Interest Rates
Your card provider may promise you a 0% interest rate when you first receive the card, but make sure you read the small print. This is typically not a permanent rate, which is why the average American has an interest rate of around 15%. Many credit cards offer enticing options to get new cardholders, but these are usually temporary.
If you see 0% interest, the option to transfer balances, or any other feature that seems to be a serious boon, check the fine print to find out whether it is really worth anything to you. While the ability to switch an outstanding balance to a card with a lower interest rate is tempting, it may end up costing you more. There could be other attached to that transfer that cost you more than you would have been paying in interest.
|
