Low Interest Credit Cards

How to Get a Credit Card with Low Interest Rate

If you plan on carrying a balance on your credit card from one month to the next, your best bet is a card with a low interest rate. It will help minimize the interest you pay and free up your funds. But which one should you choose? Compare introductory annual percentage rates (APRs), regular APRs, and annual fees to determine the right card for you.

What to Look For in a Low APR Card

There are a couple of things to consider:

• An introductory period. Many credit cards offer a 0% introductory APR period, where there is no interest for new purchases or balance transfers during the promotional period. This is great if you have some large purchases coming up or if you have existing credit card debt This gives you time to pay off your balance interest-free.

• Low ongoing APR. If you usually do not pay off your credit card bill in full each month, look for a card with a low ongoing APR. This will help minimize the amount of interest you pay in the long run.

What Credit Score Do You Need

Usually, you need a good to excellent credit score to qualify for low interest credit cards. This usually means a credit score of around 680 and higher. Though some cards have approved people with scores in the lower 600s. For the lowest interest rates, you usually need excellent credit.

Top 3 Benefits of Low Interest Credit Cards

Credit cards with low interest rates are a great way for consumers to increase their buying power while saving money.

• Saves money

  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. The higher the rate, the more you will have to pay for using the card for your purchases.

  Just think, when you purchase a $1,200 TV using a credit card with a 24% APR, you will spend $576 in interest if you pay off that purchase over a two-year span. If you purchase that same TV with a low interest credit card that has an APR of 11%, you will spend just $264 in the same time period. That’s a savings of $312. Now, apply that savings to all of your small and big purchases, and you can see how low interest rates credit cards can save you money.

  You will also save money with a low interest credit card if you use it for balance transfers. A balance transfer is when you utilize your low rate card to pay off other credit cards. This can save you big money depending on the rate of the card that you are paying off. As demonstrated by the above example, cutting your APR in half can seriously decrease your interest paid over time.

  Estimate Your Balance Transfer Savings

  Enter information about your existing credit card(s)

  Card	Balance	APR (Interest Rate)
  #1	$	%
  #2	$	%
  #3	$	%

  
  Enter information about the card you're transferring to

  Enter the intro APR on Balance Transfers (Interest Rate):	%
  Enter the length of the intro period:	months
  Enter the regular APR (Interest Rate):	%
  Enter the annual fee:	$
  Enter the balance transfer fee (% of balance):	%
  Enter monthly payment:	$

  
  
• Lowers minimum payment

  Credit cards with low interest not only save you money in the long run, they can also free up cash every month. This is because lower interest results in lower monthly payments.

  Minimum payments are a specific percentage of what you owe. The less you owe in interest, the less you will owe overall for your credit card. This means you have more money each month to pay other bills and do something fun with your friends and family.
  

• Pays off debt faster

  Low interest credit cards make it easier and faster to pay off your credit card debt. As mentioned previously, the credit cards can be used to complete balance transfers. When you transfer balances from your high rate cards, your debts will get the lower interest rate. So if you continue to pay the same amount each month that you were paying under the higher rate cards, your debts will be paid in full much faster.

  For example, say you had a $1,000 balance on a 21% APR card. Minimum monthly payments for that card were $40; making just the monthly payments would take you 7 years and 11 months to pay off the card. If you were to do a balance transfer to a low interest credit card with an APR of 9.9%, but continued making the same monthly payment, you would pay off the debt in 6 years instead. That’s paying off the debt almost 2 years earlier while still saving big money.