Chase Ends Bonus Reward Auto-Enrollment Experiment

Last winter Chase began experimenting with auto-enrollment for their rotating reward categories. This was only offered to select “valued Chase Freedom cardmember” so you may not have been able to participate, but…

Fear not. Now I can’t participate either. Why? Because they’ve discontinued the auto-enrollment option. According to a letter that we just received:

Your participation in our automatic 5% cash back activation test is much appreciated. We wanted to let you know that while the test will be complete at the end of this quarter, you will continue to receive Text Reminders from Chase Freedom. So we’ll tell you when it’s time to activate new bonus categories.

Again, thank you for your assistance. It’s been helpful in our ongoing efforts to improve your Chase Freedom credit card experience. We will continue to evaluate your card benefits and keep you updated on any new or changing benefits in the future.

So there you have it… No more auto-enrollment. At least for now. Perhaps they’ll bring it back at some point in the future — or just drop the silly enrollment process entirely. Until then, we’ll have to return to the old school quarterly (manual) enrollment.

Honestly, I was somewhat surprised they were testing this in the first place. The enrollment process actually makes sense from a business perspective, as it allows them to practice price discrimination.

In other words, they have some customers who will presumably use their credit card regardless, and not bother with enrollment for the bonus rewards. On the other hand, bargain hunters such as myself will jump through a hoop or two in search of a good deal, so… The rotating categories serve an enticement to us without having to give the bonus reward to everyone.

This doesn’t make it any less annoying, but until someone breaks the mold it’ll remain par for the course.

Don’t forget the $100 bonus…

And don’t forget… If you don’t already have the Chase Freedom Visa card, you can get a $100 cash bonus by applying for one, getting approved, and spending $500 within the first three months. There’s no annual fee. Technically, you’ll get 10,000 points, but you can easily redeem these for a $100 check.

For what it’s worth, we’ve had this card for years and have never had any problems getting Chase to hold up their end of the bargain. You just log in, request the check, and it shows up in your mailbox within a week or so.