[viator122]

Yeah the 0% is really just bait to get you to use their card and carry a balance. They figure most people will either make a late payment or not be able to pay off the balance by the end of the 0% offer.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, the trick is, once you transfer the balance, don't use the card, and pay it off within the timeframe.

And hopefully, there's no annual fee. No-one pays annual fees any more, why should you?

 

[Luvya]

I just read the term again. It seems like I still need to make minimum payment every month to maintain the 0% apr. Is that within the norm? What other stuff do I need to watch out for? I thought I could just ignore that balance until july 2006...looks like that's not going to be the case.

 

[viator122]

Yeah, you never get around the minimum payment.

 

[ken36]

Outstanding opportunity! Caveat: Must pay off the balance within the time period.

 

[JuveDuke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by viator122 I closed mine last night and apparently the "regular" customer service people can't help you with that - they transfer you to the hard sell guys. This guy says, "It'll take a couple of minutes to close the card, in the meantime I'd like to ask you a few questions..." Then he grills you and tries to bully you into keeping the card, asking you why you want to close it and coming back with some kind of retort to any reason you give. I kept saying, "I'd just like to close the card, please," but he kept going on and on about balance transfer rates, asking me if they could keep the card open for 2 weeks for me to think about using the transfer rate, etc. So I said, "Well at the end of 2 weeks, do I have to call again to cancel?" "If you decide you don't want it, yes, you'd have to call again." It was obnoxious.

I was trying to cancel the credit protector program on my card (they had given it out free for the first month) and the guy went in to a long spiel of how great it is after I told him I wanted out. At the end (after I had fallen sleep) I could have sworn he said "With this in mind are you sure want to cancel the program?" Apparently he actually said, "With this in mind would you like to keep the program?" Luckily it was only a buck or so charge the next month and it's gone for good now (after calling again and listeneing to the same speech).

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luvya I just read the term again. It seems like I still need to make minimum payment every month to maintain the 0% apr. Is that within the norm? What other stuff do I need to watch out for? I thought I could just ignore that balance until july 2006...looks like that's not going to be the case.

That is absolutely the norm! And the minimum payment is usually set up so that you do not pay off the balance within the 0% time period, so you should force yourself to pay more.

For example, if the balance is US$1,200, and the 0% period is 12 months, you should pay off at least US$100 every month, probably more like US$110 just to be safe (11 months).

 

[Luvya]

"During your introductory APR period, you will be charged a balance transfer fee for each balance you transfer equal to 3% of the transfer amount, but not less than $5 and not more than $75."

What does this mean? if I transfer $4.99 or $75.01 then I don't get the charge? Doesn't make sense.

 

[Big D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luvya "During your introductory APR period, you will be charged a balance transfer fee for each balance you transfer equal to 3% of the transfer amount, but not less than $5 and not more than $75." What does this mean? if I transfer $4.99 or $75.01 then I don't get the charge? Doesn't make sense.

This means that the 3% the card charges will be between $5 and $75. So if you transfer more than $2500 you will still only pay $75 and if you transfer less than $166 you will pay a minimum of $5.

People should look out for credit cards offering 0% on balance transfer AND purchases for the introductory period. Not sure if they are common in the US but here in the UK there are lots of companies offering this for between 3 and 9 months.

People should be looking to stick the repayments into a high interest savings acount and then pay the whole balance at the end of the introductory period. This means you make money from owning a credit card!