Tag Archives: credit card
How To Protect Yourself From Pre-Approved Credit Card Offer?
Have you received before a pre-approved credit card offer that sent to you through your email address? If you are not, then you are the lucky one. Most of people who have access to email are receiving dozens of “good offer” from credit card companies. Low-internet rate and higher credit limit are among the good deals in the offers and the best part is: it has been pre-approved to you. Sound good? Well, before you go ahead and accept one. Ask yourself whether you really need it or not. According to the credit card site CardWeb.com, average American household are holding a $10,000 credit card debt. Don’t let you be one of the statistics.
The best way to keep credit card debt down is not to use a credit card. But if you do receive a pre-approved card that intrigues you, at least know what you are getting into before signing on the bottom line:
What interest are you paying? Make sure you understand the interest rate you will be paying for. There are two types of interest rates, fixed-rate annual percentage rate (APR) and variable rates that swing according to the market rate. A better option would be APR because credit card companies have to notify you before raising rates.
The low interest rate being offered is usually only an “introductory rate” which means the rate can – and probably will – increase significantly at the end of the introductory period. This means that balances transferred from higher interest rate credit cards to the new, low introductory rate card could, over the long run, actually cost you more in interest payments. So, be aware of the terms and conditions before you sign to accept the card.
Know that a credit card may carry more than one rate. You may not aware that most of credit cards carry more than one rate. The balance transfer and cash advance normally have higher interest rate. Interest rate shows in the offer normally is the interest rate of your purchases with credit card. Hence, at the end you probably pay higher interest rate if you have balance transfer or withdraw any cash advance with your credit card.
Credit card companies may raise the interest rate if you have late payment. Some credit card companies will immediately raise your interest rate from introductory teaser rate to the regular rate if you are late just one time.
Don’t accept the new credit card offer if fee involved. If there is fee involved with your new credit card, don’t accept the offer. Why pay a fee for a credit card when, with good credit, you don’t have to? If you have good credit, there are many other better offers which you can choose from.
Many of these cards are just preliminarily approved. This means that when you actually apply, the credit card company will reviewing your credit report in full as well as verifying information provided on your application. Terms and conditions may change according to your qualification, such as higher interest rate or smaller credit line. And if your application is rejected, it could cause at least minimal damage to your credit report.
So, in order to protect yourself, you need to carefully read all of the fine print in the offer and, if you don’t fully understand and like everything you read, throw the credit card offer away. Even if you fully agree with the stated terms and conditions, do some calculations to be sure that the lower introductory rate, especially in the case of balance transfers, will actually save you money over the long run.
How to Save Yourself From Drowning in Credit Card Debt
Credit card debt has been widely recognized as the primary reason why people are suffering from low credit scores in the country. The most likely reason why many people suffer from this vicious cycle of debt is that it is difficult to keep a track of all the points of expenditure through credit cards. This is especially true when a person is struck with some form of a medical or even non medical emergency. In such situations, it is impossible to think of the consequences of expenditure because expenses like medical bills cannot be avoided at the cost of life or fitness. Therefore, most people in a medical emergency end up getting trapped in debt. Fortunately, while it takes some doing, it is not very difficult to get rid of the problem. All it takes is a little bit of common sense and diligence. Consider the following steps through which you can get rid of your credit card debt, if you are stuck in one.
1. Find some good refinancers and pay each of them a visit
The first step of your strategy to get rid of credit card debt is to find and visit good refinancers in the region. The loan refinancing industry has grown significantly as the number of people getting trapped by different types of debts is increasing. Therefore, it would not be difficult for you to find some good refinancers in your region. You should shortlist the best ones and arrange an appointment with each one of them. During your meetings with these refinancing professionals, your job will be to try and get as much information about the kind of credit card debt settlement plan that they think would be good for you.
2. Analyze the credit card debt settlement plans that they have set out for you
After you have met with all the refinancing firms, you would have rough information on the credit card debt settlement plans that they had devised for you. If you are smart, you can get a lot of very useful information from a refinancing firm’s representative. You should analyze all the information that you have gathered in terms of different instruments, different schedules and, in a nutshell, the whole settlement plans’ structure.
3. Combine the positives of all the plans strategies and create your own
Finally, you should combine the good aspects of all these strategies that you think fit your specific situation and formulate your own customized settlement plan. Ideally, the best way to get rid of credit card debt would be to pay the debt. However, sometimes the debt is so large that it requires some manipulation through refinancing loans and other credit cards. Your own settlement plan would consist of this kind of information. Furthermore, since you took the positives and most suitable aspects from all the restructuring and refinancing plans offered to you, you would find that your customized plan would be better than all of them because it is designed to your specific needs by you.