Q: I am 5 months post-bankruptcy and want to get my credit back on track. Can you tell me why the PNC Bank credit card application is not available on their website, at least from what I see? Do I need to apply in-person for it?

A: I didn’t see it up there either, but I did use the search function on their website. Using “secured credit card” this is what it will show you:

The first one is talking about secured business loans (obviously not what you want). If you click on the second one it takes you to a page linking to 3 credit card agreements; Standard, Visa Signature, and Secured. The last of which shows…

Underneath that table it talks about the $36 annual fee, the minimum security deposit ($250), the interest rates, and other information for the PNC secured credit card. But how do you apply? Well, watch out because you might get the wrong answer depending on the source.

So is it cancelled or not?

Upon doing a little Googling, I see a number of websites (such as Yahoo Answers) which say that PNC Bank no longer offers this card. Some even go so far in their answers/reviews as to say the reasoning is “probably” because National City cancelled their secured card program, so when PNC bank acquired them a few years ago they also axed the card. That information is incorrect.

I went straight to the horse’s mouth to find out what the deal was by calling customer support. They confirmed the card is still available. To get it though you will have to fill out the application in person at a branch.

How does it compare?

A $36 annual fee is very reasonable. The minimum security deposit is $250 and the max is $2,500. However there is one potential drawback to be aware of:

• These accounts do not graduate to unsecured on their own. If you ever want to try and get an unsecured card, you will have to try applying for a new account.

But that aside, this secured Visa card appears to be a great option to start with. Get that and perhaps one other good secured credit card and start using them to rebuid.

In fact, PNC is one of the few major retail banks that still offers these. The Chase secured credit card was discontinued and several of the other big guys have done the same with theirs. So it’s nice to see PNC hasn’t put there’s on the chopping block yet. It’s too bad they don’t advertise it because this is one of the better deals out there.

This is a guest post written by my friend Jon Lal, who is the founder of the coupons and cash back site BeFrugal.com, where shoppers who sign-up for a free cash back account can get a $10 sign-up bonus for a limited time. You can connect with Jon on Twitter @BeFrugal.

As a rewards credit card holder, you should consider yourself ahead of the game, but you may be missing out on additional savings. It’s possible to reap more benefits from most of your purchases without sacrificing the credit card rewards you are already earning. It’s fast, simple and best of all, it’s free.

Most of the items you currently buy can be purchased online. If you do not routinely make purchases online, consider the time and hassle it takes to drive to the store, walk through to select your items, stand in line and drive home. Shopping online is an efficient and less stressful way to make purchases while saving more money.

Many retailers such as these you will not find in the credit card malls for online shopping

When you shop online, you can take advantage of online shopping cash back rewards in addition to the credit card rewards you currently earn. Like credit card earnings, with these programs you will receive a portion of the transactions you make. Your online shopping earnings are deposited into your account. When you are ready to cash in these earnings, you can get a check or Paypal deposit.

Just log into your online shopping cash back rewards account, click a link to your favorite store and shop as usual. Complete the check out process and pay with whichever credit card offers the best rewards for you. By taking this one extra step, you will earn rewards from your credit card and the cash back online shopping site!

An example of one source is the website I founded, BeFrugal.com, which offers an average of 5% Cash Back at 1600 online stores, including well known merchants such as Macy’s, Kohl’s, Target, Dell, and Amazon.com.

Earning two forms of rewards on the same transaction is great, but it’s possible to save even more using an online coupon. You can often use a promo code for a discount plus earn cash back while earning credit card rewards, all on the same transaction. Since many online shopping sites also offer free coupons, it only takes a quick search for an online promo code or free shipping code to get additional savings.

Sites like BeFrugal.com have thousands of deals like this. Just search by store or category to find the best money-saving offer.

In under a minute with a few extra clicks, you can:

1. score extra savings from a coupon code
2. earn cash back from an online shopping program
3. get your credit card rewards, too

They key is to conduct as many purchases online as possible (rather than at brick and mortar stores) to get the most savings.

My thoughts? It fills an important void for a couple of reasons. First of all, the credit card malls typically only have 200-400 merchants, while this site has over 1,600 participating. Secondly, instead of just being another coupon site, it stacks savings by giving the additional percentage rebate. Combine that with a good cash back card and it will add up fast.

Thanks to the Dodd-Frank Act that went into effect in late 2011, debit cards with airline miles have been going the way of the wooly mammoth. So who’s left and who’s been axed? Here’s a rundown for your reference…

AAdvantage Debit Card – Issued by Citibank, the $25 version = 1 AAdvantage mile per 2 dollars spent. The “premium” $65 version = 1 AAdvantage mile per 1 dollar spent.

Dead or Alive? Unfortunately both of the American Airline debit cards have been axed and they’re not coming back. Not even the existing cardholders got to keep ‘em – they’ve been issued replacement cards.

Alaska Airlines Debit Card – A Bank of America product, for $30 the account earns 1 mile per $2 in purchase and for spending on flights and vacation packages from Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air, it’s 1 mile per $1.

Dead or Alive? This one is still around. To get it you will need to have a Bank of America checking account.

Continental Airlines Debit Card – Run by the folks at Chase, for a $25 annual fee = 1 OnePass mile per 2 dollars spent.

Dead or Alive? This was actually one of the first airline debit cards to be cut. Chase terminated the program a few months before the new legislation went into effect. Regardless, something had to change with this card anyway, due to the United-Continental merger.

Delta Skymiles Debit Card –  Offered through SunTrust Bank, the consumer version is $55/year and gives 1 SkyMile per dollar. There are double miles earned on spending with Delta.

