Six Unexposed Credit Card Secrets That You Do Not Know
1.
Interest Backdating Do you notice that your bill gets higher and higher? This is what those interest charges do to your account if you do not pay in full monthly.
There are some issuers also who charges the interest at the date of purchase; this is definitely unfair especially for the customer.
So what can I do to avoid this? The best answer to this is to always pay your bills in full before the due date.
If you cannot manage to pay your bills in full try to look for another credit card issuer that offers no interest backdating.
2.
Two-Cycle Billing Let cut this and go straight to the point.
A two-cycle billing is a method which credit card issuers use to calculate interest.
Let's make an example; think of this, you bought a camera which is payable in 3 months, you were not able to pay for the first month in full so the issuer carries the balance to the next month.
While your balance is getting carried month by month the interest grows and grows.
So what can I do to avoid this? The best answer to this is to always pay your bills in full before the due date.
If you cannot manage to pay your bills in full try to look for another credit card isuuer.
3.
The Right to Setoff If you have a credit card and a certain bank and you have a deposit account here too the bank may have asked you to sign an agreement which allows the bank to get the money in your account if you become delinquent on your credit card.
An easy and obvious resolution to this is try to avoid delinquencies or even better try to open a bank account in a different institution.
4.
Fees are Negotiable If you pay your credit card bills on time and you do have a good record in your bank and you are paying for $50 a year for your annual and an 18% finance charge the bank might be willing to drop the annual fee and change the finance charge to a lower rate if you will just ask.
I have personally experienced waving the annual fee of my card due to my expenses.
This is only applicable to people who have good credit records in the bank.
5.
Interest Rate Hikes Are Retroactive There are some credit cards which offer a teaser, a low rate for the first year.
After the first year you will be likely to realize that the low rate has expired and your balance will have higher interest rates.
What you can do about this is to settle all your balances in the bank before the rate increases then close the account.
There are some better cards out there; you just have to look for them.
6.
Shortened Due Dates Usually most issuers of credit cards offer you a 25-day period in which you would need to pay for all your new purchases.
Within this 25 day grace period, no incurring finance charges will occur.
There are banks that have shortened these periods to a 20-day period only for those people who really can pay full in a monthly period.
If you cannot manage to cope with this shorter period, ask your bank to return your period back to 25 days.
Interest Backdating Do you notice that your bill gets higher and higher? This is what those interest charges do to your account if you do not pay in full monthly.
There are some issuers also who charges the interest at the date of purchase; this is definitely unfair especially for the customer.
So what can I do to avoid this? The best answer to this is to always pay your bills in full before the due date.
If you cannot manage to pay your bills in full try to look for another credit card issuer that offers no interest backdating.
2.
Two-Cycle Billing Let cut this and go straight to the point.
A two-cycle billing is a method which credit card issuers use to calculate interest.
Let's make an example; think of this, you bought a camera which is payable in 3 months, you were not able to pay for the first month in full so the issuer carries the balance to the next month.
While your balance is getting carried month by month the interest grows and grows.
So what can I do to avoid this? The best answer to this is to always pay your bills in full before the due date.
If you cannot manage to pay your bills in full try to look for another credit card isuuer.
3.
The Right to Setoff If you have a credit card and a certain bank and you have a deposit account here too the bank may have asked you to sign an agreement which allows the bank to get the money in your account if you become delinquent on your credit card.
An easy and obvious resolution to this is try to avoid delinquencies or even better try to open a bank account in a different institution.
4.
Fees are Negotiable If you pay your credit card bills on time and you do have a good record in your bank and you are paying for $50 a year for your annual and an 18% finance charge the bank might be willing to drop the annual fee and change the finance charge to a lower rate if you will just ask.
I have personally experienced waving the annual fee of my card due to my expenses.
This is only applicable to people who have good credit records in the bank.
5.
Interest Rate Hikes Are Retroactive There are some credit cards which offer a teaser, a low rate for the first year.
After the first year you will be likely to realize that the low rate has expired and your balance will have higher interest rates.
What you can do about this is to settle all your balances in the bank before the rate increases then close the account.
There are some better cards out there; you just have to look for them.
6.
Shortened Due Dates Usually most issuers of credit cards offer you a 25-day period in which you would need to pay for all your new purchases.
Within this 25 day grace period, no incurring finance charges will occur.
There are banks that have shortened these periods to a 20-day period only for those people who really can pay full in a monthly period.
If you cannot manage to cope with this shorter period, ask your bank to return your period back to 25 days.
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