How to Know Which are the Best Credit Cards

In order to determine whether or not you are getting the best credit card deal available, you should be careful to read all the fine print detailing how your card will work. Some people find this research “boring” as well as time consuming, but becoming familiar with the terms, conditions and costs is important before you sign up for a card and may save you time, money and grief from possible financial penalties incurred after the fact if you are not fully aware of the guidelines of your best credit card.

Some cards have an annual fee. However, if you only want a low rate credit card with no frills, there is no reason to sign up with a company that charges you a yearly fee. Some popular, high end credit cards provide rewards and perks though in exchange for an annual fee and you should weigh these offers carefully.

What is the card’s APR? If you carry a balance, the lower the APR (Annual Percentage Rate), the less money you will pay on the best credit card. If a credit card comes with a very low introductory rate, you should know how long this rate will last. You should also calculate whether you will be able to pay off your card balance before this “teaser rate” expires.

Fixed rate credit cards are initially more desirable than cards with variable APR because the interest rate does not change each month or each quarter. When you sign up for a card with a fixed rate of 11.99%, for example, it is likely you will be paying this rate for quite a few months. However, you should be aware that fixed rate APR is also liable to change. Federal law permits card issuers to make changes at any time as long as they provide notice to card holders before the new rates take effect. A notice period of only 15 days is required though.

Interest on variable rate credit cards fluctuate with an index. Most card issuers use the Wall Street Journal prime rate as their index. Variable rates – which can change every month of every quarter – are used by approximately 70% of credit card issuers.

Some variable rate credit cards have minimum APRs, which are also known as floors. No matter how much the Fed cuts, once your credit card hits its floor, it will not go any lower.

It is also important to be aware of the length of your credit card’s grace period which is the time from the statement date to the date when your payment is due. If your payment is made in full by the end of the grace period, you are not charged any interest. If you only make a partial payment, interest begins at the end of the grace period. Many credit card companies have decreased their grace period from 25 days down to 20 while some companies do not allow any grace period at all.

When you have done your homework and found the best credit card that appears to be desirable to you, make sure you have checked their penalty policies before you make the commitment and sign on the dotted line.

There’s often a lot of confusion about credit cards and which credit card is the best fit for your needs. All credit card companies have amazing offers - or so it would seem. When deciding on a credit card - read the fine print and make sure you know what you’re actually signing up for.

Card Fusion has the information to help you decide which credit card is best for your situation. The Learning Center is an excellent resource when shopping for a credit card.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 18th, 2007 and is filed under Credit Cards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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How Credit Scores Affect Mortgage Applications

With a good credit score an applicant will receive prompt response from many lenders, all of them offering low interest rates and low down payment options. The loan amount offered also may be high. On the contrary a low credit score would result in a lot of rejection from various mortgage financers. Because creditors wouldn’t come forward easily to give credit to individuals that have a history of difficulty in repaying existing loans. After all, creditors take risk when they finance mortgages against the credit history of a debtor. Naturally, they will wish to remain on the safe side and pick up less risky ones that have good credit histories. A good credit score means less chance of missing on payments and therefore less risky.

But there are some real risk takers that will come forward to finance mortgages for individuals with bad credit scores. They would charge high down payments and always high interest rates though. They may also fix additional charges for every little paper work and may charge high closing rates. The loan amount offered will also be considerably less. The individual with poor credit scores will not have much choice but to accept the terms and conditions as there are no other alternatives. This is a tight situation and to avoid this you must have a good credit score.

People with bad credit may fall in to the trap of ’secured loans’. Secured loans are the ones where the loan applicant offers an asset as collateral security. The lender becomes secure about the repayment of the loan and not the borrower. Securing a loan with bad credit score becomes easy only when the applicant is willing to offer some asset as collateral security. This again is a very dangerous situation where an individual runs the risk of losing his entire collateral asset in case of failing to pay the loan installments in time. An individual should always avoid such type of a loan.

Resort properties normally require large amounts of finance which a person with bad credit may find it difficult to obtain. So it is always advisable to keep your credit score high. Incase the credit score becomes low due to unavoidable financial reasons it can be improved upon. There is no need to lose hope simply because a person has a low credit score. If the property that he intends to buy has good equity he should go out and try to obtain finances for it. There are many sub prime lenders willing to offer their services.

For a review of your credit report as it relates to a mortgage loan and a consultation on the best loans available to you, give us a confidential, no obligation and no cost call.