September 13, 2007
This is a true saga about my experience with obtaining one of those zero percent interest credit cards. I know - you are wondering why I would subject myself to this - but I wanted to try.
The card arrived in the mail - I was very excited - I wanted to use it right away, as I am remodeling and am short of money, so the idea of free money hooked me! I activated this card and then had questions about how to use the checks that came with the card. Forty minutes later and six phone transfers, I discovered that the zero percent interest rate was only for purchases charged to the credit card and were refered to in the Finance Charge section as the "Actual Annual Percentage Rate," which is the zero percent interest rate. Cash advances were referred to as "Nominal Annual Percentage Rate," and would be charged at a rate of 23.24%. Checks written on the card would be charged at a rate of 4.99%, but if I wanted some zero percent cash and wrote it to myself, I would be charged 23.24%. Who's on First????
So, the moral of the story is, that zero doesn't mean zero. Be careful. Especially if you are taking a cash advance at 23.24%! It took forty minutes and six operators to finally discover that zero didn't mean zero.
Your Maui Investment Connection,
Fred