Why do Americans get WAY better CC deals than us?

Legacy_user

Having a dig into what CC's are on offer and couldn't help notice the U.S. get a way better offering than us in the UK.

Seems the best deal outwith AMEX you can get is 0.5% cashback on Tandem or 0.5% on aqua but it's capped and paid annually.

In contrast America has the Chase Sapphire rewards, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Capital One Quicksilver and a host of others, offering 1%, 2% and even 5% cashback on many (and all) purchases.

Basically way better than what we get. What gives? Is this because of EU rules? And if so will it get better post Brexit?

Nasqueron

I'd imagine these cards are hard to get. The US credit system works on credit scores and so if you have say the Capital One Quicksilver, the one where you need an excellent score states

I've never declared bankruptcy or defaulted on a loan; I haven't been more than 60 days late on any credit card, medical bill, or loan in the last year; I've had a loan or credit card for 3 years or more with a credit limit above $5,000.

The one with the average score has a $39 annual fee


Perhaps the US system is more based on people not paying in full thus making the firm more money

System

They may well be hard to get. But they are still available products, that are far better offerings than what we get.

Ergates

beany_bot wrote: »

They may well be hard to get. But they are still available products, that are far better offerings than what we get.

Different markets, different financial regulations, different banking systems.

msallen

Two main reasons. Firstly the US cards with the good benefits tend to have a significant annual charge - this has long been the case. Secondly the recent introduction of a cap on the interchange fee in the EU means that there simply isn't the margin there any more, which is what paid for the lions share of the benefits when they were better here.

System

But the EU rules only means we, the consumer, get worse deals, Who are they meant to be helping here?

As for the annual charge, yes this is true. But when played correctly the overall value of the cards are still way better than our offerings. (large cashback, priority pass, etc etc.)

societys_child

But the EU rules only means we, the consumer, get worse deals, Who are they meant to be helping here?

Themselves, the EU overlords.

System

societys_child wrote: »

Themselves, the EU overlords.

Can we expect things to improve post brexit? Back to a decent level of free market capitalism? :beer:

Whos knows!

photome

Why do most things cost less in the USA, fuel,clothes,cars etc etc.



why even look at rates in the USA

System

photome wrote: »

why even look at rates in the USA

Why on earth not? Just human curiosity? searching for cards some American ones came up.
Not really sure how to answer that. Reading about something that catches my eye seems a natural thing to me.

jim1999

beany_bot wrote: »

But the EU rules only means we, the consumer, get worse deals, Who are they meant to be helping here?

As for the annual charge, yes this is true. But when played correctly the overall value of the cards are still way better than our offerings. (large cashback, priority pass, etc etc.)

The point is that the EU rules help all consumers.

If credit card companies charge 2% to all the retailers, then the retailers have to add that to the cost of goods to make the money back. Sure, a handful of people will then get cashback cards so that they get that back again, but all of the people who can't or don't get cashback cards then lose out.

On average, we should be better off with the EU system of capping fees, but for those of us (i..e people posting on MSE) who chase up the best deals and take out the products that are most profitable to use (e.g. cashback credit cards) we will lose out.