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Credit Cards-and Terms You Should Know

Credit cards and their key words

To fully understand credit cards, it helps to know what some of the terms mean. Besides, there is a lot of fine print lenders don't explain. To better understand your contract, and to better defend yourself from opportunist lenders, make sure you read the fine print and understand some very important terms. Many credit cards nowadays waive annual fees because of the increased competition offering "no annual fee." Keep in mind, if you have bad credit, it is much more likely you won't benefit from lenders perks. Credit cards often include something called the grace period.

Basically, this is the amount of time you have to pay your credit card bill without paying a finance charge. It is often around 25 days. Another term we often encounter is the APR. The APR, or the annual percentage rate, on credit cards is the annual percentage rate of the finance charge. Sometimes lenders fool you with introductory APRs. Those temporary APRs will gradually escalate after a certain amount of time. That is another one of the more famous cons found among credit cards. Fixed rates are just that. Fixed. The annual percentage rate of the finance charge will not change. On the other hand, we have variable rates. Essentially, variable rates are prime rates plus an added percentage. It is impossible to assume we could cover every single term in the lenders dictionary but those are some of the more important ones. If you can handle those, the rest is somewhat self-explanatory. This is the basis of functioning for most unsecured credit cards.

Other subcategories

There are other terms you must familiarize yourself with before ending this lesson. Low interest credit cards are just that, credit cards with low interest; and bad credit credit cards, which help you get on your feet. Now that we have learned some important terminology, we understand that low interest credit cards are good news, right? The lower the interest, the better for you. We've also discussed prepaid credit cards. Just in case you were dozing off, we'll cover them briefly. The prepaid credit cards are, of course, like debit cards. Remember, these don't establish credit and you can only spend money that you have alloted. Secured credit cards are really quite simple to understand. You are required to make a deposit into a savings account or certificate of deposit as security. These are often issued to people who lack credit or have poor credit. This is another more reasonable option for those with bad or no credit. Last, but not least, we find student credit cards. Sound self-explanatory? That is because they are. They are credit cards for youngsters. These are often used to start developing credit of your own. Ideal for the scholar leaving home for the first time. Each one is covered more extensively later in the lesson. But for now, which one sounds best for you -- Visa credit cards orChase credit cards.

Or get your American Express or Discover Card today and save.

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