Wednesday, February 14, 2007

0% APR Credit cards

We all see the offers for Zero APR credit cards. There are some things you have to be careful of when choosing these cards. Due to ever increasing deregulations the credit card industry has become more shady than ever before. What seems like a great offer now might turn up to be a horrible deal done the line.
What begins as a great introductory rate may soon change to as high as a 30+% rate in a s little as a few months. You are probably smart enough to realize this and plan to switch to the next offer that comes along. This tactic actually is bad for your credit score because constantly opening and closing lines of credit reduces your score. It is better to find a card that will maintain a good rate and stick with that.
Of course the permanent rate of the card is easy enough to tell and you probably already realize that the rate won't stay at 0%. If you read the fine print they have several options to raise your rate. Have you ever had mail lost in the system? I have and one late payment will give them the right to up your rate sky high. Even if all of your payments are made on time if your credit rate is to change, or employment status, or you go through a divorce, really for any reason they can change your rate. That's right, even if you make all of your payments your rate can be changed.
Basically, 0% credit cards can be nice to have. Just don't use them as a way of controlling your debt. If you already have a high credit card debt you will be much better off paying them off then simply transferring your debt from card to card because eventually it will catch up to you.

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