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Monday, August 28, 2006

0% Credit Card Offers Til 2008

Author: AJ
Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 10:09 am
Post subject: Now Chase Is sending out 0% percent offers Till 0'8


I received an offer ( so called pre approved) for 0% on purchases and transfers till March 2008 then 8.9 fixed thereafter. I am not falling for that scam only for them to find a reason to raise the rate to the default rate in the brochure which is 31 % if they think you are a "Risk" I closed my accounts i had open since 94 because they felt I had too many cards. so they raised the rate from 8.9 to 28. I paid them off, then closed the account, now they won't leave me alone


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Author: mouse
Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 12:21 pm
Post subject: Re: Now Chase Is sending out 0% percent offers Till 0'8


Quote:

"AJ"
I received an offer ( so called pre approved) for 0% on purchases and transfers till March 2008 then 8.9 fixed thereafter. I am not falling for that scam only for them to find a reason to raise the rate to the default rate in the brochure which is 31 % if they think you are a "Risk" I closed my accounts i had open since 94 because they felt I had too many cards. so they raised the rate from 8.9 to 28. I paid them off, then closed the account, now they won't leave me alone

"JACKING" a BT RATE is not legal when you pay on time and minimum or more till the EXPIRE DATE OF THE BT OFFER



Author: wierdo
Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 2:55 pm
Post subject: Re: Now Chase Is sending out 0% percent offers Till 0'8


AJ wrote:
I received an offer ( so called pre approved) for 0% on purchases and transfers till March 2008 then 8.9 fixed thereafter. I am not falling for that scam only for them to find a reason to raise the rate to the default rate in the brochure which is 31 % if they think you are a "Risk" I closed my accounts i had open since 94 because they felt I had too many cards. so they raised the rate from 8.9 to 28. I paid them off, then closed the account, now they won't leave me alone

Closing old accounts isn't a good idea because it reduces the average age of your accounts, making your score lower, making Chase ratejack you.

I got one of these offers, and am using it for BTs, I'll let you know if they ratejack me because I was approved for a few other cards recently. I wouldn't be surprised, having had it happen before, but not on the BT rate, and not during the intro period.

Good thing I opened the mail, too, because I was about to respond to one whose 0% was only good until 11/07.

I don't really care if they try to screw me, as I have other cards to which I can transfer the balance, and a drawer with plenty of room for more cards.



Author: Bikshu
Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 6:06 pm
Post subject: 0% Credit Card Offers Til 2008


I received one of these offers yesterday and it does appear to be one of the absolute best offers in the industry right now. In fact, I took the offer to work to show some of my co-workers simply because it is so much better than anything I'm offering clients now. I was very tempted to get the card except for one big problem I have with it:

Since it is a World MasterCard, it really does not have a pre-set spending limit. This makes it similar to a Visa Signature card or any of American Express' Gold or Platinum cards with no limit. This is the bank's way of saying that they will not charge an overlimit fee and will never report your credit limit to the credit reporting agencies (CRAs). You still technically do have a limit, however, referred to as your revolving credit access line. This is how much credit exposure we will allow you before one of our analysts will have to personally approve any future transactions. But in case you have to go over that line, nothing derogatory is reported to the CRAs since they do not have this limit in their file.

Sounds great, right? Not so fast. Because the actual credit limit is not reported, the CRAs are forced to use your high balance in place of it. So lets say you get this great Chase World MC account with an access line of $25,000. You now responsibly only put $400 on it, but you do put this same $400 on there each and every month. As far as the CRAs know, your credit limit is $400 and your current balance is $400... you appear to be tapped out so to speak. Never mind the fact that you are $24,600 under your limit, your utilization ratio still takes a hit and your FICO plunges.

If you have low total credit lines or a higher utilization ratio already, be very prepared for a FICO hit from any heavy usage or balance transfers on a no pre-set spending card. Only MBNA (now BOA) reports Visa Signature and World MC revolving access lines to the CRAs, so you would not run into this same problem on one of those cards. Otherwise, I highly recommend that most average Joe's carry only one no pre-set limit card at any given time. You have to decide whether you'd rather have a Visa Siganture, a World MasterCard, or a premium AmEx. Only a Big Fish with a FICO of 730+, total reported credit lines of $50k+, and an annual THI of $100k+ can disregard this warning. Otherwise, be sure to check your credit report before applying for this great 0% Chase World MC offer.

The other posters are correct regarding the promotional rates, however. As long as no terms or conditions of the card agreement are broken, the bank cannot legally reprice a promotional rate (this would be called "adverse action" which is against federal lending laws). Just make sure your payments are of sufficient size, sufficiently early, and that there are no minimum retail purchase requirements (Discover card anyone?) The bank is free, however, to reprice your contract rate while you are still under the promotional rate. So it is hypothetically possible that Chase could raise that fixed 8.99% APR to 15.99% or what have you anytime prior to your 0% running out on March 1, 2008. Since your balance was not at the 8.99% rate when the repricing took effect, it is not considered adverse action and is completely legal. I'm not saying that Chase would do this, but its something to bear in mind. Always have your Plan B ready even when a great offer like this comes around.


CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!

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