There are undoubtedly many of you who hold a Chase Sapphire (Preferred or Reserve) or an American Express charge card (Platinum, Gold, or Green.) Maybe you have a Chase Ink business card or the AMEX Blue Business Plus. Even others will have a collection including a Chase Freedom, Citi Dividend, or Discover card to take advantage of the rotating category bonuses.
You might have other cards from Citi, Bank of America, or Capital One.
But I’m willing to bet that there’s one card in your wallet that’s the outlier. Maybe you’re keeping it because you’ve had it for a while and closing it would mean a hit to your credit score. Possibly it provides a benefit that’s particularly important to you. Or maybe you’re just too lazy to close it.
If Sharon would ever let me get the Buc-ee’s Credit Card (Note from Sharon: STILL not happening), you better believe it would be the most obscure card in my wallet.
While some will find it odd that I still have the Disney Credit card from Chase, I find it useful for the Disney Parks perks and the referral bonuses it provides. (Thanks to everyone who’s signed up using our link.)
However, neither of those are the most obscure card I have. That honor goes to the American Express Optima Platinum card.
American Express launched the Optima line of credit cards in 1987. Previous to that, all American Express offerings had been charge cards. Here’s a post explaining the difference between the two.
AMEX has since gone full into issuing credit cards, while the original four cards are still charge cards that need to be paid in full every month.
Over the years, AMEX forgot about the Optima card. Including those of us who upgraded to the Platinum version of the card, which earns Membership Rewards points. (Not to mention that for a while, they didn’t even bother to update the image of the card on the payment emails, leaving an “image not found” icon in its place). AMEX did find a use for the Optima card in its portfolio. It’s now called AMEX’s “second chance” card, or the one card they’ll offer to customers who defaulted on their accounts but have since repaid their debts to the company. It’s the OTHER invite-only card AMEX has, but it’s the polar opposite of the Centurion card.
Do I mind having a card held mainly by people rebuilding their credit after making some financial missteps? Not at all. The Optima Platinum has no annual fee and since I have other AMEX cards that earn Membership Rewards, I earn 1 point per dollar on all charges put on the card.
In all honestly, I don’t use the card much. Before I signed up for an AMEX Gold card, it was my only personal card that earned Membership Rewards. That meant I’d get targeted AMEX offers that I didn’t see on my business AMEX cards. It also has a referral link that pays cashback instead of Membership Rewards points.
Now that I’ve admitted to still having an American Express Platinum Optima card, what’s the most obscure card you have in your wallet????
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