What to Look for in 0 Interest Credit Cards

It’s always important to read the fine prints on all 0 interest credit cards. Look out for the length of the offer and the APR after the promotion expires. Also, check for balance transfer fees – not every interest free card is a 0 balance transfer credit card. Some cards might charge up to 5% for a balance transfer, while others have it free. Make sure you calculated how much it will cost you.

All 0 interest credit cards offers expire (besides if you pay the full balance before the due date) after a period of time. They usually range between 6 to 18 months and rarely up to 24 months. So before applying double check the length of the offer.

It is also recommended to combine the above two factors: the transaction fee and the length of the offer. While a 3% transaction fee might sound cheap, if it is only for 6 months and then it rises to 25% it’s not as good. On the other hand a 5% fee that lasts for 18 months will get you much more.

Purchases vs Balance transfers

Do you want to buy new furniture for a new house, or you want to pay out other credit card balances? For the first example you need a credit card that offers 0 APR for purchases. If you want to pay out other high balances than you need a Zero APR balance transfer offer. Most credit cards offer good introductory balance transfer offers.

Enjoy reading and good luck making the most of your credit cards!

Beware when choosing an application for credit card

Consumers should be careful when deciding where to get an application for credit card because not every offer is a good offer. This is especially true for offers arriving in the mail. Some of these offers may be flat out illegitimate, coming from fraudulent or ill-intentioned companies. This is why it is risky to apply for the first offer with an enticing sales pitch. The best offers will have great incentives and benefits to back up their sales pitch and be from real banks. Finding these offers may take time, but this time will keep you from dealing with heartache in the future.

If you’re asking yourself where to get an application credit card to find the best deals with the best incentives the answer is simple. Start with who you know. Ask your friends and family members about the credit cards they own. This group is more likely to be truthful than anyone else. If they like their card, they will encourage you to get one. If they do not, they will tell you to make a different choice. They may even give you a suggestion that will help you with your search. Talking to someone close to you is a safe initial move because you’ll get an honest review that will help you with your decision. This is also true when you want to apply for business credit card- ask around and see which cards other business owners find useful.

Check out several banks

The next place to visit is your current bank or financial institution. Since you are already a customer, they may be willing to give you a credit card with great incentives and the best credit card rate. Depending on how long you’ve been a customer, you may be able to receive a card with 0% interest for six to 12 months. You may also be able to receive cash-back rewards and discounts on fuel and other purchases. Your bank’s offer is also much safer than a random credit card offer; the chances of it being fraudulent or malicious is essentially zero.

Starting Fresh

A great solution to this credit problem is to apply for a secured card which can help you build your credit and payment history to boost your credit score. What are secured credit card offers? Secure credit cards are guaranteed by money that you give the bank to hold; essentially you are borrowing against your own money that the bank is holding. After an allotted period of dependable usage, the bank can return your money and turn your secured card into a traditional or unsecured credit card. Some cards allow you to slowly add unsecured credit on top of the amount that is covered by your deposit. This means they may increase your credit limit as you show yourself to be dependable.

Picking the Right Secured Credit Card Offers

Before applying for a secured card, look at the pros and cons of different options that are available. If improving your credit is important, find a secured credit card application for a card that reports to all three credit bureaus. One interesting thing about secured cards is that many cards put the deposit in a savings account or CD so that it earns interest; some cards even offer rewards programs. Different cards have different fees, so be sure to ask a representative and read all of the fine print; there can be application fees, monthly fees, and annual fees, as well as the interest.

Building (or Rebuilding) Your Credit

Remember the following guidelines as you work to build, or rebuild, your credit:

• Keep the balance low on all your cards and avoid the temptation for a spending spree. Use the card for purchases you would make anyways, purchases that are within your budget.
• Pay your card off every month if possible; if not, at least pay more than the monthly minimum.
• Always pay on time. One of the main benefit of a secured credit card is to establish and show a reliable payment history.
• If you have the opportunity to increase your credit line, do so, but make sure not let the limit exceed what is realistic for your income.

