E*TRADE FINANCIAL Launches New Credit Program Aimed at Airline Mileage Junkies

E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corporation today launched the E*TRADE Mileage Maximizer Account featuring a proprietary, automated credit card balance transfer system(1) that enables customers who are loyal to their branded airline mileage rewards credit cards to enjoy mileage earning benefits without paying high interest rates on the balances they carry. With this new account, customers use an intelligent, easy-to-use system to arrange a systematic balance transfer from their high interest credit cards to a low interest credit account at E*TRADE. The E*TRADE Mileage Maximizer Account continues the Company’s deployment of customer advocacy tools and programs designed to provide customers with the opportunity to optimize their financial portfolios, ensuring effective use of their cash and credit.

“Consumers are seeking practical ways to manage their personal finances, including better alternatives to managing their credit card debt,” said R. Jarrett Lilien, President and Chief Operating Officer, E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corporation. “As part of our integrated approach to personal finance management, the E*TRADE Mileage Maximizer Account offers consumers the ability to manage debt in a more effective, intelligent manner without interfering with their ability to earn rewards with other credit cards.”

E*TRADE FINANCIAL is leveraging its dynamic money movement technology to assist customers in effectively managing their credit card debt. Through a simple online process the customer manages directly, they can designate automated monthly balance transfers from their airline rewards credit cards to a lower-rate E*TRADE account, swapping a higher interest rate — on average 16.99 percent APR(2) — for a lower balance transfer rate of 8.9 percent APR with no annual fee or balance transfer fee.

The online set-up process provides customers with the opportunity to set their payment preference — pay off the entire balance, a pre-set amount, or a percentage of the new statement balance. Once enrolled, E*TRADE’s proprietary balance transfer system monitors the customer’s airline rewards card balance on a daily basis to determine the payment due date. When the system learns of a new payment due date, it schedules a transfer and sends the customer an electronic notification of the planned transfer. Customers may edit or cancel a particular transfer up until the date it is completed. Once the transfer is complete, the system sends the customer an electronic confirmation. Even though a customer’s credit card balance and payment due date may change from month to month, the E*TRADE Mileage Maximizer Account’s balance transfer system can be set to automatically ensure accurate, timely payments.