Easy ways to avoid all credit card charges
THESE are the tricks of how to use your credit card without paying a cent in charges.
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MILLIONS of Australians fall victim to large credit card costs but there are some easy ways to use plastic without paying a cent in charges.
With plenty of choice on the market, if you pick a card carefully you can find one with no charges — except the interest if you don’t pay off the debt incurred in full each month.
Financial comparison website Mozo’s spokeswoman Kirsty Lamont says Australians waste $1.4 billion in credit card fees annually but there are easy ways to avoid these costs altogether.
“There are currently 29 credit cards on the market with no annual fee and some even have rewards programs and other perks so shop around for the best deal,’’ she says.
“Look for a card with a generous amount of interest-free days to give you more time to pay off your balance each month.”
Card interest-free days do vary, some can be just 44 days but can go as high up as 62 days which is a difference of nearly three weeks.
Latest Reserve Bank of Australia statistics show Australian credit card users owe $51.7 billion on plastic and $32.6 billion is accruing interest.
Rising Tide Financial Services’ managing director Chris Browne says card users should also look to sign up to balance-transfer cards — where you transfer your debt from one card to another — that have zero per cent honeymoon periods.
“If you are horrible with credit cards and you need to get rid of them use one of these balance-transfer cards in the interim to give yourself a period of time to pay it off and avoid attracting interest,’’ he says.
Consumers should also be wary of balance-transfer handling fees which can be up to three per cent of the total balance shifted across to the new card.
Interest rates on cards can also go beyond the 20 per cent mark so if you can’t pay your card off in full each month it pays to choose a card with the lowest interest rate possible.
Originally published as Easy ways to avoid all credit card charges
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