Credit card charges
Today you can get zero per cent on balance transfers, and even zero per cent on purchases, offers that were
simply unimaginable just a couple of years ago. This is all the result of increasing competition in the market
place from alternative lenders and banks from abroad, particularly US banks. However, there are still many charges
out there and it takes some care and consideration to make sure that you don’t end up paying far more than you
should for your credit cards.
The main charge associated with credit cards continues to be interest charged on outstanding balances. This is
traditionally how credit card providers have managed to rake in the massive profits that they have become
associated with. It doesn’t take much research to discover that the interest rates on credit cards are among the
highest on the market. While mortgage rates and personal loan rates can easily be as low five or six per cent,
credit cards rates are easily over twenty five per cent. This is due mainly to the convenience and flexibility of
credit cards as a source of needed money. If you find that you are carrying over large credit card balances from
one month to the next, you are probably paying far more than you need to for your credit. The best way to remedy
such a situation is to consolidate this credit.
Debt consolidation loans, typically secured over your home, offer far lower rates of interest. You can then
reduce your outgoings to a single monthly figure that allows you to pay off the debt at a reasonable rate.
Another way to avoid credit card interest rates is to take advantage of zero per cent balance transfers. These
can be great opportunities and are offered by credit card providers who are ever more eager to increase their
market share and add you as a customer. You will benefit from low or zero per cent rates on any balances that
you transfer over to the new card from other credit cards. A word of advice however is to make sure you close the
original account. This avoids the temptation of racking up further spending and improves your credit rating by
reducing the over all amount of credit available to you.
Other charges such as subscription fees are by and large a thing of the past. Some credit cards still charge
annual fees on the basis that they offer other rewards or are more exclusive cards but the general advice these
days is that you can get just as good results on cards that do not charge these fees so if you are paying a fee,
perhaps you will want to switch to a card that is free in this sense.
Late payment fees and other penalties are incurred if you fail to keep up with your repayment obligations and
you should make every effort to avoid these as they are completely unnecessary.

|