Credit Card Guides - Revealing The Mysterious Behind The Plastic
Chinese people invented many helpful things such as gunpowder, paper money, chopsticks and umbrellas. Unfortunately as per the Chinese, they did not devise the idea of using plastic in the place of money. We can thank early American capitalists for that idea.
From the time John Biggins, the inventor of a first bank issued card, had his first eureka moment in 1946, credit cards have evolved to become one of the most versatile ways of paying, and this is why.
Most major stores today will take your credit cards, so you don’t have to haul large amounts of unsecured and unclean currency with you. The only exception is the occasional small store, which only accepts cash. Also, by paying on your credit card in a timely fashion, you build a positive credit history.
In some countries such as UK, if you buy goods using a credit card and the goods turn out to be faulty, they are usually insured for a period of time, say two months, and you can be indemnified even for total loss. Credit cards are safe, and even if gun-totting miscreants help themselves to your wallet, you can make hit back by simply calling the credit card company and canceling the stolen card. Another thing going for credit cards is that you can keep track of your transactions, and it’s thus easy to keep track of your expenditure.
Do you think the phrase ‘credit card works for you’ applies to you, or is it the other way around? The answer would be dependant on the way people treat the credit cards, or ‘old plastic’ as they are sometimes called.
For many with burned fingers will tell you they didn’t realize that things had gotten so bad until very late, because most credit card offers try to sound like they are actually running a charity. Well, they aren’t.
And this is not a hate campaign against credit cards.
They certainly have their benefits; American car rental companies require a major credit card before you are allowed to rent a car.
But, consider this scenario:
You receive an offer in your mail that sounds good, maybe it’s a new generation TV or a fridge. But it costs $2000. Oh, but you have a credit card with a $5000 limit, and you immediately purchase your merchandise. Typically, here is how your repayment schedule will play out. Most credit cards charge a minimum of total balance (usually 2 percent) of the total per month. Assuming the interest rate is 18 percent and you choose to repay the minimum amount of $40, $30 of that will go towards interest and only 10 percent towards the principle. As a result, you will take 30 years to repay and end up paying over $5000 interest.
The illustration, although it makes credit card use sound a bit scary, simply shows that you should use your credit card wisely. And look at the fine print when filling out credit card apps.
Nevertheless, credit cards are here forever, no matter what the doomsayers are telling you.
Find articles covering every topic related to credit cards at Credit-CardGuides.com, a virtual credit card clearinghouse chockful of helpful information on choosing the credit card offers that best meet your needs, as well as links to low APR credit card apps and the most popularunsecured credit card applications .
- Daniel Wright
