Online discount shopping malls have risen in popularity over the past few years as an attractive way to shop online. These “malls”, just like regular shopping malls, have many stores you can shop at all in one convenient place. The difference with an online discount shopping mall is that it’s just a virtual collection of links to other online retailers, grouped by category (such as clothing, electronics, toys, cosmetics, etc.)

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Popularity: 23% [?]

UPDATE 09 NOV 2008: Chase has updated how the Freedom Card works since this post.  See the new terms here.

When I was designing my cash back calculator, I decided to include the Chase Freedom Cash Visa Signature card to see what kind of cash back it could generate. I was pleasantly surprised with its results. This card was consistently coming out on top for many spending scenarios, and no less than second place at any level of spend. With these kinds of results, the card earned a permanent spot on my calculator.

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Popularity: 44% [?]

A few years ago, I saw an ad for the Blue Cash card on TV. The commercial’s touting of its high 5% rebate got my attention. When I researched this card on American Express’ website, I saw that the big rebate didn’t actually start until I spent at least $6,500 on the card. Until I reached that magic $6,500 number, the card would earn me just 1% at gas stations, grocery stores and drug stores, and a measly 1/2% everywhere else. “My Chase PerfectCard gives me 3% at gas stations and 1% everywhere else”, I thought, “so I’ll just stick with what I have.”

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Popularity: 51% [?]

Back in May of this year, I opened an online savings account with FNBO Direct because of their high 6% APY promotional interest rate through September 28, 2007. Now that I’ve kicked the tires with them for a few months, it seems time to give an update as to my impressions so far with them.

FNBO did indeed hold true to their word and pay me the 6% interest during the promotional period. They recently announced that their new standard rate is now 5.05%. This was quite a drop, however it’s still higher than what other online savings accounts offer. At the time of this writing, HSBC Direct’s interest rate is 4.50%, ING Direct’s is 4.30%, and GMAC Bank’s rate is 4.75%. Because their OSA is still higher than most, I still have some of my money with them.

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Popularity: 44% [?]

In my last post, I talked about how the Chase PerfectCard MasterCard was a nice companion to American Express’ Blue Cash card. Although I still believe this is true, I’ve found another card that fits the bill even better.

The new card is also from Chase, and it’s the Chase Freedom Cash World MasterCard. I’ve been using this card for about a week now, and I’ll share a deep dive review of my experiences with it here in the coming weeks after I’ve kicked the tires a bit more with it.

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Popularity: 60% [?]