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HomeBlog Credit Card DebtWant To Save Money On Your Credit Cards? Read The Fine Print
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Want To Save Money On Your Credit Cards? Read The Fine Print

March 18, 2013 by National Debt Relief

Long line of no name credit cardsThere’s hardly a day goes by that I don’t receive an offer for one of those credit cards that come with juicy rewards like cash back, airline miles or merchandise. I cashed in my “miles” or rewards points on one of these cards several weeks ago, got a check in the mail and used the money to buy a new iPhone. But like many things in life, it pays to follow the advice of caveat emptor and beware by reading the fine print of these offers before you jump in.

The lure is strong

The lure to sign up for one of these cards is very strong. If it promises cash back or merchandise it can feel as if you would be getting free stuff. However, choosing one of these cards can lead to problems. You need to make sure you understand what you’re signing up for which means reading not just the big print but the fine print, too.

Here’s an example

Here is an example of what I mean. I recently received an offer to apply for the Visa Citi Platinum Select Advantage card. The letter started out by advising me that it could “get me wherever I wanted to go and in style”. However, next came the TOS or the section with the card’s terms and conditions. When I read it I learned that there is a $95 yearly fee just to carry the card. Plus, there are those nasty interest charges. It was 15.24% interest on monthly balances, which would escalate to 29.99% for late payments. The interest for moving balances to this new card would be 15.24% and cash advances came with an interest rate of 25.24%.

It doesn’t mean you paid on time

Reading the fine print also taught me that my payment would be due 23 days after the billing cycle closes. If I send it the day it’s due, I haven’t paid on time and could get hit with an interest penalty. Of course, the appealing part is that the card offers a huge amount of travel rewards points and some neat airline perks.

Weigh the pluses and minuses

Anytime you get a credit card offer like this, you need to read the fine print and then weigh the pluses and minuses. I passed on this card because I felt the interest rate charges were too high, plus I don’t travel on airlines much anymore. So the perks were not that attractive versus what the card could actually cost me. I think I definitely saved money by tearing up the application.

Check out Comparecards.com

There is a free service that can make it much easier for you to decide whether or not to apply for a particular credit card and how much it would really cost you. It’s www.comparecards.com. This site has data on more than 100-plus credit cards and is extremely easy to use. You can get detailed information in 8 categories. This includes annual fees, fees for making balance transfers, fees for late payments, returned check fees, and lots more. There is even more detailed information as written by the CompareCard staff. There are also “star” ratings, one by its editors and one from consumers. In the case of the Visa Citi Platinum Select Advantage card, it not only had a very long name but also just a two star rating.

I searched its database

I used Comparecards.com to see how my Chase Freedom Card rated. You search the CompareCards database by issuer, which in this case was Chase. The first Card that came up was my Freedom card with $100 cash back and a 15-month 0% APR introductory rate. Since I got the card just a few months ago, I was pleased to see that it rated four stars. However, the Chase Slate card that my wife recently got rated five stars. Oh, well.

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National Debt Relief is one of the largest and best-rated debt settlement companies in the country. In addition to providing excellent, 5-star services to our clients, we also focus on educating consumers across America on how to best manage their money. Our posts cover topics around personal finance, saving tips, and much more. We’ve served thousands of clients, settled over $1 billion in consumer debt, and our services have been featured on sites like NerdWallet, Mashable, HuffPost, and Glamour.

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By clicking "Get Free Quote", you agree that the phone number you are providing may be used to contact you by National Debt Relief (including autodialed and prerecorded calls, as well as text/SMS messages). Msg. and data rates apply, and your consent to such contact is not required for purchase.
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Easy National Debt Relief Caller: Austin Transcribed WE 1/17/2021 Austin: Our call may be recorded. What led you to National Debt Relief and why did you choose National Debt Relief over a different company? CARA: Honestly, it was just kind of on a whim. I just saw a commercial, I think, and then looked it up. And we were just tired of living paycheck to paycheck and not feeling like we were getting anywhere with our debt. Austin: What were your thoughts and was wondering as far as like the enrollment process, what process or where are you at this point in the process? CARA: We are almost done. Well, they've paid off almost everything or we've paid off almost everything. We're working on our last credit card. So I think our last payment will be in December, so nearing the end. Austin: Do you remember the name of the negotiator? I'm sure you've probably worked with a couple of people, but what's the name of the negotiator that you worked with? CARA: Well, I didn't really, I guess really work one on one with like one negotiator. I don't think. We just got email saying, "This is where we're at with this. Do you agree?" you know, type situation. Austin: Do you feel that there's anything that maybe the negotiator did well or anything that they could have improved? CARA: No, I don't think so. Nope, I don't think so. We've been happy with everything so far. Austin: Have you seen any positive impacts from working with National Debt Relief, just to kind of notice any changes to your life? CARA: I mean, definitely less stress, and then we've just been able to be better about our spending and our budget and everything. It helped get us on track. Austin: How would you rate your experience with National Debt Relief on a scale of one to five, where five means you would recommend to friends and one means very dissatisfied? CARA: I'd say 5. Austin: Would it be okay if we shared your comments as a review on our public site with a first name and city only, they're for National Debt Relief and to help other consumers make good choices? CARA: Probably not. I live in a smaller area. If anybody were to hop on and say Cara from Beddington, they would probably know. Austin: We can definitely remove that 'cause we very much respect your privacy. So we can either remove the name and just do a ‘C’ or completely remove the city and just do like ‘Cara from the USA’ whatever -- mainly comments than identifying you, I guess would be important. CARA: Yeah, I don't care if you use like my name and just put USA. I just don't -- where I live, it's not a very big area. Austin: I can totally respect that. Not a problem at all. CARA: Yes, we are a little bit of ashamed of having to go this route, but it was what was best for our family at the time. Austin: Would you like us to email you a link to that review whenever it's published? CARA: Yeah, that'd be great. Austin: Our call may have been recorded.

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Cara Waterman
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