Top 5 Credit Card Rip-Offs You Must Know Of
Credit card companies are now smarter than ever. They have devised ways to increase revenue without being too obvious to their consumers. If you are not careful, you would be an easy prey for these credit card predators.
Avoid suffering hefty transaction charges from your credit card company by knowing these top 5 rip-offs credit card companies employ to their credit card holders.
- Changing or Variable Interest Rates
Credit card companies are now prohibited from raising interest rates because of the new law that has been passed. Owing to this, they try to bypass this law by creating variable interest rates cards rather than fixed rates cards. The variable interest rates cards are linked to prime rates that change through time. It has been seen that these new rates are even higher than the fixed interest rates of before.
- Yearly Charges
Aside from the interest rates and penalty fees, credit card holders these days are left without a choice but to pay annual fees. These charges are very high ranging from 30$-100$. This may not be transparently discussed to you upon your credit card application as it would stop you from continuing your application so be sure to mention this to your issuer.
- Dormant Fees
Credit card companies are now outsmarting smart credit card holders by giving them dormant fees or inactivity fees. If you are not able to spend a certain amount each year on your credit card, you will be forced to pay an inactivity fee.
- Fee for every transaction
Credit card companies lure you on their hassle-free transaction without being transparent to you. Most of them now charge application fees, and additional fees for any transaction you have with them. For example, if you want your statement of account to be mailed to you, be prepared to pay an extra cost for that. If you want paper bills rather than digital ones, then you have to pay an additional cost for that.
- Foreign transaction fees
Another drawback of using credit cards today is the foreign transaction fee. Credit card companies now charge an extra fee if you made a purchase abroad – this is known as the foreign transaction fee. So if you have plans on going abroad, see to it that you won’t use your credit card there.
Avoid these credit card rip-offs by resorting to other financial solutions in times of emergency. If you are currently facing an emergency finance that you need urgent cash, consider St. Catharines Bad Credit Personal Loans. These loans are free from the rip-offs mentioned above and they are easy to avail. Simply use your vehicle as security for the loan and have your needed cash on your hands in less than a day.