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Credit Card Interest Rates 101
So you just opened an envelope that contained a shiny piece of
plastic with your name on it. Awesome ... a bank or financial
institution just gave you a line of credit! Before you start
joyously swiping it on just about any cash register, take the
time to read this article to understand the credit card interest
rates.
A credit card is an authority to spend the money of the company
that issued it, in return for a promise that you will repay them
in the future, called payment-due date. This date is written on
your card's monthly billing statement together with the total
cost of the items you purchased for that month (outstanding
balance). Smart credit card users pay for the total outstanding
balance on the payment due date. However, there maybe instances
that you will not be able to. During these times, the card
company let's you borrow the money longer, until the next
month's payment-due date, for a fee. This fee is calculated
based on the credit card's interest rate.
Usually, credit card companies quote the APR (Annual Percentage
Rate) as the "interest rate" for using their card. But, this is
not entirely true. When you do not pay the total outstanding
balance, interest is applied to it, called the monthly periodic
rate (equals APR/12). This is added on to the unpaid amount and
becomes next month's
outstanding balance. Every month, the
periodic rate is applied to whatever outstanding balance is
unpaid. This process is called compounding interest. So, the
total of the compounding interest is the Effective Annual Rate
(EAR), which is in-fact bigger than the APR. This is the TRUE
interest rate of the credit card.
An introductory rate is an interest rate that is offered by a
card company for a limited period (say 1st year of using the
card). This is usually very low, sometimes 0% to attract you to
apply. After the limited time, the EAR will be the on-going
interest rate. Be sure to check this before signing up.
Also, ask whether your rate is fixed or variable. Fixed interest
rate does not change from month to month. A variable interest
rate changes monthly, based on some industry rate (for example,
Fed Rate or Prime Rate) from which your rate is calculated (your
rate is 5%+ Fed Rate). It may be smarter in the long run to
choose a fixed-rate card.
Now that you have a better understanding on credit card interest
rates, it is still wise to settle the total outstanding balance
monthly. Else, pay only for what you can afford, as if you did
not have the credit card.
About the author:
More information about credit and credit cards is available at
stooze online
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| An independent federal agency that supervises and insures 7152 federal credit unions and insures 4240 state-chartered credit unions. |
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| Credit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Debits and Credits, a type of bookkeeping entry; Credit (creative arts), acknowledging the ideas or ... Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit" ... |
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| CUNA: The Credit Union National Association |
| News and resource directory about credit unions. |
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| Credit/Debt Management - Tools and Advice for Managing Credit and Debt |
| Drowning in debt? Trying to improve your credit score? This is the place for you. Get real world information and tips, as well as the legal low down, ... |
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