Hello and welcome to another consumer tip, courtesy of your friends in the mortgage lending industry at Canadian Mortgage Finders. This week I want to talk about high interest rate credit cards. While mortgage rates remain at historic lows, many credit card companies continue to charge interest rates as high as 20%.
Most of the credit cards with the highest interest rates are offered by retail stores so be careful when you use a store credit card to save 10 or 15% on your initial purchase. This could turn out to cost you big time if you don't pay off the balance right away.
The majority of credit cards are in the 10 to 14% range.
If you or someone you know is stuck with an ongoing balance here is a technique that may be used. It's called the balance transfer program.
Find a credit card company you are currently not dealing with that wants your business and wants it so much that they are offering an initial low or no interest rate offer to transfer your business.
These low or no interest rate periods are typically from 6 months to a year.
Apply for the credit card, transfer the balance, work at reducing the balance with the extra money you save by substantially reducing your interest expense. Half way through the introductory period, start looking for another credit card that is also offering a low introductory period and be ready to transfer your balance to that credit card. If you would like a list of some of the credit card companies offering a low introductory rate, send me an email and I would be happy to share my research. Thanks for watching and remember we are never too busy to help a friend in need, review thier mortgage financing options.