Archive for the ‘Credit Card Interest Rates’ Category

Video Courtesy of Americans For Fairness In Lending (AFFIL.ORG)

Video Courtesy of Americans For Fairness In Lending (AFFIL.ORG)

Our Allies at Americans For Fairness In Lending Posted a Video on YouTube That is worthy of a Donation 🙂

In this video Mr. Jerry Young, and ex-bank employee, removes the barriers to understanding Bank and Credit Account Fee’s.

Jerry Young takes on:

  • Assessed Penalties
  • Balance Transfer Rates (as high as 18%)
  • Default Rates
  • Fee Payment Structures (what Fee’s are paid first)
  • Purchase Rates
  • What you can do  if your rates and fee’s become unbearable

So how can you avoid penalty fee’s ?

Debt Warriors attacked his subject before and it’s worthy of a review:

# 1. Know the “Terms and Conditions” for Credit: With Credit Card Default rates skyrocketing what you don’t know about your Credit Cards can hurt you. For this reason, it’s important to understand what will trigger a default rate to be placed on your card.

#2. Know the ‘available balance’ for each Credit Card Account: For example, once you exceeds a certain percentage of your available balance,  Creditors probably will start raising your  Rates.

#3. Try to keep your “outstanding balance” way below the available balance: It’s wise to spend only 25 to 35 percent of your available balance on any credit card.  It is unwise to use more than 40 percent of your total available balance.

#4 Pay at least $5 over your minimum monthly payment: Many people don’t know that they can shave off interest payments by making a regular payment of $5 to $10 dollars over the minimum monthly payment.

#6. Know which kinds of Cards you have: Are they “Rewards Cards” or regular cards. Regular Credit Cards are by far a better solution in many ways. Keep your Rewards Cards purchases to a bare minimum.

#7.  Carefully budget yourself for the fee’s: Once you understand the Terms and Conditions for Bank and or Credit Fee’s you should consider including all Fee’s as expenses in your monthly budgeting.

#8.  Always do Balance Transfers Responsibly: You should know that there are many tricks and traps of  Balance Transfers, that your Bank and or Credit Card Company will not inform you of.

That’s why Debt Warriors have produced the ultimate Credit Card Debt Elimination Video Course (plus easy to use Debt Elimination Software).  It’s called Credit Card Medic and it works for virtually any kind of Credit Card.  Credit Card Medic Reduces the stress associated with Credit Card Debt.  To learn more about Credit Card Medic: Click here

A Client, a Credit Card Rep and I were on the phone.

We were speaking with a Credit Card Rep while shopping around for a good balance transfer rate. We found a rate that I liked and so I suggested that my client apply for an account.

So my client applied for the card. After about 10 minutes on hold, the Credit Card Rep broke her silence and said,”congratulations you have been approved for our gold credit card”. I relaxed in my chair and breathed a sigh of relief because my client needed this card to get out of a bad financial situation.

The Credit Card Rep continued “You should receive your card in about 7 to 10 days. Your interest rate will be a variable rate between 3.99% and 19.99% based on the prime rate as published in the Wall Street Journal”.


Then to my surprise, my client asked the Credit Card Rep, “can’t I get a Libor Rate applied to this card?” Good question but for the wrong card.

Prime vs. Libor Rates

There are two Credit Card Rates that every Consumer should be aware of; PRIME Rate and LIBOR Rate.

Some Credit Cards use the Prime Rate which is based on the Federal Funds Rate. The Federal Reserve Bank manages the Prime Rate.

Other cards use the LIBOR Rate. LIBOR stands for London Interbank Offered Rate. Usually the LIBOR Rate is lower than the Prime Rate.

For example, Capital One uses the LIBOR Rate whereas, Bank of America uses the Prime Rate.

For this reason it is important for the Consumer to keep track of the Rates. Knowing the difference between the Prime and Libor Rates can save a Consumer up to thousands of dollars in interest payments over the life of the card.

Are you suffering and mad about a recent Credit Card Rate Hike?

Then you should know as Debt Warriors, our deepest thoughts go out to you.  We  know that even as a responsible Credit Card Holder, your  Credit Card Rates can be raised – at will.   And it really sucks when your interest rates are raised.

What seems greedy is when you call your Credit Card Company for help and are told…

“…I’m sorry, ‘NO’ we can’t help you because:

  • There are no offers on your account…
  • Your account doesn’t qualify for any assistance…
  • You’ve gone to far over your available balance…”

Then it get’s hurtful

The Credit Card Company says:

“…Your best options are to;

  1. Pay down your ‘Outstanding Balance(s)’ …
  2. Consider undergoing Credit Counseling…
  3. Review your Credit Report because something is being reported that is affecting your Credit Score”…

Has any of the above ever this happened to you?

If it hasn’t I wouldn’t get too comfortable.  Because it can happen to you.  Yes, you could try and get your rates lowered only to be turned down or reffered to Credit Counseling (which you probably don’t need).  That’s why Debt Warriors have produced our video courses.

Being real-world Credit and Debt Specialist we know what you’re not being told by anyone else.

So, why are we excited for you?

Well for one, every Debt Warriors Member knows that you have many rights regarding your Credit Card Accounts.  There many Consumer Credit Laws designed to provide you with justice  (i.e. The Fair Credit Reporting Act, Truth In Lending Act and others).  But the really cool thing is more Consumer Rights are on the way.

Credit Card Holder’s Bill of Rights

We are really excited about you getting more Consumer Rights for Credit Card Debt! You don’t have to take my word for it.  Check out the summary of the Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights  Legislation (waiting for Senate Approval) :

” Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act of 2009 – (Sec. 2) Amends the Truth in Lending Act to prohibit a creditor from increasing any annual percentage rate of interest (APR) applicable to the existing balance on an open end consumer credit card account unless specified conditions are met.”  ~ Source U.S. Senate

Hopefully The Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights Will Pass

If the Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights passes that will mean even more rights that you’ll be able to enforce as a Consumer.  That is exciting news! But even if the Legislation fails to pass, Debt Warriors will still be here to help you win your War on Debt.