Credit Tips: Making Credit Cards Work for You

Posted On: October 1, 2004

Author: Smart Investor, Guest
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 3:04 pm
Post subject: Making credit cards work for you

Being of good credit and sound mind, I most often allow the credit card issuers to pay ME to use their money. Am I in a league of my own? First, I am considered a “convenience” customer by the banks. This means I pay off balances monthly while taking advantage of whatever offers come my way.

The YOU PAY ME offer is as follows: Use your entire credit limit in a no transaction fee, full grace period (treated as a purchase) balance transfer check. The offer is not written this way, but it actually works this way. Always read the fine print and call if you are not sure. If you have a $30,000 credit limit then you have up to 60 days (depending on cycle and date of the balance transfer check cashing) to use the banks $30,000.00 for free. Putting it into a guaranteed interest-bearing account allows you to earn money on their money.

When money market and no-penalty CDs were paying interest rates in the teens, this was quite an offer from the credit card bank! It’s hardly worth the effort today, but the principle is valuable!