How To Get The Most From A Credit Card

From Consumer Reports

Good credit or bad credit, consumers must keep tabs on their accounts. Consumer Reports offers the following tips on how to get the most out of a credit card:

• Use credit wisely. If a consumer has a lot of high-interest debt, they should find a card that has a zero-percent-interest transfer offer and no transfer fee.
• Open the mail. Card issuer letters could look like advertising, but they also could be a notice of an increase in rates or a reduction in credit limit. