Beware Of Predatory Credit Cards
Thursday July 12, 2007
Knowing how to choose the right credit card is important to having good credit. Whenever I'm making a decision, it always helps me to have an example of a bad choice. That way I know what to stay away from.
Don't think that because it swipes that it's a good credit card. Certain credit cards you should never apply for under any circumstances, no matter how badly you think you need credit. These are credit cards that charge outrageous fees and high interest rates and those that don't report to credit bureaus. It's best to stay away from credit cards like these.
What about you? Have you had a bad experience with a bad credit card? Let us know about it by commenting below.
Don't think that because it swipes that it's a good credit card. Certain credit cards you should never apply for under any circumstances, no matter how badly you think you need credit. These are credit cards that charge outrageous fees and high interest rates and those that don't report to credit bureaus. It's best to stay away from credit cards like these.
What about you? Have you had a bad experience with a bad credit card? Let us know about it by commenting below.
Comments
Beware of credit cards that offer loss of income insurance. They charge .89% monthly, which when compounded annually is a large chunk of money on top of their interest rate that they already charge for unpaid balances carried over at the end of the monthly billing cycle.Like a Vulcur flying over head waiting for you to slip and fall, so that they can feed off the flesh on your bones.
Watch out for Juniper (Barclays). I accidentally went over limit by $10. Got assessed $39 for over limit fee. Fair enough. I paid more than my minimum payment for that month but it wasn’t enough apparently to cover the other fees I didn’t see (again, I paid double the minimum payment requested). Next month, I was hit with another round of fees ending up at $70 but my minimum payment was just $25. When I spoke to the ‘relationship manager’ who interrupted me several times, said that’s just how it was done but if I would pay $176 today, I could avoid another round of fees. I once went over the limit on another card and the next month, the minimum payment included the amount over the limit and the regular payment amount, as it should be. By the way, I also had an 8% rate on Juniper for a year and half which they jumped to 29% for me being one day late (due on Saturday, paid on Monday - my fault obviously but there is NO leeway with them) Just an FYI.