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Apple Card's Base APR Lowered to 10.99% for Some Cardholders
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JMHO, but folks ought to keep cash / liquid reserves sufficient for 6+ months expenses, if not longer depending on your type of employment and how quickly you might find a new job in your area.
Those funds would be used for an emergency and then replenished ASAP.
Credit card would just bridge from the moment of the emergency expense to when you could pay it off from your savings or money-market holding your reserves.
APR should never matter for a credit card. Literally just spend within a budget and pay off the statement balance at the due date. It’s like having a 0% APR then!
After you have lived any time of your life with a 400%+ APR, you either master how to make 0% APR the norm, or you do go broke.
money.com
Brazil's Crazy Credit Card Rates Make Yours Look Like a Steal
Think your 14.9% APR is too high? That's nothing compared to what some people pay abroad.
Mine hasn't dropped at all, and I pay it monthly, so haven't paid a penny on interest. Oh well, doesn't affect me.
You don't pay a dime if you pay back your card every month. For the rare case you have to take out a big loan, I completely agree, there are lower interest options available to most people. That's not what a credit card is for though.
Probably this since credit card companies make little money off of the people who pay off their bills each month.
Interesting. The highest possible FICO score is 850. They range from 300 to 850. Did you get a "FICO" like score perhaps? 860 is ultra ultra perfect since 850 is as good as it gets.
Exactly.
Interest rate cuts are a means to attract the spending of folks who carry balances.
No real point cutting the rates for folks who never carry balances anywhere.
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I put about $2k per month through a card that gives me 2% cash back. Utility bills, cell phone bill, groceries, etc.
Not interested in an extra $40 a month for using a credit card instead of cash/checks/debitcard?
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Yup, mine has dropped 3 points. That's nice to see. I'm sure as the financial markets regain their strength, it'll go back up again.
True, that would be considered free money if you got cash back and paid it off every month.
I do and I do. Card is the Citi DoubleCash Mastercard. 1% cash on purchases, 1% cash on payments; totals out to 2% on every purchase.
Cash-Rewards balance accrues monthly and can be applied as statement credit, direct deposit, or have a check mailed. I just do the statement credit and it offsets the monthly balance payoff.
Is it dumb to borrow $1,000, revolving and unsecured, for 2 months for $18 total interest? Is that a "poverty trap"?
Because that's 15% APR.
That's less than what Netflix costs you over the same time period, so Netflix is a poverty trap?
What shows people's financial ignorance is when they compare short-term loans and secured long-term loans based on a single number.
Yes, loans must be carefully managed, but thinking that paying interest is automatically bad is pure financial ignorance.
If people didn't borrow money, it would be pointless for you to save and invest your money.
If you're at such a high interest tier, then something is wrong with your credit record. The reason why you're paying that much rests with you.
And, if you think about it, the fact that these products (credit cards) are offered at all indicates that most people do not do what you are describing.
People who can’t pay things off at once shouldn’t have a credit card.
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Having a credit card is an option they should not take then.
No, financially savvy people prefer credit. American Express has charge cards (where you must pay every month) and people have been severely hurt by it.
With a credit card, if you do hit an emergency, you can make a minimum payment of <$50 until you can get cash.
With a charge card, if you do not pay the entire bill, which can be thousands of dollars when it's due, you will get a delinquency on your credit record that stays for the next 7 years.
More than one delinquent month will drop your credit score down a whole bracket, which means for nearly a decade, you will not be able to get the best home loans, car loans, HELOC, etc.
Typically by the third delinquent month, American Express will ban you for life.
Are you willing to take that risk just to feel good about credit?
The credit card companies still make money from a portion of the merchant fees charged to the retailers etc who accept the card.
But yes, in the sense that the credit card companies make a lot of money from people who aren't fiscally disciplined, you are completely correct.
And I will continue to reap the rewards with a guilt-free conscience.
