When it comes to 0% APR credit cards, you may be wondering how you can take full advantage of these offers. There are many f them out there, actually. The ability to offer this service is usually something of a ploy though. To get you into their card products, card issuers may offer 0% APR abilities as an introductory. Yet, even if this is only an introductory offer, you can still find these benefits to be rather rewarding. If you take a few minute to consider what is out there, you may see that you qualify and can benefit from these 0 interest credit cards.
What Are They?
The first thing for you to do is to understand what 0% APR credit cards actually are. Having this card will allow you to use credit without any interest accumulating on the amount that you have borrowed. Any fees including annual fees will still apply, but this amount of money is not something that you have to worry about having a 25% interest rate charge on top of, at least, not at first.
The 0% APR credit card is offered strictly as an introductory rate. It is never offered for the life of the card or even for an extended amount of time beyond say, 12 months. You will most certainly have this 0% interest for just a limited time. Sometimes it is just a few months, other times it can be as long 15 months for some of the longer, extended introductory APR offers. The goal that you should have is to take full advantage of this offer within the timeframe of the introductory offer and consider how it can benefit you.
Your Benefits
First off, you should look very closely at the particulars of each 0% APR credit cards offer that you are considering. Ask yourself the following questions:
* How long does the card offer keep this introductory rate?
* What is the ongoing APR after that introductory period is over?
* Is this an APR that you can live with, especially if you are a cardholder that tends to carry large card balances?
* Are there other fees that you should take into consideration, such as an annual fee?
* How well does this compare to your current credit cards?
* How well does it compare overall to the other offers you are considering?
Since all credit card offers are a bit different, make sure you read the details before you just accept any offer out there.
Your benefits come in when you can take what is being offered to you, in this case a 0% APR credit card, and use it to your advantage to save money, and in some instances, a lot of money. Let's say that you currently have a credit card that you have a 25% APR on, which is considered anything but cheap. Now, you are looking to find a way to lower the amount but the lender won't offer a drop in the APR (you should always call and ask for your current lender to lower your APR!) One thing that you should also do is determine if your 0% APR credit card offer applies to purchase, balance transfers or both. If the introductory rate only applies to balance transfers, you should move your outstanding balances to the new account, and ultimately pay it off before the introductory period ends. If the introductory APR applies only to new purchases, you should use this new card
strictly for all new purchases while continuing to pay down the balances on your higher APR cards. And if the 0% introductory APR applies to both purchases and balance transfers, you should centralize all of your card activity around this card for the entirety of the introductory period.
The key to any of these credit card strategies is an aggressive card balance repayment plan that minimizes the compounding effect of high APR finance charges. If you let your card balances continue to roll over, you are likely to end up paying just as much, if not much more, on the credit card anyway. Yet, those six months or more of no interest can be a true blessing to those that pay down their balances aggressively within the timeframe of the introductory period. |
