Posts Tagged ‘credit card APR’

An Overview Of Credit Card Interest Rates

Monday, September 6th, 2010

What do you notice most on credit card advertisements? Probably the interest rate (or APR as it’s also called). This is the thing that gets publicized most by credit card companies. They know that the majority of people will see the lowest interest rate card and choose that one without looking at other information.

APR is without doubt an important thing when choosing a credit card, but it’s not the only thing to look for. Understanding credit card interest rates is important.

The question is, what is APR? Basically it is the interest rate which the credit card company charges on the amount of money which you owe to them. The interest will be charged if you don’t pay the full amount owed in time.

When your credit card bill arrives, it states the full amount of money which you currently owe to the credit card supplier, the minimum payment which they require and a date by which payment must be made. You can either pay off all of the money which you owe or just make the minimum payment.

If you make a full payment (by the due date), you are not charged any interest. However, if you decide to go with the minimum payment or some amount that is lesser than the full amount, the credit card supplier will charge interest based on the credit card rate and the balance amount. This credit card rate is the interest rate that you agreed with them at the time of applying for the credit card. The credit card rate or the annual percentage rate, as is obvious, is an annual interest rate.

The credit card suppliers use this annual credit card rate to calculate the monthly credit card rate and then they calculate the interest on the balance amount that you owe them. The balance amount here is simply = Full amount – (payment made by you). This interest is added to your balance for the next month (at the time of next billing cycle).

If you should make a part payment again, a new balance is going to be calculated and the monthly rate of interest will be applied to work out the new interest. This process continues until the balance is paid in full.

This means that it is possible for a vicious circle to occur, and accounts for why interest rate is an important factor to take into account when deciding on a new credit card.

Alex Russell has had many articles on credit cards published. You can find more information on his website Settle Credit Card Debt Now. He has also written on consolidation of credit cards. Visit his site today.

Credit Cards A.P.R. Basic Information.

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

A credit cards APR is the Annual Percentage Rate which applies to that card. Many cards now begin by offering 0 percent interest on either balance transfers, purchases or both. This initial zero interest period can be used to either avoid paying any interest on existing loans, or it can be used to make a profit.

Zero interest credit on balance transfers can be used to avoid paying any of the interest on existing loans such as outstanding balances on other credit cards by transferring the balances to the new card. This means that repayments can be applied to reducing the balance rather than paying any interest.

Another way one can use such accounts is to obtain “free money”. This is done by using the funds made available on the new account and placing them into a savings bank or other interest-generating system. Occasionally such an approach might even be used for more risky investments such as business startups. It is rumored that the Google company used such funds to buy some of their early hardware setups, and it is known that the movie “Clerks” was funded in this way.

For cash advances credit card companies sometimes charge interest on the entire outstanding balance from the date they are obtained if the total balance is not paid in full. A further complication is that cash advances are often charged from the day they are obtained rather than the billing date, and often at a different rate of interest from purchases. Also repayments are often applied to all other transactions before they are applied to cash advances.

A credit cards APR is one of the big areas one should consider when choosing between competing offers, but other factors should also be taken into consideration. Fees are one such factor, as are rewards such as air miles or cash-back which can be very beneficial.

Looking to find the best info on Credit Cards, then visit www.money-articles.net to find the best advice on credit cards and also other money and finance topics on this leading specialist article directory.

Credit Card APR.

Monday, April 12th, 2010

A credit cards APR means the Annual Percentage Rate of interest charged. IT is common now for cards to offer a zero-percent initial APR which can be on purchases, balance-transfers or sometimes both. This initial 0% period can either be used to avoid paying any interest on existing borrowing or can be used to make a profit.

Cash advances often have different rules from other types of use. Sometimes a higher interest rate is charged, and this rate can be charged from the day the advance is obtained rather than from the billing date as is usual with purchases. It is also sometimes the case that repayments get applied to all other categories of expenditure on the card before they are applied at all to any cash advances.

0% interest for an initial period can be used to avoid having to pay an interest at all on existing borrowing if the 0% applies to balance transfers. This is done by transferring the existing borrowing onto the new card. This is a big advantage as repayments can be applied to decreasing the borrowing itself rather than doing little more than paying off the interest each month.

It is actually possible to make a genuine profit for free, from cards which have a 0% initial period on balance transfers. Simply put the available funds into an interest-bearing account such as a high-interest savings bank account, and collect the profit. This approach is occasionally applied to other forms of investment other than savings accounts, but these other investments usually carry higher risk. Successful examples of this include movies such as “Clerks”, as well as the initial batch of hardware used by the Google search engine business according to rumor.

A credit cards APR is one of the big areas one should consider when choosing between competing offers, but other factors should also be taken into consideration. Fees are one such factor, as are rewards such as air miles or cash-back which can be very beneficial.

Looking to find the best info on Credit Cards, then visit www.money-articles.net to find the best advice on credit cards and money and finance topics on this leading specialist article directory.