Credit Card Kiting
Taking advantage of the float on checks to obtain loans is illegal, it’d called Check Kiting.
But taking advantage of Credit Card float is perfectly legal. And with so many credit cards enticing good borrowers with alluring balance transfers offers, often times one full year at 0%, some people are taking advantage of this one full year float and switching from card to card, from issuer to issuer.
If you are thinking about engaging in this practice, there are a few issues that you need to consider:
- Monthly payments: you still need to make the monthly payments, a balance transfer offer enables you to transfer the balance from one card to another, but the obligation to a minimum monthly payment remains.
- Pay it off: if your goal is to eventually pay off our credit card debt – and it should be -, switching to a 0% card will accelerated the process only if your monthly payment is higher than the minimum payment indicated in the statement. A very simple rule is to take your current monthly payment and send the same amount every month regardless of the (lower) minimum payment required by the credit card company. See article How long will it take you to pay off your Credit Card?
- Read the fine print, part I: for each balance transfer offer you receive look for transfer fees, maintenance fees, and other fees associated with the transfer and the maintenance of the card and of the balance. If you are switching to a lower interest rate, is it worth it?
- Read the fine print, part II: are there any requirements to maintain the low introductory APR? Does it fit within your habits? Can you afford it? Is it worth it?
- 1, 2, or 3 cards? If you accepted a balance transfer offer and you’ll be using the same card to make regular purchases, beware that usually credit card companies will apply any and all payments to the balance with the lower APR first (the balance you transfer), so you might end up having to pay high interest rate on the balance that accumulates from your everyday purchases even if your monthly payment is greater than the new purchases. We strongly suggest that, you use two credit cards, one for your old debt that you are paying off regularly, and another one everyday purchases like gas, groceries, utilities and the like, and pay off this balance every month.
We also suggest you have another card, a third one, everyone should also have one additional credit card, with no balance on it, for emergencies.
If you don’t have the discipline of charging only what you can afford to pay off at the end of the month, don’t use a credit cards for your everyday purchases: pay cash! - Shop around for the lowest balance transfer offer, for the longest period, with no or low fees, and with the lest requirements. Experts suggest to switch only if you can get at least 6 months at 0% or 12 months at less than 4.99% APR. We can help with our articles and offers on balance transfer cards, and low interest credit cards.
- Maintain your good credit or improve your credit: ask around, people with good credit are inundated with balance transfer offers at 0% APR for one year or longer.
- How to transfer your balance: Experts suggest to always use the special checks that you receive in the mail from your existing credit card company, or ask the credit card company with the best balance transfer offer to send you some. Try to avoid using Customer Service Representatives to make the transaction, there might be some fees or terms that you won’t have time to evaluate. If you are doing the transfer online, read all the fine print before clicking and accepting terms and conditions.
- The Personal Finance 101 rule #1 still applies: if you don’t understand something, don’t do it.
- Rule #2 states: if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.
- Be on the lookout for a better deal: if you transfer your balance to a low APR card, be on the lookout for a 0% balance transfer offer.
- Relax: if you’ve transferred your balance to a 0% offer, mark your calendar, a couple of months before the expiration of the offer, be on the lookout for another 0% balance transfer. Till then, make your monthly payments on time, and relax.
- Give yourself some time: don’t wait until the last few days of your current balance transfer deal. Experts suggest to put things in motion for a new transfer at least 30 days before the current deal expires.
Use your credit wisely, it gives you, the borrower, great power, freedom and control when it comes to credit cards, personal loans, student loans, auto loans, mortgage, cell phones, utilities, it follows you in everything you want to do in your life.
___________
Sponsored by:
People want more. More cowbells, More out of life, more more more . . . it is the American way. Discover Card delivers it with the More Card and its Get More program
Why settle for less when you can have more?
Don’t you need more cowbells? And more bells and whistles from your credit card?
Imagine a card that constantly delivers more:
- Instant online approval.
- Low introductory APR on purchases.
- Low introductory APR on balance transfers.
- 5% to 20% Cashback Bonus at top online retailers in the ShopDiscover Network (*).
- 5% cashback Bonus in popular rotating categories like travel, home, apparel, gas, restaurants, movies and more.
- 1% Cashback Bonus on all other purchases.
- The Cashback bonus accrue automatically.
- No limit on the amount of Cashback bonus that you can earn.
- Double your Cashback bonus with gift cards offers from 100 Discover Cashback Bonus Partners (*).
- No Annual Fee.
- Easy online account access.
- Online bill payment.
Is that more to your liking? Get more, get the Discover Card. And now you can select the look of the card that you’ll be carrying in your wallet, Discover gives you 6 different and exciting designs to choose from:
(*) See official Discover card web site for details.
As Seen on TV
We HAD to do it!
How many times do you remember a funny and entertaining commercial on TV, you remember what it was for (in this case – of course – credit cards) but you just can’t remember the name of the company or their web site. We understand. There are just too many credit card companies out there, and remembering a web site name? Forget about it, often there’s no MOJO in their name.
So a few people, very resourceful people, have emailed our webmaster asking “what was that credit card with the funny TV ads that lets you build your own card? You know, the one where you can put the photo of your cat and pick the interest rate and the rewards?”
It’s Capital One’s Card Lab. Capital One pairs great offerings on their credit cards with highly creative and entertaining TV ads.
|| CLICK HERE TO APPLY ||
Would you believe it? A Prime Rate Credit Card?
You are used to hearing the word “Prime Rate” used in Mortgages, Home Equity Lines of Credit, Home Equity Loans, but would you believe that the folks at Wells Fargo have a Credit Card with an APR equal to the Prime Rate (5% as of this writing) for both purchases and balance transfers, keep in mind this is NOT an introductury rate, this is it!
With an offer so good you’d think that there’s a catch, but there isn’t! Here’s a quick rundown of the Wells Fargo Prime Rate Visa Card:
- Free online account access: View charges, transfer funds, make balance transfers, and more;
- My Spending Report: Track your expenses with this free online report that’s updated automatically;
- Payment options: You choose your monthly payment due date, and can also sign up for automatic or online payments.
- Alerts: Stay on top of your account activity with free email alerts when you approach your credit limit, a payment is due, and more;
- PayWave feature, you can speed through the checkout line faster than ever;
- Annual Fee: $ 19.
|| CLICK HERE TO APPLY ||
Show off the American Flag every time you buy something
There’s never been a more appropriate time to show off your patriotism, show off the American Flag every time you use your new Discover More American Flag Card, with more benefits what you would expect:
- Ideal for Balance Transfers;
- Up to 20% Cashback Bonus at top online retailers;
- Up to 1% unlimited Cashback Bonus on all other purchases automatically, and up to double rewards when you redeem for gift cards from select Partners;
- No Annual Fee;
- Online Account Access with convenient Online Bill Payment.
|| CLICK HERE TO APPLY ||
Get the Low APR you deserve.
Are you tired of paying high interest on your balance and making your current credit card rich?
If your interest rate were to be 0% on balance transfers AND purchases for up to 12 months, what could you do with the money you’d save? Citibank’s Citi Platinum Select MasterCard is made just for you, with the added benefits of No Annual Fees, and world class Customer Service from Citibank.
Stop making your current credit card company richer and richer, you’ve given them enough money, take advantage of this extraordinary offer.
|| CLICK HERE TO APPLY ||

























