what are the US intrest rates these days on credit cards
up here in canada for the last couple of years i have gotten offers of 1.9 , 2.9 , 3.9 etc for the last couple of years find it hard to believe that they can lend money at such low rates
it seems most of these companies are based in the US
i have had intrest only credit lines for business but they were secured by mortgages not just signature loans as these are
was wondering if the US instutions were playing with the cdn buck due to its rise in value of over 11% since jan 07 & over 40% in the last 5 years
i can remember 18% mortgages when Carter was in but inflation was wild at the time & now inflation is relatively low as long as your not in the market for a home or land
it seems we live in unusual times !
Replies
I also keep getting offers of 4.99% for the life of the loan. o.o% for 12 months. I get the feeling they hope you can't pay it off in the special rate time and then step in with the big rates.
I think the credit card companies make a lot of money when consumers borrow low-interest cash on a credit card, then continue to use the same credit card for purchases.
Usually, the purchases are at a 12 percent (or 15% or 18%) interest rate. Payments to the credit card company go toward the lower-interest loan first. So the high-interest balance just sits there generating revenue for the credit card company while the consumer struggles to pay off the low-interest loan.
I've taken advantage of those low-interest deals, but never with a card that has a pre-existing balance. And as soon as I do so, that credit card comes out of my wallet and goes into a locked box.
Allen
If you read the fine print, those rates are just "introductory" rates to get you hooked.
After a pediod of time (A year or so) the rates go up to much higher levels.
A: Run, she's got a grenade in her mouth!
Others have mentioned some of the catches built in, but the most common is that the lowest rates are on balance transfers from another card balance. What they do not make obvious without reading the fine print is that you pay a 3% balance transfer fee the day the money moves from one account to another. So you have paid three percent IN ADVANCE!
Then they have your business for future purchases as well, and the majority of people do not pay enough attention to pay off the original low interest principle in time so they eventually get a higher rate out of you.
There is a way of playing all these against them, but it is a dangerous game to play and the institutions are now finding ways with their tracking software to be able to discover and label the people who do play it.
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dude,
Watch the fine print.
There was a time a number of years back that I financed a major project all off of credit cards.
Took advantage of every possible low interest card that came my way, used one to pay off the other, bought trucks and tools with zero-2% for x month offers.
Financed nearly $135,000 on cards over the course of a year, then wrapped it all up into a deal that sold the properties I was working on , paid all the cards off and had less then $500.00 finance fees/interest total. Beat bank financing and fees all the way.
One drawback is that then I was left with questionable credit because my ability to borrow far exceeded my nominal income. Took a few years to balance that out with the credit agencies.
One can play the game safely only when one is 100% certain of the outcome in terms of paying the cards off.
thanks to all who replied as per some of your comments these are not " intrductory rates as i have been with the various cards for a number of years
as for the 3% transfer rate i only encountered that with capital one so i dont use it
i also do not accept cards that charge for them anually
any card under 10000 i consider not worth having
if we use a card we note the expiry date of any "special offer" and switch any remaining to another low % card
i had to pave 600 ft of road last fall while waiting for a lot sale in my developement , and covered the 22m on a card temporily and still had room for double that on the same card which took the pressure off
in the early 90,s we reviewed our file at the credit buriew and the super there was having a shid fit that at that time i had 25m of credit ability today its around 250 for me personally excluding the wife boy have times changed
the last year i had a winter home in florida i bought the company park next door in the morning on a card and sold it in the afternoon for twice as much in cash
even my lawer handling the transaction said he had never seen someone talked into buying a park that could not be built on , he forgot you could put fruit trees on it & it was in the middle of a sub div 7 the buyer was also buying my house thereIn summery i have found cards helpful when cashflow is slow & i see a good deal on something i want