Who are they?

Founded in 1889, Washington Mutual came into existence during a time when needed most. Parts of Seattle had recently been destroyed by fire and WaMu was able to help the city rebuild by issuing mortgage loans. Now nearly 120 years, Washington Mutual is one of the leader’s in the financial industry. They offer a wide array of financial services beyond home mortgages, its original bread and butter. Today Washington Mutual can satisfy your personal banking, investing and commercial needs.

WaMu touts on its core values of fairness, caring and remaining ahead of the time. It envisions itself as the best in its industry and has set a missions of creating profitable relations with and for its customers. Kerry Killinger, the voice of WaMu, began his WaMu career in 1982 as an executive VP. But for the past 18 years, he’s served as the head honcho.

WaMu, the Fortune 500 alum, has been recognized many times for its performance and citizenship. The company has also been on the several best-companies-to-work-for lists. What else can I say, they rock!

In the news

Amidst subprime mortgage lending and falling stock prices, WaMu announced in April the lay off 3,000 people. And again in June, the word came that another 1,200 WaMu employees would be out of their jobs soon. But the head rolling doesn’t stop with the little people. A top executive, James Corcoran also got the boot earlier this month. Feeling the heat, the finance committee chair jumped ship because she probably woulda been next. Many are even calling for the head honcho’s job.

That sure is a lot of downsizing! (So much for those best places to work awards)

On another note, the issuance of subprime mortgage loans will no longer be a part of WaMu repertoire of services. And to help alleviate the strain from the losses generated by these mortgages, WaMu managed to get a $7 billion (yes that’s billion with a B) bailout from the Texas based TPG Inc.

The card

WaMu offers several different consumer credit cards… but with a teensy caveat… to qualify for most of the cards you have to already be a WaMu customer. But, ESPN lovers can apply for a WaMu/ESPN Visa at anytime without being an existing WaMu customer. However, today I want to talk about their most popular credit card, the WaMu Platinum Visa.

The basics

• Low APR
• No annual fees
• High credit limits
• 25 day grace period
• Geared to people with good to excellent credit

The extras

• Free access to your FICO score and score stimulator
• Gives option of 1% cash back or lower interest rates
• Occasional promotional savings and rewards such as 1.9$ on balance transfers
• Cool budgeting and spending analysis tools with your online account access
• Real Values Program that gives cardholders access to exclusive WaMu customer coupons

My take

I have no idea if WaMu is really a great place to work, but I can attest that the WaMu Platinum Visa is a great card to have. I have one and I love it. The free monthly FICO score is the best perk of having this card. Other companies charge nearly $10 a month for the same thing.

Also, the interest rate on this card is very low. Right now mine is less than 8%. I try to never carry a balance, but if I ever need to 8% for a few months won’t break the bank.

My take – if you don’t already have a WaMu card, get one. If only for the free FICO score, it’s worth it.

For debit card holders, WaMu will make donations to your favorite school when you register here.