The Chase Freedom Rise credit card now gives you 3% back on dining. For a limited time. Which means someone at Chase calculated exactly how long they can afford to be generous before the math stops working in their favor.
This card exists for people building or rebuilding credit. That's bank speak for "you f*cked up before and we're betting you'll f*ck up again, but at 29.99% APR we can afford the risk."
The 3% bonus applies to restaurants. Not groceries. Not gas. Restaurants. Because nothing says "rebuilding financial stability" like incentivizing someone with damaged credit to eat out more often.
Chase knows exactly what they're doing. They dangle 3% cash back on your $47 dinner at Chili's while you carry a $2,400 balance at rates that would make a mob enforcer blush. You earn $1.41. They earn $59.50 in interest that month. Everyone wins.
The card also offers "rewards and perks for new cardholders." Rewards. Perks. These words mean absolutely nothing and yet grown adults will compare them across seventeen different credit cards using a spreadsheet they don't understand.
Limited time. That's the hook. Better sign up now before this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to earn an extra 1% on buffalo wings disappears forever. Rush. Panic. Apply.
Some guy named Derek is reading this headline right now thinking he just discovered a cheat code. Derek has a 580 credit score and thinks 3% cash back will offset the $4,200 he owes on his other three cards. Derek will have this card maxed out by Thanksgiving and he'll blame inflation.
The house always wins, but at least now they'll give you three pennies on the dollar while they're taking your mortgage.
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