Verdict
If you’re looking for a rewards card, keep looking. The Chase Slate card is designed for people who want to get out of debt and save on interest charges, with the powerful Blueprint feature that allows you to choose your own everyday purchase categories — such as groceries or gasoline — and avoid paying interest on these charges, even when you carry a balance, by paying them in full every month.
If you’re interested in paying off debt for good and avoiding unnecessary interest charges, the Slate card is probably a good fit for you.
Balance Transfer Promotion
The Chase Slate card can help you save hundreds on interest when you transfer a high interest rate balance. Right now, the card offers a 0% introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months, and you’ll pay no balance transfer fee for the first 60 days.
Overview
Slate from Chase is anything but a traditional credit card, solely because of the Blueprint program. It appears as though the new Slate card was designed around the idea that some customers want more customization when it comes to repayment and tracking of their balance. Along with this powerful tool, the Slate card has an introductory offer to save on interest by transferring a balance with no balance transfer fees for the first 60 days.
Aside from these two features, the Slate card works like any other, with cardholder benefits like Price Protection and Extended Warranty Protection, a standard viable rate as low as 16.49% and no annual fee.
How Blueprint Works
The best feature of the Slate card is Blueprint, a free set of tools included with the card that let you choose from four customizable payment plans that help you save money. It can seem a little confusing at first, but here’s how each option works.
With the Full Pay option, the goal is to avoid paying interest.
This is one of the most unique payment programs in the industry as you can fill up at a gas station or buy groceries and — even if you carry a balance — you can avoid interest charges on these purchases by paying them in full each month. With Full Pay, you choose your own everyday purchase categories — such as utilities, gasoline or groceries — which are then separated out from your other purchases on your monthly statement. When you pay these charges in full each month, you will avoid interest charges, even if you carry a balance on your card.
If you’re interested in paying off a large purchase like a medical bill or new water heater, you’ll want to try the Split option.
With Split, you choose any recent purchase and decide how much you want to pay towards it each month or how fast you want to pay it off. A plan will automatically be created so your payments go toward both the large purchase specifically and the remainder toward your other balance.
Have a sizable amount of debt that you want to pay down? Then the Finish It option is what you’re looking for.
Finish It lets you choose the amount you want to pay down, decide how much you want to pay each month or how fast you want the balance paid off, then you’ll get a customized plan you can stick with to get it done.
Finally, Track It is an option if you want to see where your money is going.
Track It lets you view your spending history, select purchases you want to track each month, set spending goals and track your progress over months.
Cardholder Benefits
While the Blueprint tool and balance transfer offer is the highlight of the Slate card, it also comes with several cardholder benefits.
Price Protection will reimburse you the price difference (up to $500 per item and $2,500 per year) if an item you purchase with your card is advertised for less online or in print within 90 days.
Purchase Protection covers purchases against damage and theft for up to 120 days.
With Extended Warranty Protection, you’ll get an extra 1 year on U.S. manufacturer’s warranties on eligible purchases with a warranty of 3 years or less.
The Bottom Line
If you want a solid credit card with no annual fee that will help you avoid interest on everyday purchases and pay down debt faster, the Chase Slate card is a good choice. But considering the number of cards currently offering introductory APR offers and top notch rewards programs, you may want to check out some of our Guides and Reviews.
Pros
- No balance transfer fee for the first 60 days (compared to industry average of 3-5%)
- 0% intro APR on balance transfers and purchases for 15 months
- No annual fee
- Free Blueprint tool lets you customize your payments to avoid interest, pay down a large purchase or track spending
- Separate items on your bill so you can pay some in full while leaving others
Cons
- No rewards program
- Requires Excellent credit
