Wouldn’t it be helpful to have a condensed guide that gave you all of the credit card secrets that you needed to know to stay ahead of the game?

Well, today is your lucky day. Pay close attention to these credit card secrets to know what you need to do to make the most of your credit card experience.

1. READ and UNDERSTAND the fine print. Most consumers don’t read the fine print and this is a dangerous habit to get into. Before signing up for a card, make sure you read all of the fine print and understand all of it as well.
2. Pay your bill on time. Paying your credit card bill on time can not only save you money in late charges, but it can ultimately save your credit history as well. Most consumers don’t realize that if your payment is late on one card, the interest rate on any of your other cards could go up.
3. Get rid of those annual fees. Do you have a credit card that has an annual fee? Do you have good or excellent credit? If your answer is “yes,” you are in good luck. All you have to do is call up your credit card company and ask them to get rid of the annual fee. Seventy-five percent of the time, this really works. So take advantage of it.
4. Pay in full all of the time. Don’t waste your time paying minimum payments. Minimum payments will get you no where. Paying interest on credit cards just doesn’t make sense. You end up paying much more than what a product is worth.
5. Pay attention. How many credit cardholders really read their statement every month? Not many. It is so important to pay close attention to your monthly statement. You can catch due dates that have changed. You can also keep a close eye on credit card fraud and unauthorized charges.
6. Waive it. You will always pay your credit card on time and in full. However, things do come up. If you don’t make it a habit to pay your credit card late, you can often get that “occasional” late payment waived.
7. Security insurance. Most credit cards come with insurance. You don’t need to buy extra insurance, but many people do. Check and make sure you aren’t spending unnecessary money on security insurance that won’t do you any good.
8. High-interest cards. Try not to use high-interest rate credit cards. Many of these cards come with a great “introductory offer.” However, once the offer has run out, the interest rate skyrockets. If you do have a balance on a high interest credit card, try and pay that one off first. The idea is to pay off the cards with the highest interest first. You can save yourself a bundle in the long run.
9. Credit Union Credit Cards. If you are looking to get a new credit card, try going through your local credit unions. Credit unions often have better rates and fees than other credit cards.
10. Insurance. Credit card insurance is different from credit card security insurance. In the event that you become disabled, unemployed, or experience other unforeseen situations, credit card insurance puts a stop to your payments. The downfall to this insurance is that it is extremely expensive. It also delays your debt instead of eliminating it.

There you have it. All of the credit card secrets that you need to know. Understand and follow these tips to make the most of your credit history and credit card usage.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 9:43 pm and is filed under Credit Cards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.