Credit card companies are always looking for ways to squeeze an extra dollar out of their customers, and with the recent federal regulations putting an end to some of their sneakier tricks, they've come up with a new one: Hitting customers up with a fee if they don't charge a certain minimum amount on their cards each year. Citi recently announced it would charge a $60 fee to customers who rack up less than $2400 in credit card purchases in a twelve month period.
Jim Wang of Bargaineering has an interesting, albeit tricky, way to avoid paying the fee: use your card to buy $1 US coins from the US Mint's Direct Ship Program. The Mint is promoting this program as a way to get dollar coins into circulation as a substitute for dollar bills (coins last longer than bills). But if you deposit the coins in your bank account to pay off your credit card bill, you are defeating the purpose of the program. In the comments section of his post, Jim says it's better to use the coins to buy things instead of depositing them into your bank account.
I can't imagine this loophole lasting much longer, especially if a lot of people start using it to avoid the fee. A better solution, in my opinion, is to call the credit card company and tell them you are going to cancel the card if they don't waive the fee.
Mark Frauenfelder Credit.com contributor, editor-in-chief of MAKE magazine and the founder of the popular site Boing Boing, Mark was an editor at Wired from 1993-1998 and is the founding editor of Wired Online. He covers creative DIY projects and how-tos that will help you make the most of your money.
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