There are not only a great many credit card providers in the market today, ranging from banks to supermarkets, there are a dizzying array of credit card types which are available to the modern credit card user. This means that anyone who uses a credit card or who is contemplating using a credit card has to be extremely careful to ensure that the type of credit card which they have is best suited to their personal circumstances and the way in which they actually use and operate their credit card. This has to be seen as the very first step in determining how to avoid the most common credit card charges.
Unquestionably, the most common charge made on credit cards in general will be the interest which may be added to the balance at the end of each statement period. How to avoid paying interest on credit cards may be considered by some to be simply a matter of ensuring that one clears the outstanding balance on one’s credit card each and every month. While in most instances, this is very likely to be true and many people do avoid interest charges entirely by clearing their outstanding debt each month, there are certain circumstances where clearing the balance on the card each month is not sufficient to entirely avoid interest charges, due to the nature of certain transactions one has performed with the card.
It is likely that where a credit card is used to obtain cash from an ATM, or perhaps to fund an online gaming account, interest will be charged on the transaction from the date it is performed, rather from the date where the next payment falls due. In order therefore to guarantee that one avoids interest charges completely, one should consult the small print of one’s credit card agreement very carefully and pay particular attention to exceptions of this type.
As well as incurring interest charges from the date of the transaction, where credit cards are used to perhaps obtain cash from an ATM, it is likely that a fixed fee will be applied to the credit card account. This is likely to represent a percentage of the amount of cash withdrawn, subject to a minimum amount. Where one is in the habit of withdrawing cash on one’s credit card, one should investigate the possibility of instead paying for goods or services directly with the credit card. This will eliminate or at least reduce the fees which are incurred in this respect.
Where one is late in making payment to one’s credit card in any given month, a fee is likely to be incurred. These fees can sometimes be fairly substantial. Apart from the obvious factor of ensuring that payment to one’s credit card is made on time, it is necessary in order that one consider when looking to avoid these fees that one look at the payment method one is using for paying the bill. The date which a credit card payment is due each month refers to the date by which the funds have to be received by the credit card provider and not the date on which the credit card account holder should send the funds. This means that, depending upon the payment method one uses, one may be required to send the funds several working days prior to the due date. Guidance in this respect can usually be found on each statement itself, or alternatively by contacting the customer services department of the credit card issuer.
Credit card fees and how to avoid them is about knowing intimately the full terms and conditions of one’s credit card, searching for an alternative credit card provider where these conditions appear to be out of sync with the way in which one uses one’s credit card and always being aware of what performing any particular type of transaction on one’s credit card may further entail.