In case you are facing huge credit card debt, one of the best options is to look for zero percent balance transfers. But there are some rules you need to play by or you might not help yourself, but instead make your bad credit situation even worse. So many people have already fallen for these traps, and as an honest blogger who is devoted for the financial education of people with bad credit I feel responsible to remind you of them. You remember, if something looks too good to be true, it possibly is.
The first rule of credit card debt consolidation is to bear in mind, there is nothing that is going to rid you of bad credit, unless you actively work on a consolidation plan day by day. Putting your balance on another product is actually not going to rid you of the debt, it might just be there in a different form and your creditors’ name would change. You still need to repay the credit you borrowed, the only question is how long it would take you and how much interest would you get charged on the top of the balance.
The average credit card debt takes more than ten years to clear, as the minimum repayments you usually make are hardly enough for the monthly interest. Therefore you might consider zero percent balance transfer, but it is only going to do any good for your bad credit, if you start making repayments on it as soon as you can, and make sure that you do repay as much of your balance as possible before the interest kicks in, which is usually between 6 and 18 months.
Why do so many companies offer zero percent balance transfer?
The truth is that credit card companies know that the majority of people will make no payments in the first, interest-free period, as they do not think ahead enough. Therefore credit card companies are actually acting like a spider in the corner, waiting for the fly to get stuck in the web. They can’t wait to charge you huge interest on your huge balance you transferred, and they can wait. It is actually a very good business for them. Please avoid their spider web by making the repayments and put down as much money for your debt consolidation as you can afford.
Can I cheat credit companies?
Well, you can at least try. So many people struggling with bad credit have done it before. They used to switch credit cards and apply for zero percent balance transfers every time the interest kicked in on their cards. But that is much harder these times. Credit companies are keeping records of your balance transfers and will share this information with each other. Therefore it does affect your credit rating and your chances to be accepted for a new zero percent credit card. Especially if the credit card company sees that your credit has not been reduced for years, let alone increased.
So please consider the above before you decide with a balance transfer credit card, and use comparison sites to make sure you will be able to avoid these bad credit traps.