Thursday, June 23, 2011

0 percent credit cards

A zero percent credit card might look so attractive that many people who see an offer for one will quickly want to dump their existing credit card accounts and get one. The thing you need to watch out for is whether there are strings attached and there often are. You still need to go by the old phrase, ...if its too good to be true, then it probably is.

The fact is that there is no such thing as a zero percent credit card. Practically all zero percent credit cards often have lots of fine print in their contracts, in which rather high interest rates will be imposed later, and its usually when you least expect it. Typically, most credit cards which advertise themselves as zero percent credit cards are often the types of cards which have a zero percent APR during the first year or for as long as the introductory period lasts. After that introductory period expires, the APR on those zero percent credit cards can be as high as 30%, depending on the card and a variety of other factors, which can include your credit, credit card policies, and more.

Many of the credit cards that you currently have a decent APR, especially if you have good to excellent credit and are known to pay your bills on time. Credit card companies like that. Furthermore, if you decide to change credit cards and go with the zero percent credit cards, you will discover to your horror, that down the road, after a few years, your APRs will be much higher than those of your original credit cards.

Now, that you know a bit about zero percent credit cards, you need to know what 0% APR entails. First, many credit cards which offer a 0% APR usually have that rate only for regular purchases or possibly balance transfers. Very rarely will you find a credit card that will give a low percentage for cash advances.

Another issue with zero percent credit cards is what the annual service fees are that many of these cards charge. This means that if you have a zero percent credit card, you will be paying an annual service charge to the card. You need to make sure that you pay these service charges on time, because penalties for late payments can be quite costly. The typical late fee can be as high as 30 to 40%.

In the long run, you need to know that those who like to pinch pennies will end up paying more, because they do not see the savings in the long run. This means that if you are sick of paying the fees for your current card, you might be paying much more with a zero percent credit card. Itts not worth it.

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