Credit cards are a great convenience in our everyday lives, allowing us to easily buy products online and by telephone, and freeing us from having to carry large amounts of cash when making purchases in the bricks and mortar world. However, there’s a potential dark side to plastic, with some unfortunate account holders getting out of their depth and building up debts that become a problem and cause of worry.
This is obviously a situation that’s best avoided, and knowing when it’s a bad idea to use your card can help you avoid getting into difficulty.
– Withdrawing cash at ATMs
Most cash machines these days will let you draw out cash using your credit card. This might seem an attractive option if you’re short of cash towards the end of the month, but it’s a bad idea for two reasons. Firstly, cash withdrawals will attract a fee of a small percentage of the amount you withdraw. This in itself makes it an expensive way of getting your hands on cash, but advances are also usually charged at a much higher rate of interest than purchases.
What’s more, under a system known as ‘allocation of payments’, the...