Getting 0% Interest Rate Credit Cards

from ArticleInsider.com

The advantage of getting 0% interest rate credit cards is simple; you can use the lender's money for free. There are, however, several things you should understand before you get 0% interest rate credit cards.

• Virtually all 0% interest rate credit cards offer no interest for a limited amount of time, usually six months.
• Some of these cards do not allow you to transfer balances from high-rate interest cards during the introductory 0% offer period.
• Some 0% interest rate credit cards charge very high fees such as origination fees of $100 or more and even monthly fees as high as $5 or $6 per month.
• Some of these cards also carry very high penalties for late payments and automatically switch you to a variable APR rate for a late payment.
• Some 0% interest rate cards charge very high interest after the introductory period.

Responsible Use of 0% Interest Credit Cards

It is up to you to read all of the details about every card you are considering. Make sure you understand what the long-term costs will be. If you choose to get 0% interest rate credit cards in order to transfer balances from high-rate cards, make sure you pay as much of the balance transferred as you can before the introductory period is over.

Try not to get a new credit card to pay off an old one unless you can do so at an extremely low interest rate or 0% interest. Be careful not to transfer a large balance, such as $3,000, if you can't pay it off before the end of the introductory period. This could leave you paying a higher interest rate than the original one on the remaining balance.

Be very careful to always know exactly what your credit cards will cost you.

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This article on 0% interest rate credit cards was provided by ArticleInsider.com.