Hello everyone,
What is the lowest interest rate, credit card companies are offering with no annual fee for individuals with good credit history? I heard MBNA is offering low rates. Any other institutions/banks?
Do the banks give special reduction in interest rate on individual basis based on credit score?
Thanks in advance.
Location: carl sagan's universe
Posted on: 14-12-07 17:30:22
As far as I know MBNA gives only low leader rates for 6-9 months and then after that it is jacked up to the normal 17.99-19.99%.
However if you are a smart person and can contain your expenses and not fall into temptation you can get 1.9% perpetually.
Here is the strategy.
Get an MBNA credit card at 1.9% Use it for the 6 month promotional period.
After 6 months get another say Capital One card at 1.9% and transfer the balance of MBNA to Capital One.
After 3-4 months of 0 use of MBNA, you will get a letter from MBNA again offering promotional rates and then you switch Capital One's balance to that, and so on and so forth.PC financial credit card is also good for this. So is Citibank, Amex....
You can play this game with multiple cards. I know several people doing it, myself included.
Cheaper money is tough to come by.
As a matter of fact if anyone knows of cheaper money, please do let me know.
Some of the Gujaratis on board? Marwaris? Sindhis?
On a straight line basis, Scotia Line visa which is a credit card cum line of credit is at a low rate- prime plus x, depending on your credit score.
Doesn't perpetually applying and/or switching between CCs hurt your credit rating?????
Quote:
Originally posted by mynameisraj
Doesn't perpetually applying and/or switching between CCs hurt your credit rating?????
You bet!
It will ultimately have some effect on your credit. You might escape from it only if there are no more than 2 or 3 hits on your credit in any given year and you do not apply for a number of cards and the balance on the card is not more than 30-40% of the total card limit.
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Pramod Chopra
Senior Mortgage Consultant
Mortgage Alliance Company of Canada
Quote:
Originally posted by investpro
As far as I know MBNA gives only low leader rates for 6-9 months and then after that it is jacked up to the normal 17.99-19.99%.
If you pay back in full at the end of the term, they will sometimes call you back within a month and if you haggle with them get a better rate than their promotional offer along with waiving of any transaction fee(1% of amount..if i remember right.)
Also they drop the normal rates to 11.99% if you have been a responsible customer...or they have not made much money out of you otherwise
Whatever the case may be.
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Location: carl sagan's universe
Posted on: 16-12-07 12:10:33
Quote:
Originally posted by mynameisraj
Doesn't perpetually applying and/or switching between CCs hurt your credit rating?????
I don't know about 'perpetually' but I do know that since I suggested this to several people, they are doing it quite successfully w/o their credit scores being damaged. Instead the scores have gone up in the cases of several friends of mine.
Take an example of a couple.
Each spouse had a line of credit and one cc. Since I gave them the strategy 3 years ago, they now have a line of credit (LOC) each plus 2 ccs each. And they oscillate the balances , so that their interest rates on the ccs is 1.9%. Their score is now higher than it was 3 years ago. The total debt on their LOCs and CCs is around 50% of the total limit.
Like I said - one can pull this off if one doesn't fall into temptation.
However if you are like me and invest the money, then forget the credit score. I have a score in the low 600s(which is not a good score) but the money from the ccs I have is used for investment and in the last 3 years I am making an average return of 40% by paying 1.9%, do you think I really care about my score?
And yet I am offered ccs at 1.9% and yet I take advantage of them. The latest bakra for me was ICICI bank, 10 gs that has been invested and already I have a return on it greater than the 1.9% plus the 1% transfer fee.
So it all depends on the person and the reasons for the credit card.
Definitely this strategy is a no-no if you want it for lifestyle expenses.
To answer your question:
To 'perpetually' apply for cards (or at least for the last 3 years) AND to switch back and forth will definitely damage your scores but 'perpetually' switching back and forth(w/o applying for more cards) will not if the total balances are less than 50%(as also pointed out by Pramod)
Location: carl sagan's universe
Posted on: 16-12-07 12:14:32
Quote:
Originally posted by jake3d
Quote:
Originally posted by investpro
As far as I know MBNA gives only low leader rates for 6-9 months and then after that it is jacked up to the normal 17.99-19.99%.
If you pay back in full at the end of the term, they will sometimes call you back within a month and if you haggle with them get a better rate than their promotional offer along with waiving of any transaction fee(1% of amount..if i remember right.)
Also they drop the normal rates to 11.99% if you have been a responsible customer...or they have not made much money out of you otherwise
Whatever the case may be.
Thanks the info, I will let those who have an MBNA card know about this, but many who did switched to a Scotia visaline which is at a lower rate. Perhaps you would like to look into it.
