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Posts Tagged ‘0% APR Credit Card’

I’m sure you’ve seen direct mail offers, promotional brochures and Internet ads announcing:

“0% APR credit cards. Limited time offer. Apply today!”

You can’t beat that for a credit card. That’s just like buying something with cash. A great deal, especially if you don’t have cash on hand. But you may be wondering, “How can the credit card companies and banks make money if they aren’t charging interest?” Well, read on to find out whether or not these 0% APR credit card offers are just pulling your leg.

Deal Or No Deal

Every time you buy something using 0% APR credit cards, you pay absolutely no finance charges or interest rate charges on your entire credit card balance. Just think… you can refurnish your home, pay for your child’s college tuition or go out on a spending spree without paying a penny more.

However, most 0% APR credit cards offer only “introductory rates” at 0%. This low rate may be limited to a specific time period, such as 3 months or as long as a year. In addition, 0% APR credit cards often allow you to transfer balances (up to a specific amount) from another credit card to take advantage of the zero interest deal. Once the introductory rate period ends, then the APR can go through the roof.

Okay, so maybe you can’t get 0% interest into eternity. But, if you play your card right, you can still reap the benefits of these unique offers.
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Credit cards are one of the most useful tools in today’s world. With a credit card, you can purchase anything you want without actually carrying any money at all. A credit card works like a loan. Once you purchased an item using your credit card, you will automatically agree to pay the loan once the billing statement arrives.

However, aside from the fact that credit cards can offer you a lot of advantages, you should be aware that credit cards also have some disadvantages. People who own credit cards tend to uncontrollably purchase items they don’t really need. Besides, with a credit card, you can really purchase a lot of things without having any money at all. With this feature, people tend to purchase items more than they can afford.

With this kind of spending, many people get into credit card debt that will seem very hard to pay off. Every month that you don’t pay the bill on time, you will see that the interest rate will rise and you will eventually end up paying more for the interest rate rather than the debt.

One way to pay off your credit card debt is through 0% APR credit cards. This kind of credit card started out as a marketing gimmick in the US. But today, it is now considered as part of the credit card industry. 0% APR credit card plays a very important role to help people get out of debt or at least reduce it.

First of all, you need to know what a 0% APR credit card is. APR is short for Annual Percentage Rate. APR is a reflection of the cost of credit. Therefore, a low or 0% APR is better than standard APR that you will usually see in credit cards today.

0% APR credit cards are very useful if you know how to handle it. This kind of credit card is usually used by people who want to reduce or end their credit card debt, if you have a credit card debt that seems hard or impossible to pay off. For example, if you are 10,000 dollars in debt and you have an APR of 20%, you will end up paying 2,000 dollars in interest payments. With a 0% APR credit card, you can use those 2,000 dollars to reduce your credit card debt instead of paying it for the interest alone.
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What Is A 0% APR Credit Card? Many of us have heard about them, but has anyone every explained 0% APR credit cards to you? Well, for starters, the APR or annual percentage rate is the rate of interest credit card companies charge on outstanding payments. The amount you are charged depends not only on the rate of interest, but also on the method of calculation of rates of interest. 0% APR credit cards are credit cards that charge you no interest on credit, for a specified period of time. The best 0% APR credit cards offer 0% APR’s to customers for up to 12 months. After 12 months the credit card issuer charges you at the normal rate. The card issuer assumes a risk by offering you interest free credit for such an extended period. They balance that risk by offering 0% APR credit cards to only customers with the best credit.

What Determines Your Credit?

Your credit depends on a number of factors. Your credit score, also known as the FICO score is widely used as a credit rating for Americans. Since your credit rating will determine whether you are issued a 0% APR credit card, knowing what goes into the score helps a great deal. Your credit score is determined based on five parameters. The most important among these parameters is your current debt and your history of repayment of debt.

The other three parameters for calculation of credit score are the length of your credit history, amount of new credit and types of credit used. Based on these five parameters, the individual is given a score ranging from 300 to 850. This is indicative of the credit worthiness of the person at a particular point of time. People with credit scores above 770 usually qualify for a 0% APR credit card. However scores above 700 are also considered good. 0% APR credit cards typically require, at a minimum, very good credit and often will require excellent credit.
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0% APR credit cards are an appealing option for frequent shoppers that rely on having a low monthly interest rate when they cannot pay off the entire balance of the credit card in any month. But what you really need to know about 0% APR credit card offers, often times is never discussed.

For starters, the APR is the commonly-used acronym for “Annual Percentage Rate,” which is the annual month-to-month rate that you can expect to get for your credit card balance. Naturally, if you frequently carry your credit card balance over from month-to-month, it is important for you to have a low or even 0% APR credit card.

How it Works

Every credit card company makes money when shoppers use the card, but do not pay off the balance at the end of each month. Because the credit card company has lent shoppers money so that they can make their purchases, the credit card company will charge interest on the balance until the entire balance is paid off. The credit card company has the potential to make a generous profit from the balances of their customers each month. Naturally, as a consumer, having a 0% APR credit card means that your balance is carried over from month-to-month without any charges applied.
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