Choosemyrewards: Chase’s new credit card rewards management tool

In previous articles, I’ve discussed travel, cash back, interest savings, and merchandise rewards programs. These specific rewards cards are targeted to people based on the type of rewards they would like to earn.

For those who are undecided or those who have different reward interests at different times of the year should be interested in the Chase Choose My Rewards program. There are two different flagship cards involved in this program, the Chase Cash Plus Rewards Visa and the Chase Flexible Rewards Visa. Both cards offer 0% APR for 1 year and lower APRs thereafter. However, statistics show that the approval rate for the Chase Cash Plus Rewards Visa is higher.

Let’s take a minute to explain the choosemyrewards program. Like any other rewards program, there is a points system for both cards. You receive one point for every dollar spent on purchases with each card. When these points are accumulated, you have the option to redeem them for a variety of products or cash. This is what sets these two cards apart from all other programs. At any time, you can log in to the choose my rewards page on the Chase server to choose what type of rewards you would like to receive. Options include merchandise, restaurant gift certificates, retail gift certificates, travel rewards and, with Chase Cash Plus Rewards Visa, up to 5% back on purchases.

Many other rewards programs make it very difficult for the consumer to redeem rewards, let alone choose them. Typically, you would have to call the company, wait on hold to get in touch with the right customer service representative, and then listen to them and give them your list of options before processing your decision. With the choosemyrewards program this is not the case. In the mail with your new Chase card, you’ll receive a login pin number and the web address where you can access your rewards account. After entering your PIN number, you can see your increased points and a list of all your reward options. You can then scroll through the list of options and choose the rewards you would like to receive.

It only gets better. Let’s say you log out of your account after choosing your rewards and realize that maybe you didn’t really want that Home Depot gift certificate you signed up for. Instead, you’d like a gift certificate to your favorite restaurant. All you have to do is simply log back in and change your reward redemption. This is a very simple and painless process and gives you, the consumer, much more control.

Many people save their points until the end of the year, because they never expire, and redeem their points to give gift certificates as holiday gifts. Others take a trip to a warm place for the winter. Others simply win with a cashback award in the form of a check. Whatever your interest, or if it changes, enrolling in the choosemyrewards program will make managing your rewards more user friendly and therefore much easier.