Steps on how to build excellent credit:

Check your credit report frequently. You need to know what your credit looks like in case you ever need to fix it. You can get one free annual report. It is available through the government run AnnualCreditReport.com website. You have to pay a nominal fee if you want your credit score as well, as this is not free of charge.

When you verify your report, be sure to:

• Debate any extra accounts that are not yours or that you did not open up.
• Contest any reports of late payments that were paid on time.
• Discuss any bankruptcies that are older than ten years and that are still listed as due, even though it was settled in bankruptcy.
• Debate any negative report older than seven years; after seven years negative reports should fall off your credit.

Before you blindly accept online credit card offers take these steps to build your credit:

• Apply or request for a credit card, accepting online credit card offers that give you the best deals. Pick the one that gives the lowest interest rate and if at all possible, pick one that gives cash back percentage on purchases.
• Request a major credit card. This will assist you in moving into the seven hundred area of credit scores quicker.
• It can be hard to find unsecured credit cards for badcredit scores. If you can not a get a major credit card, try to find secured credit card offersor a debit card. This card works after you deposit cash with a distributing bank.
• Check your budget. Estimate how much money you have coming in. And then figure out how much money you would like to save and what kind of things you need to pay for on a monthly basis.
• Open a checking account and a savings account.
• Utilize your credit card instead of money to make a small purchase that you can afford, if you can be responsible with the usage and repayment.
• Pay each credit card bill in full each month. Pay it as soon as you receive it.
• If you can’t pay in full, keep a good debt to credit ratio.
• Expand your debt out on various different cards, if it is possible.
• Don’t let your credit cards go more than 6 months without being used or the bank may close the account which will reflect negatively on your credit score.
• Move your debt from credit cards to other resources as well.

Want credit cards? Apply online but see your credit status first

Even more than that. If you are not ready to apply you can have a rough outline review on your credit status. While the results won’t give you your credit score or any info from your report, you can figure it out based upon the card’s requirements. If, for example, the Card Match tool will only generate cards that are usually designed for bad credit, this is an obvious sign that the tool detected something bad on your credit report. It might be a good idea to acquire your credit report in full. On the other hand, should you see that they matched you with cards that require excellent credit, this is a good sign. While the card match does not guarantee an approval on any of the cards that they suggest, it is an indication of your credit profile. So when you choose the right credit cards apply online for the fastest response.

Special unique offers

Not all of the best credit card offers are made public – many of them are targeted and not available to the general pool of potential cardholders. They can be sent out in special mail offers, email blasts, or in the branch – bank offers. The Card Match tool, allows you to see if you have any special offers targeted towards you. Often the bonuses that are available through the Card Match Tool are 50-100% higher than the best current offers out there, so it’s always worth checking before you apply for a new credit card.
In addition, match tools can help you find the card that best suits your needs, in addition to your credit. Need the best balance transfer credit card? The match tool can help. These tools can even help businesses, finding the best business credit card available.

Two types of mileage credit cards

It is very important to differentiate between two types of the best travel reward credit card. The differences are huge and people tend to be confused by them. There are mileage cards that give you great bonus points just for opening the cards and spending some money. And there are cards that let you earn points by spending money on the credit cards. While most cards give both, bonus points and spending points, the amounts vary in great difference.

The Best Travel Reward Credit Card: Bonus Points Cards

If you are not a big credit card spender, then you will most likely not reach any substantial amount of points. For example if you spend $1,000 a month on credit cards, even the best cards won’t bring you close to one international free ticket. But you can earn a few hundred thousand points just for opening the best travel reward credit card. Just look around and you will find many cards that give you bonus points ranging between 25,000 to 50,000 points just for opening the card.

So, if you’re not a great spender, and you have good credit, just get a few cards that give you initial bonus points and get ready for you next free flight! Don’t worry on the points they give for spending, focus on the initial bonus points!

