I just got a call from my phone company (also internet provider) offering me a gold card.
They say they’re making the offer based on my recent billing (spent a few hundred dollars on international roaming last month, then got a new phone right after I came home because I lost mine overseas–both very exceptional costs, especially the once-in-a-lifetime month off from work which I spent in my home country).
The main purpose of the card is to pay my phone bill, for which I will receive “points” that are more or less equivalent to currency (can be used at convenience stores, Amazon shopping, or against the phone bill, etc).
The amount of points I stand to earn per year is roughly the same as the annual cost to hold the card; zero-sum.
It also comes with an improved insurance policy for my phone (covering the full original cost rather than depreciated value should I ever trade it in).
They can’t tell me what the spending limit or interest on the card will be until after I apply (credit check?).
They offered me about fifty dollars in points to accept the offer right now over the phone.
I only very recently got my first credit card (through my bank), at age 41. I hate using credit. The only other loans I have ever taken were for a car when I was 14 (paid off in cash immediately, mostly to establish a credit history) and student loans (took twenty years but paid them off too).
The main reasons I got a card from the bank were certain transactions that don’t accept my foreign debit card and building my credit rating. Maybe someday I’ll get a card with a limit high enough to buy a round-trip ticket to my home country, and if I can ever pass the visa requirements it would be great to get a home loan.
I already have automated billing, and when my new phone is paid off (three years; I usually keep them five or more), the balance between the points I could earn and the cost of the card will be negative.
Am I just a paranoid luddite or does this sound predatory?