Pitfalls of the Credit Industry

If you have ever owned a credit card you probably already have learned this the hard way. If you have not owned a credit card previously you should definitely learn all you can about these convenient little suckers (literally) before you commit to any contract.

While not all credit cards are the same many do have similar things in common. For instance they will all charge you interest on your purchases. The only difference there is the amount of interest and how long after you make your purchase that you begin getting charged the interest. Most people assume that they will not be charged interest for at least a month. This is called the grace period. The thing is that not all credit cards have the same length of grace period. Some companies have 15-day grace periods and others have none at all. This is the kind of thing that you need to find out before you ever make a charge on your card. This "introductory rate," as it is called, is most likely only temporary.

Once you have owned the card for a few months your interest rate will go up substantially. The thing is that credit card companies can change their interest rates whenever they feel like it. There is a clause in most credit card contracts that allow for the lender to up their interest rates at any time as long as they give you 15 days notice. No matter what rate is quoted in your contract they have this right.