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The first thing that most businessmen will do in establishing businesses credit is to obtain a business credit card. It is important to know that these credit cards are not the same with credit cards for personal use. These credit cards can often be more important than your personal credit, so knowing as much as you can about them is indispensable. It is also vital to know what you should look for in a business credit card.
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There are banks that specialize in extending Visa and MasterCard credit cards to applicants who are just establishing a credit history. Pick a bank, and see how you do. Don't apply to more than one because credit applications show up on your credit report, and multiple rejections make you look desperate for credit.
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While nobody plans on missing a credit card payment or going over the limit, it's important to realize what will happen if you do.
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If you're looking for a no-frills, low-rate card offer, there's no reason to pay an annual fee.
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Most cards offer grace periods to customers who pay off their balances each month. A grace period is the period from the statement date to the payment-due date. If payment is made in full by the end of the grace period, no interest is charged. But if only a partial payment is made, interest kicks in at the end of the grace period.
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Some variable-rate credit cards come with floors, also called minimum APRs. Once your card hits its floor, that's as low as it goes. Your interest rate won't drop any lower, regardless of future Fed cuts.
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Are you staring at that attractive advertisement for switching credit card companies by transferring your balance from one card to another? While many of these offers are truly great deals, balance transfers and card-switching is not something to jump into, eager as you may be. You need to do your homework first: Do enough research and investigating in order to determine whether it in fact is worth it or a good idea to make the transfer.
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First, find out if it is in fact worth it. Generally speaking, these attractive advertisements and super credit card deals advertise very low introductory rates if you transfer your current balance from an existing credit card onto this new one. You can stumble upon these offers anywhere—online, in the mail, on a flyer or via a telephone call from credit card company salespersons—and you need to determine how great these deals really are, or if you’ll just end up paying much more in fees and interest in the long run.
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Next billing cycle you get your statement and find that the $200 in new purchases is still there – plus the couple of new charges you made since then. And all those purchases are compounding interest at a rate of 16, 19, 22% or more! What happened? Well, as stated in the fine print, the credit card company allocated your entire payment to the zero interest balance because – well it’s not making any money on that amount. But it certainly is on those new purchases!
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Read the fine print. Read everything. Read it through several times so that you make sure you understand what it is saying. It may appear to be a bunch of financial jargon that you might not think is very important, but the truth is, this information is valuable and critical to your decision in whether or not you make the big switch. Call the credit card company and ask any questions you might have. If the deal is solid and they want to make a sale, generally they should be able to help you out in any way.
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