I currently have decent credit and was recently offered a credit card through my bank with a much lower interest rate than my current card. Are there any real repercussions of getting a new card and transferring my balance from my old card to the new one? And if I do it, should I cancel my old credit card or still keep the account open?
it actually depends on a few factors. This card that you are opening, what is the credit limit? if it's high (meaning it will raise the average credit available per card), it will actually benefit you. have you opened any other accounts in the past year? if yes, the new card could be a detriment. Also, you should ALWAYS keep an account open unless there are annual fees.
There are no real reprecussions and I would close the old account. Credit is a real trap and can cause big problems. I'm currently trying to dig the family out of credit card debt.
Is that one of those 12 month 0% transfer card? With 3% transaction fees? Well, what rate do they charge you after that? It should be pretty good for the first year, better if they give you 0% transaction fees. You can get another one when the offer expires and rotate again. You can keep your old card as it will have your credit history.
I just got my current card last May and it was the first time I've had an actual credit card. I'm pretty sure the limit on this new card would be equal or higher than what I have now. The new offer is 12.9% APR with 0% fixed until August. There are no transaction fees (except on foreign purchases) or annual fees. My current card is like 19.9% APR with yearly fees.
19.9%? Forget the other factors, just go and get the 12.2% one. 19.9% is a ridiculously high APR. the balance transferring thing is a good idea BTW. I used it to pay down a lot of credit debt I piled up when I was out of a job. Also, if you have always made timely payments to your old card, you should definetely ask them to reduce the APR, and also to raise your credit limit. Make sure that they do a soft raise, meaning they don't do a credit check. if they say they have to do a hard check to raise your limit, tell them to never mind, as it would show up as an inquiry on your credit report.
Transaction fee is actually transfer fee, usually 3%, but sometimes 0%. Definately switch if you carry a balance! 19.9% sucks big time, even 12.9% sucks. Pay it off if you can at all help it.
Do NOT close the account. closing an account will only hurt your credit score. just cut up the CC if you don't plan on using it.
thats what I had heard. I'll probably just stick it away somewhere and not use it anymore. Yeah 19.9 sucks, but I think if I transfer the balance I can pretty much get it paid off before August when the 12.9 kicks in.
Lately I've gotten two letters where the CC company has closed my account for me due to lack of use. It made me smile.
I recently did a credit check and it looked like late payments only show up if they are 30 days or more past due. Then 60 days. Then 90 days, and so on. I wouldn't know for sure because I've never had it happen. Is this how it works or no? By the way, moes, I wouldn't just put the card away somewhere. The last thing you ever want to do is misplace a credit card that's active. Just cut it into pieces and throw those pieces away seperately. You can always call and have a new card sent to you if need be.
But you said you've got annual fees on it correct? I don't know if it's worth it to keep it. I wouldn't.
i was referring to the balance transfer and the CC's intro rate of 0% until August. if he's late just one day, they will void the 0% and charge him the normal rate, but not necessarily put it on his credit report.
Ah macalu and CCR. Better than me at basketball and also life. Thanks for the info lads. muchos appreciated.
See, I hear different things on this. I've read articles that say it's good get a credit report and close all accounts with a zero balance. That way, you show creditors that you don't depend on credit to live. I don't know, I can see both sides. BTW, you can order one free credit report from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—every 12 months. You can request all three at once so you can compare them against each other, or spread your reports over the year so that you can monitor any changes. Go here to get it. Don't fall for any of those other offers for free credit reports. They charge you a worthless "membership" fee for doing what you can do yourself.
I believe you are supposed to close accounts with low limits, because they will briong down the average credit available per card, which is a factor in your credit score. The way creditors look at how much you depend on credit is they go by the percentage of credit used versus available, which is also another factor in determingin your credit score.
