Credit cards are almost a necessity in todays society. It has become harder and harder to get through life without plastic. If you want to make purchases over the Internet, guarantee a hotel room, or perform a wide variety of other financial transactions, a credit card is essential. And, the truth is, credit cards can be a valuable financial tool, provided you manage them effectively.
All credit cards are definitely not created equally and the first step to effective credit card management is shopping around for the right card in the first place. The factors to take into consideration are interest rates, annual fees, other fees, grace periods and aspects like cash back or other rewards for using the card.
Interest Rates
One of the incentives credit card companies use to try to get customers to choose their card over all the others floating around is to offer a special introductory interest rate. An introductory rate sounds good, but can be a trap for the unwary. Generally, the customer opts for the low introductory rate, runs up the charges on the card, and is not able to pay the card off by the end of the introductory period. Thats when the...