Dead or Alive? This is one the best airline debit cards because it gives 1 mile per dollar and fortunately, it’s still alive. To get it though you will need to have a checking account with SunTrust.

United Airlines Debit Card – Like the Continental card, this gave 1 mile per $2 for a $25 annual fee.

Dead or Alive? Chase nixed this one at the same time they killed the one for Continental.

US Airways Debit Card – Bank of America checking accountholders can request this optional card which offers 1 Dividend mile for each $2 in purchases, except for spending with US Airways which is $1 mile per dollar. The fee is $30 per year.

Dead or Alive? Surprisingly this one is still around.

Best alternatives?

Being that most air mileage debit card reward programs are no longer in existence, if you still want to earn miles on purchases, you might have to switch to using the carrier’s credit card instead. You can see a list of them here.

That being said, if you’re opposed to credit because it interferes with your budgeting, then going with a cash back debit card will probably be the best alternative. It’s still possible to earn up to 2% cash back through a debit card, believe it or not.

A forum member contacted me about what they suspected to be a fake communication regarding the SecureCode program from MasterCard. So I thought now would be a good time to do a refresher on how scammers use the name of this service to trick people.

What is MasterCard SecuredCode? Well if you’re not familiar with it, this FAQ on MasterCard’s website will explain the service. But if you want the short and sweet version, it’s a passcode you create which then becomes required when your card is used at participating online retailers (so it’s an extra layer of verification necessary to make a purchase).

Even though this feature has been out for nearly a decade, it’s not all gravy:

• It’s supported by over 400 banks and credit unions, but many of the biggest credit card issuers like Bank of America, Chase and Citi don’t support it (however some do like Wells Fargo, Capital One, and HSBC).
• It only protects you at participating retailers online. So when you think about it, a crook would probably just go elsewhere to attempt a fraudulent purchase. Surprisingly many popular retailers, even the biggest like Amazon, don’t support SecureCode.
• The authentication is done via a pop-up box, which sometimes makes it hard to tell if it’s coming from MasterCard or not.

As you can probably guess, the most common forms of the MasterCard SecureCode scam happen with the pop-up boxes. Phishers might use either malware on your computer or inject malicious code onto a website’s server, so that they can have their own [imitation] version pop-up on your screen to try and trick you into disclosing sensitive information.

The scam may happen a number of different ways…

1. A box pops up on your computer with a fake MasterCard SecureCode registration screen, claiming it is required due to new FDIC rules or some other bogus reason.

Advice? Remember this is an OPTIONAL feature from MasterCard (not “mandatory” or “required”) so if you see a screen like this, you almost certainly have malware on your computer.

2. You receive an email masquerading itself as being from MasterCard or a bank, and it is asking you to activate or confirm the SecureCode by clicking on a link in the email.

Advice? Again, almost certainly a fake. Never login to a financial account by clicking a link in an email. Instead, go directly to your bank’s website by typing their URL into the address bar (i.e. wellsfargo.com). After you get there, make the address bar displays https (the “s” means it’s a secure connection):

Always go that route when accessing your account, whether it’s to register for MasterCard’s SecureCode or whatever else. Don’t click on links in suspicious emails!

3. A less common form of the scam involves a fake store, with a fake MasterCard SecuredCard popup window. These are typically shut down pretty quickly though.

Advice? There are over 350,000 retailers participating in the SecureCode program but unfortunately, there is no website where you can search a list of who’s in the program that I know of. So encountering an imitation storefront might be a risk but when you think about it, this is no more risky than being duped into entering your credit card account number on a fake storefront.

Of course none of these scams are MasterCard’s fault. The guilty party is whomever is trying to trick you with their fake imitation, whether it be through your computer, an email, or a website.

While the SecureCode is marketed as being beneficial to consumers, ironically it’s of little value to us. Why? Because even if your credit card number is used fraudulently for online purchases, federal law limits the maximum liability for U.S. based accounts and often times, it will be $0 (for details read about the dispute process). Who the MasterCard SecureCode benefits most is actually the merchants, because it lowers the number of fraudulent transactions they get hit with.

One of my favorite things about Discover are the unexpected little opportunities that pop up to earn extra rewards. For most of them I receive a postcard in the mail notifying me, but I never received one for this promotion.

To see it, login to your Discover account and from the main screen, click on the “View All Promotions” button:

Once there, scroll waaaay down, almost to the bottom. You will see this:

(Screenshot was taken after I enrolled. If you haven’t signed up yet there will be a button to.)

Click on the “Double Cashback Bonus” and you will get the details for this promotion:

• Runs from January 1st through December 31st, 2012
• Gives you unlimited 2% cashback bonus on any of the following when you set them up to automatically be charged to your Discover card: cable and satellite TV, internet, phone, and satellite radio

Often times, credit card issuers like to hide all kinds of exclusions in the fine print about the types of purchases that qualify for a given category. But it looks like this is a pretty straightforward deal with no surprises:

This could net you some decent cash back if you do it all 12 months. Here’s a hypothetical spending scenario:

Cable TV + Internet = $100 per month
Cell Phone = $130 per month
————————————————————————–
Total spent = $2,760 for the year. 2% cash back = $55.20

And after you enroll, they really want you to use it because the next screen takes you to the phone numbers for the largest cable/satellite TV, cell phone, and internet providers.

One little caveat though is that you need to realize that making one-time payments on these provider’s websites isn’t supposed to count. The rules make clear that in order to get the 2% cash back offer, you need to enroll the given bill in auto-pay. That has to be setup through the provider.

Of course at the end of the day, this promotion might not be anything to write home about when you consider there is a Discover card that will earn you 2% on everything all the time.