Are you sick of your credit card? A lot of people are! Now you have a chance to win cash prizes by destroying your credit card.
Perkstreet Financial and Lending Club are teaming up to help people end their reliance on credit cards. They are declaring January 31,2011 Shred Your Credit Card Day. When credit isn’t used wisely it can snowball into tremendous debt. Perkstreet and Lending Club want you to know there are alternatives to using a credit and that you can end your debt!
From December 15th, 2010 through January 29th, 2011, can can enter a video of yourself destroying your credit card(s) or why you are done with credit in 2011. Upload the video to ShredYourCreditCard.com and you can be entered to win!
Why you should participate (from the ShredYourCreditCard site):
• To be a part of a bigger movement — stick to your debt ending resolution alongside other people who are doing the same. Tell the group why you’re dumping your debt and kill a credit card as proof.
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• Express your loathing for credit cards by coming up with the most creative shred you can. Show how you part ways with plastic in front of thousands of others dumping debt for the new year and inspire us all.
To enter the Shred Your Credit Card contest (from the site):
• Cancel a credit card. (Make sure you disguise your credit card number in your video, just to be safe.)
• Film yourself talking about why you’re done dabbling with debt this year, or record the most creative way you can think of to destroy your card.
• Submit your video to ShredYourCreditCard.com
• Vote for yourself EVERY DAY and encourage others to do the same on Facebook and Twitter, or via email.
• Check ShredYourCreditCard.com every Wednesday through the end of January to see if you’ve won a weekly prize.
• Visit ShredYourCreditCard.com on Shred Your Credit Card Day (Jan. 31) to see if you’ve won the GRAND PRIZE ($1,000) or any of the Second Place prizes ($300 each).
Here is what you can win:
- One (1) GRAND PRIZE of a $1000 Visa(R) Gift Card will be selected and awarded on January 31, 2011 to the submission that receives the most votes during the entire Period of Eligibility.
- One (1) weekly prize of a $50 Visa Gift Card will be selected and awarded each Wednesday beginning on December 22, 2010 and continuing through the duration of the Period of Eligibility to the submission that receives the most votes during the course of the preceding seven day period.
- Two (2) Most Creative Shred Awards totaling $600 in Visa Gift Cards be awarded on January 31, 2011 to the two submissions that are deemed to be the most unique, effective and edifying credit card destructions as determined by PerkStreet and The Lending Club.
- At least $125 and up to a maximum of $300 in Editorial Consolation Prizes paid in the form of Visa Gift Cards will be awarded on January 31, 2011 to submissions selected by personal finance bloggers selected by PerkStreet and The Lending Club.
Did you read that last prize?
I’m one of those personal finance bloggers! I’ll get to choose one winner to win a $25 gift card. Make sure when you upload your video, select Freefrombroke.com in the drop-down list for the question “How did you hear about this contest?“ This way, I know which videos to look at.
So go and create a super-creative video and upload your video at ShredYourCreditCard.com and enter to win!
A little more about the contest (video):
The Contest Sponsors
What is PerkStreet?
Earn 2% cash back on all non-PIN purchases with the PerkStreet Financial(SM) Visa(R) Debit Card. This amounts to over $600 every year for the average American family. PerkStreet isn’t just another bank account; it’s a way to improve your financial life. Take your cash back and save for your future, pay down your debt faster, give back to others, or just have some fun. The PerkStreet checking account is fully FDIC insured and there’s no annual fee or cap on 2% earning.
Visit www.Perkstreet.com
What is Lending Club?
Lending Club is the leading platform for investing in and obtaining personal loans. Using the power of the Internet to remove the cost and complexities that exist in traditional bank lending, Lending Club connects creditworthy borrowers and investors so both benefit financially. Lending Club’s no-hassle, fixed-rate personal loans start at 6.78% – nearly half the average starting APR offered on credit cards.
Visit www.LendingClub.com
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
They are giving away a $1,000 Visa gift card for destroying your credit card? That’s a bit ironic, isn’t it? We only have one CC and can’t participate in this contest…
Hey retirebyforty,
It’s Jenna here, I work at PerkStreet Financial. Although at first it may seem ironic that we offer a Visa Gift Card as our prize, a gift card functions very different from a credit card. These are all prepaid and non-reloadable. There is absolutely no way that you can go into debt by using these gift cards.
We thought about offering a branded gift card, such as a Target gift card, however giving out Visa Gift Cards allow the winners to use them as they wish. We consider them to be very close to cash in your pocket.
If you don’t have a credit card that you can shred, we accept other videos. For example, you can show a creative shred of solicitation to open a new credit card, or even submit a video about your debt goals for 2011.
I hope I helped out with some of your concerns with respect to this contest.
Let me know if you have any other questions,
Jenna Walker
PerkStreet Financial
Love this idea. Can’t wait to see people’s videos.
Like Jenna, love this idea. For people who easily spend out of control, destroying unnecessary credit cards is a big step toward becoming debt free in 2011.
I re-blogged this entry here: http://irs-hitman.blogspot.com/2010/12/shred-credit-cards-reduce-tax-debt-you.html
Hope that was OK!
Thanks for the article Hitman! Of course it’s ok.
Can I destroy a credit card without canceling it? I do not want to hurt my FICO score. I am one f those people to pays the entire balance at the end of the month.
You don’t have to destroy a card. You can also film yourself talking about how you are done with debt.
It does not say you have to cancel your credit card in the rules. All you need to do is destroy it. I think it’s a great idea to stop using it, without impacting your FICO by canceling.
Love these campaigns.
Hi Krantcents,
It’s Jenna here from PerkStreet Financial. You definitely do not have to cancel your credit card in order to participate in the contest. Keeping your credit card is a personal choice. Do keep in mind that although you may be paying off your balance at the end of the month, people do end up spending more on average per transaction when they use their credit card (versus a debit card or cash).
Also, make sure to hide your credit card number when filming your video!
Looking forward to your submission,
Jenna Walker
PerkStreet Financial
Wow.. they should actually turn “Shred Your Credit Card Day” into a national holiday. That would be great!
Haha, I’m sure the credit card companies might have something to say about that.
Interesting, definitely a good promotional use of social media. I’m interested to see how the campaign goes!
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