Using Chase Blueprint to Become a Smart Credit Card User

Although most Americans have a love/hate relationship with credit cards, I am part of the very small minority that simply loves credit cards. While the ability to earn rewards on every dollar my family spends is the main reason I am fond of credit cards, the Blueprint feature on my Chase Sapphire card is the reason my family uses this card above others.

What is Chase Blueprint?

Simply put, Chase Blueprint (www.chase.com/blueprint) is designed to help consumers use credit cards wisely. It consists of four features that are meant to actively engage users and give them the knowledge and control necessary to create sustainable budgets and manage credit card debt. No other credit card company offers anything like Blueprint, though I wouldn’t be surprised if others tried to copy it, as it is by far the most innovative credit card management tool available.

Here is a brief overview of the four components of Chase Blueprint and how they can benefit you:

Track It:  Track It is the Blueprint feature my wife and I have used and benefited the most from.  Track It automatically sorts your purchases into one of over a dozen categories so you can see where your money is going as you spend it.

Once you’ve taken a look at where you spend your money, you can set budgets in as many categories as you like. Then, if you find you’re having difficulty sticking to your budgets, you can examine your individual purchases and seek out ways to reduce spending.

All the data you need to be a better money manager is laid out for you in Track It.  However, the key to getting the most out of this benefit is to use your card for every purchase you can so that all of your spending data is centralized. The Full Pay feature of Chase Blueprint makes this easier.

Full Pay:  Full pay enables you to decide which purchases you want to pay in full each month – for example, gas, groceries, restaurants – and avoid paying interest on them. This is a great way to prevent yourself from buying a cup of coffee today and paying interest on it until 2015, since it allows you to separate purchases you can afford to pay for now from those you’ll need time to pay in full. With Full Pay, you can use your credit card like a debit card and only pay interest on the things you choose to pay over time.

Split: Split is another unique feature of Chase Blueprint that can be used to develop repayment plans for large purchases you can’t immediately afford to repay. If, for example, your refrigerator breaks and you need to borrow from your credit card to replace it, you can set up a plan that reduces your interest costs and helps you pay for the purchase in full in a set period of time, rather than lumping the refrigerator in with other purchases and creating an unmanageable pile of credit card debt.

Finish It:  Like Split, Finish It is designed to help you pay down credit card balances faster. You set up a payment schedule or monthly budget for getting out of credit card debt and Chase does the math, helping you find ways to reduce interest expenses and get out of debt as soon as you can afford to.

Plus, if you need to alter your plan, you can change it anytime. This, in many ways, is the essence of Chase Blueprint. You make the decisions, you control your payments and Chase does what no other credit card company does: they show you how to reduce your interest costs and help you avoid getting buried in credit card debt.

Chase Blueprint in Action

If you already have a Chase credit card, you can login into your account and test Blueprint features right away. A great place to start is Track It, since you’ll already have spending data to analyze.

If you don’t already have a Chase credit card, Blueprint is currently available on three of their most popular cards: Chase Freedom, Chase Slate and Chase Sapphire. You can learn more about these cards in the Chase credit card section of CardWisdom.

For more information on Chase Blueprint, visit www.chase.com/blueprint.

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