be getting a MasterCard when I opted for a rewards card conversion.
I give this card 4 stars for account management because it can take a few days for payments to appear. My USAA cards reflect payments instantly. I do like the flexibility of all the alerts/notifications they provide for free.
Overall though, BofA has been good to me and I'd recommend them.
3 Comments
Comment 1 by brian23
Very Nice Review... 
on 2009-01-13
And that's a really great CL and Int rate.
I have a question on your USAA card; how can you become a member of USAA? My brother was in the marine reserves for 5 yrs and I was just wondering how to get in with them, because I hear they have really great discounts on car insurance.
on 2009-01-13 And that's a really great CL and Int rate.I have a question on your USAA card; how can you become a member of USAA? My brother was in the marine reserves for 5 yrs and I was just wondering how to get in with them, because I hear they have really great discounts on car insurance.
Comment 2 by ross154
USAA Membership on 2009-01-14
USAA has recently loosened membership requirements, but I think you still need to be a child of a USAA member (military or otherwise) or be active/retired/honorably discharged. My membership came from my folks who are retired Army. If you can get in you should :-) I can't complain about the insurance rates or service.
on 2009-01-14 USAA has recently loosened membership requirements, but I think you still need to be a child of a USAA member (military or otherwise) or be active/retired/honorably discharged. My membership came from my folks who are retired Army. If you can get in you should :-) I can't complain about the insurance rates or service.
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Disclaimer: This content is not provided by Bank of America®. 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 Bank of America®. Review content is powered by Finance Globe.
