Three Ways to Beat Credit Card Fees
If you’ve ever been hit with a credit card fee, you know the frustration that can result. Often, you know you could have avoided the fee. Maybe you lost track of time and paid late. Maybe you didn’t realize that using your credit card in a foreign country was going to incur an extra fee. Or maybe you just didn’t see that annual fee coming because it was waived the first year.
Here are three ways to beat credit card fees:
- Always pay on time. This is the biggest one, so I’ll repeat it. Always, always pay on time. The late payment fee for a credit card is typically anywhere from $25 to $35—a fee that can easily be avoided by simply paying before the due date. One way to make sure you never miss a due date is to set up automatic payments right from your checking account or prepaid debit card account. There is normally no fee to do this, and it ensures that the payment will always be made on time. If you are experiencing a hardship of some sort, reach out to your credit card company and tell them what’s going on. They can often work with you to move the payment due date or work out an alternative payment plan until you get back on your feet.
- Read the terms and conditions when applying for a credit card. If a card has an annual fee, that is something that will be stated on the application. It may be waived the first year, and often is, but when the first year is up, do not be caught off guard. Similarly, if you travel out of the country frequently and want to use your credit card while abroad, make sure you get one with no foreign transaction fee. These are not difficult to find, but you must read the terms and conditions of the card before you apply. Another fee to be wary of is the ATM withdrawal fee. There is almost always a fairly hefty fee for withdrawing cash from an ATM using your credit card, but if this is something you feel you might do, then choose one that charges the smallest fee. Even better, get a prepaid debit card that offers free ATM withdrawals, and use that when you need cash, instead of a regular consumer card.
- Apply for a no-fee card. There are now cards that not only don’t charge an annual fee, they don’t charge a fee for a late payment, an over-the-limit charge, or other penalty fees. One of the latest trends in credit cards is to have as few fees as possible, so take advantage. Cards with annual fees tend to be high-value rewards cards like frequent flyer cards, but cash back cards and other types of credit cards usually don’t have an annual fee.
Latest Credit Card Fees Guides
What is a credit limit? A credit limit is the total amount you are allowed to charge to your credit card. This includes not only approved credit card purchases, but also the entire balance owed, as well as balance transfers, interest charges, and fees such as annual fees and late fees. With most credit cards, […]
Continue »Credit cards may be fraught with a dozen of different fees. Certainly, you may know what annual fee is, but if you are not used to thoroughly read card agreements, you probably have never paid attention to some other kinds of fees. Still, it is very important to be well-informed about all the fees that […]
Continue »After you make purchases with your credit card, there always comes a time when you have to foot the bill. A monthly credit card statement usually contains a lot of numbers that taken together make up your payments. Of course, you’d better understand and monitor them all, but there is one number that just calls for attention – the minimum credit card payment.
Continue »The annual fee is a fee that you pay once a year just for using a credit card. Not all credit cards have an annual fee. As a rule, this fee is charged on travel credit cards, premium credit cards, and credit cards for bad or limited credit history.
Continue »A late payment fee is a fee charged by the credit issuer when cardholders fail to pay on time. It applies to both situations: when you didn’t manage to pay before the due date at all and when you did pay but less than the required minimum.
Continue »