Ah. The Citi mtvU. Very cool and “hip” card, if you’re from 1990s. Regardless of the MTV co-branding, the Citi mtvU is indeed a great card choice for college student.
Why? Here’s a list of reasons:
- 5 points for every $1 spend at restaurants (including fast food), bookstores, music stores, video rental store, and movie theater. College necessity spendings? You bet. 1 point for everything else.
- Points can accumulate to exchange for gift cards to numerous nation wide retail stores, essentially making this a 5% cashback card on restaurants, bookstores, music stores, video rental, and movie theater.
- Up to 2,000 points per semester for maintaining good GPA. Two semesters of good GPA? That’s an easy $25 gift card to the Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and more. Three semester? Make it $50 gift card.
- 25 additional points per moth for paying on time and not going over limits. That’s an extra 300 points per year just for doing what you’re suppose to be doing already.
But what about the fees?
Here’s the list of fees you should watch for:
Annual fee: None! Huzzah!
Foreign Transaction Fee: 3% for each purchase after its converted into US dollars. Aka = Don’t bother using this abroad.
Balance Transfer Fee: 3% of each balance transfer; $5 minimum
Cash advance fee: 3% of each cash advance; $5 minimum (never use cash advance!)
Late Fee: $15 on balance up to $100, $20 on balance of $100 to $250, and $30 on balance of $250 and over. Don’t pay late! Use automatic bill payment to avoid paying needless late fees!
Over-the-credit-line Fee: $39. Don’t go over your credit limit! You’ll not only get hit with a pointless fee, but you’ll also put a ding on your credit history! The same goes for paying late!
Got a question about a fee on the card? Leave a comment.