A Full Deck of [Credit] Cards....Trends of The Great Recession

This economy has made credit institutions wiser to the benefits card users relied on in the past and have exchanged them for 'cash-back' gimmicks or 'point systems' that will offer you a $10 flashlight as a reward for paying $100's in transaction fees and finance charges. Woohoo.

I did some of my own research, scouring newspapers, terms & agreements, fee schedules and even blogs to find out what the trends are and what the best options are for normal card users who want to transfer high interest balances and get a hassle free low interest deal. I'll tell you this, there aren't that many to chose from anymore.

Trend 1: You can no longer find 12 month 0% APR promotional offers for new purchases and balance transfers. I've found only 1 during my search. See Below. You are going to find 6 month promotions and an occasional 9 month promotion if your credit is stellar.

Trend 2: Say goodbye to $0.00 Balance transfer fees, these are always between 3% - 5% with a minimum of $10. Here's an example - You want to transfer $2,000 to a new card and you have a 3% transfer fee, that's $60! $4,000 is $120+.

Trend 3: You MUST READ TERMS & CONDITIONS because it seems every single company has some serious differences in what they are offering and the perks they offer can end abruptly. If you pay your monthly payment one day late, on the second month, you can easily lose your intro APR and be assigned the DEFAULT RATE of 29.9% - This is NOT A GOOD PLAN, EVER.

An Exception To The Rules!
AMERICAN EXPRESS CLEAR CARD -
0% APR for 6-12 months depending on credit and 12% - 17% after one year.
Late Fee: $0
Overlimit Fee: $0
Cash Advance Fee: $0
Balance Transfer Fee: $0
****HOWEVER******
There is a 3.99% Interest rate on all balance transfers.

CITIbank Platinum Select Mastercard
0% APR for 6-9 months, depending on credit, then 12% - 20% after one year.
Balance transfer fee: 3% of each balance transfer; $5 minimum.
Cash advance fee: 3% of each cash advance; $5 minimum.
Late fee:
• $15 on balances up to $100
• $29 on balances of $100 up to $250
• $39 on balances of $250 and over
Over-the-credit-line fee: $39

From what I've learned over the years:
If it sounds too good to be true, it is.
The shiny-er and fancier the actual card is, the more you should speculate.




More information to come later.