Usage Mileage Credit Cards

Are you a heavy spender? Do you spend $5,000 – $10,000 a month on credit cards? Then you should focus on cards that give for spending money on the card. Look out for the cards that give between 1.5% to 5% on select purchases, so when spending $10,000 a month you can earn up to half a million points annually! That’s enough for more than 5 business class international tickets.

Look For Introductory Offers

For the most part, you are going to find many credit cards with introductory rates that make them zero APR credit cards – for a time. But these 0 interest rate credit card often grow up to be interest charging cards, so be careful. It is common to find credit card companies that allow you to pay no interest for the first 12 or 18 months that you have the card. These offers can be found in minutes by conducting an online search. It is also possible that credit card companies will send you offers for 0 percent interest credit cards in the mail. But be sure you know when the offer changes.

Store Credit Cards May Offer Zero Interest Credit Cards

Another common occurrence is for department or electronics stores offer zero interest credit cards with interest-free financing for 12 months or longer for purchases over a certain amount. For example, you may be able to apply for a store credit card that allows you to make equal payments for an extended amount of time without having to pay and finance charges. The only downside is that you will have to pay an interest rate of up to 30 percent if you have a balance left when that period ends. And sometimes the interest is retroactive! This means if you don’t pay it off on time they will charge interest back to the first day you made the purchase, so read the fine print.

Borrowers with Good Credit Can Negotiate These Terms On Their Own

Borrowers who have good credit may be able to get their credit card company to waive their interest charges and give them zero interest credit cards simply because they paid their bill on time. If you have recently made a large purchase, the ability to have finance charges waived can save you hundreds of dollars over the months it takes to pay off the purchase.

Getting Approved

If you’re worried about getting approved for a credit card, then rest easy because there are a variety of credit cards for all different types of credit, including easy approval credit cards. Having excellent credit means that you have a variety of credit cards to choose from, but there are also credit cards for people with fair credit too. The credit card perks may vary depending on what type of credit you have. Premier cards, given to people with higher credit, will have perks like cash back, rewards points, airline miles and more.

Easy Approval Credit Cards: Increase Your Chances of Getting Approved

It’s a good idea to check your credit score before you apply for a credit card. Credit card issuers each have their own criteria for approval, so the higher your score the better your chances of getting the credit card you want with the perks you desire. Improve your credit score before applying for a credit card by paying down current debts, paying off any past due loans and fixing any inaccuracies in your credit report.

Let Your Credit Card Work For You

A credit card is a tool for you to help with your finances. You can use your credit card to make big purchases and then pay it back in small increments over time. Some people choose to charge their credit card for everything they get and then pay it off at the end of the month. In this way, they’ve accumulated the airline mileage, rewards points or any other perks they get for charging their card.

Using credit cards to rebuild credit – What’s a good percentage of debt to credit ratio

There are some conflicting reports on what debt to credit ratio constitutes a good ratio for applying for new cards, but many bankers and financial analysts suggest that having balances that are as low as possible is best. So yes, you need credit cards to rebuild credit but you don’t want to use them excessively. In addition, most advice suggests that a credit ratio should never go any higher than 30 percent. This means that a person with $10,000 in credit would not want to have a revolving balance that exceeded $3,000 a month.

If you were denied for a credit card bankruptcy may not be the only reason. You can pay on time and be responsible, but if that debt to credit ratio is too high – DENIED. Paying down credit card balances is always a good idea, and before applying for a new card it’s a good idea for a credit report to appear as encouraging as possible with a low debt to credit ratio. This low number will showcase a responsible borrower who pays credit card debt each month on time, and keeps low balances on his cards.

Always remember that whenever a person decides to apply for a credit card, the bank will check on a lot of items related to the person’s creditworthiness and whether granting a card is going to be a good financial decision. Everyone has a credit score, and it is this score that will help the bank make their decision.