This morning I was doing bills at about 2-freakin'-AM, inbetween (get it?) watching eCritiques on AM. I don't appreciate APRs higher than 4%. Like many people with decent credit scores, I get a bazillion credit card offers in the mail every month (yes, bazillion; I counted as I put them in my "To Be Shredded" bag), usually with some kind of teaser rate that's still too high and for too short a time period (less than 1 year). I always keep a look out for offers that are actually good and one recently caught my eye: 0% for a full year, NO annual fee and NO FEE for balance transfers.
So early this morning I applied for the card online. Hopefully it really is secure as they say. I entered balance transfers from 2 other credit cards with rates that I don't like. The scary and downright dangerous thing is how fast the process was...I was approved in about 8 seconds (the site said "within 60")! It's scary that they're handing out credit so readily these days...maybe I wouldn't have been approved if I were less responsible, but it's not like I need another credit account, I'm just doing it for the balance transfer. But a person could conceivably apply for waaay too much credit in a very short time this way and then actually use all that credit--like some credit rookies often do--as if it were actual cash. Yikes.
Well the 0% APR will save me at least $340 over the next year, maybe even more if purchases are also at the same rate. Tuition is coming up again soon. (If not I'll just use my lowest rate card to pay for school). In another year I'll have hopefully had numerous other offers and when the 0% expires I'll transfer again to another low-interest card. Hey, as long as they keep making me offers I'm gonna save whatever way I can. Of course, if I somehow come up with real money to pay for school I'll just use cash. Until then, eveyrthing over a few hundred has to be credit. Still, it's just scary how easily they approve people now.
3 comments:
I was just hearing from someone the other day about...I think it was CapitalOne...and it seemed like a fantastic program, especially if you have struggling credit, but the thing they pointed out to me was that since everyone in the world with icky credit wants a program like that, that is more lenient, the program as a whole is controlled by the finances of people who will continue to have terrible credit and thus inevitably you'll suffer as a result. YIKES!
True. I think. Thanks for the comment.
well the agreement is for 1 year, but since it's a credit card they usually say they can change the terms at any time without notice! I don't remember reading that for sure but most of the ones I've read do include that provision. racket! But as long as I'm not late it should stay at zero. If not, there's other offers all the time!
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