For the 157 million Americans
who carry a balance on their credit cards, Wednesday's Fed action is bad news.
People
who carry a balance on their credit cards typically pay rates of 17 percent or higher, according to Nick Clements, author of «Secrets From An Ex-Banker: How To Crush Credit Card Debt» and co-founder of price comparison website MagnifyMoney.
The credit scores used in most lending decisions currently do not distinguish between folks
who carry balances on credit cards and those who pay them off each month.
Many Americans
who carry balances on their credit cards struggle to pay it off.
The impact of the rate hike on the typical American
who carries a balance on their credit cards is fairly modest — in the order of $ 14 a year.
If you are someone
who carries a balance on your credit cards month to month, in order to positively effect your credit score you would want to be at a maximum of 75 % credit utilization.
«Revolvers,» in credit - card industry lingo, are consumers
who carry a balance on their credit cards from month to month.
LendingClub's loans are a particularly good fit for people
who carry a balance on their credit cards or for those who have other types of long - term debt.
If you're someone
who carries a balance on their credit card then shopping for a card with a low APR will probably be more beneficial to you than a card with great benefits but high APR..
Not exact matches
For example, those
who carry high average
balances on credit cards tend to default at a much higher rate.
But according to a recent article
on CreditCards.com, 34 % of Americans
who have
credit card accounts
carry a
balance from month to month.
«Anybody
who carries a
credit card balance, and anybody considering applying for a new line of
credit or mortgage loan should keep a close eye
on where interest rates are headed,» said McClary.
Of that number, we considered just 36 % of cardholders in the calculations, as the same Gallup poll showed this is the portion of cardholders
who usually
carry a
balance on their
credit card.
For instance, a person with a
credit limit of $ 3,000
who is already having $ 500 will not be able to charge the same amount with another person with the same
credit limit
who does not
carry balance on his
card.
Our calculations are based
on the proportion of consumers (36 %, according to a recent Gallup study)
who carry over a
balance on their
cards from month to month, and therefore would incur interest charges, and the impact of the quarter - point rise in rates, which analysts expect to be passed along in full through higher APRs
on credit card balances.
Store
cards also aren't good for consumers
who plan to
carry a
balance because the average APR
on a store
card is around 26 %, much higher than the 17 % average for regular
credit cards.
If you plan
on carrying a
balance on your
credit card — and
who doesn't nowadays — then the interest rate associated with that
card becomes extremely important.
With a low APR and up to 1.5 percent cash back
on every purchase, this modest
credit union
card is a great choice for cardholders
who plan to
carry a
balance and want low - maintenance rewards at an affordable price.
In fact, nearly 40 % of people
who use rewards
credit cards carry a
balance on them... essentially exchanging debt for these rewards.
For those
who are
carrying a
balance on their
cards and
who are interested in how to pay off
credit card debt more efficiently, one popular strategy is to find ways to lower your interest rates
on your existing
balance.
Most people don't realize that in addition to charging interest and penalty fees
on individuals
who carry a
balance,
credit card companies charge the merchant an additional «interchange fee» (transaction fee) between 2 to 3 %.
Many people don't realize that in addition to charging interest rates
on users
who carry a
balance,
credit card companies charge the merchant an additional «interchange fee» (transaction fee) between 2 to 2.5 %.
If you're someone
who regularly
carries a
credit card balance on their
card, you may benefit from having a low - interest
card.
Even if half of these were people
who didn't need motivation (it doesn't say if these were people
who always
carried balances or all
credit card users — if the latter, some surely paid off their
cards every month already), there are still a large percentage
who were not motivated by the fact that leaving a
balance on a
credit card is a bad, bad idea.
Typically, those with
credit scores of 720 or higher and those
who carry balances on their
cards are seeing offers in their mailboxes.
I'm sympathetic to those
who feel great about paying off 5 different 6 %
credit cards with sub $ 2000
balances who are left with only one
card carrying a 24 % rate
on a $ 10K
balance.
Some consumers
who signed up for high - rate
cards because they never expected to
carry a
balance will find themselves leaning
on the
credit to pay for weekly necessities.
In addition, the low variable APR is handy for those
who think they'll be
carrying a
balance on their
credit card from month to month at some point in the future.
Zero percent APR
credit cards are designed to bait consumers
who carry a
balance or want to save
on new, big purchases.
Frequent Menards shoppers with at least a fair
credit score
who do not plan
on carrying a
balance should consider getting the Menards Big
Card.
Those
who are
carrying balances on any high - interest
credit cards may take advantage of the 0 % APR for
balance transfers and use up to 15 statement periods to pay down that debt.
A
credit card with a robust 0 % APR intro offer could be significantly more valuable to those
who tend to
carry a
balance on their
card month to month, providing 12 months or more of interest - free purchasing.
Consumers
who are in a tough financial situation, and are likely to
carry a
balance on their
credit card in the foreseeable future should find a
card that has low ongoing APR instead.
Those
who carry a
balance that accrues interest
on their
credit cards should forget about earning travel rewards and instead focus
on paying that debt off as soon as possible.
Those
who are
carrying a
balance on their
credit card should always be focused
on finding the
card with the lowest possible interest rate, and unfortunately that is not going to be a rewards
card.
Researchers have found that even for people
who don't
carry a
balance each month
on their
credit card, they overspend when using a
credit card instead of cash.