Credit Card Incentives and Deals
Incentives and deals vary from one credit card to another. You may be offered a brief period during which purchases don’t accure interest, or you may earn flight miles or other rewards. However, perhaps the best offers come from credit cards with 0 balance transfer fees. What is the difference between zero percent interest and zero fees? On a 0% interest card, you will not have to pay any interest on the balance you’ve transferred to the card for the specified period of time. Sometimes, this is even for the life of the card. More commonly, it is for anywhere from 3 months to a year. However, you will still have to pay transaction fees for the transfer. On credit cards with 0 balance transfer fees, you will save more than just the interest that would otherwise compound onto the balance until the time at which you were able to pay off the balance. With these cards, you’ll find the offer includes a chance to make the transfers without paying the standard transaction fees. These usually equal anywhere from 3-5% of the balance being transferred, depending on the bank backing the card and the credit card company in general. That means that, if you are transferring $1000, you can potential save up to $50 on the transaction. Add to that the interest you won’t be paying and this becomes a very valuable card. Keep in mind that your balance transfer may maintain a 0% interest rate for life, or it may be limited to a few months. However, you will only have a brief window of time (usually no more than 30-60 days) to make the transfers without paying the transaction fees. This is usually something banks do to try to acquire more assets and more accounts, and in an economy where banks are suffering, you’ll probably receive more such offers than usual. Be sure to read the fine print on credit cards with 0 balance transfer fees to see what rules and regulations apply before you complete the transaction.
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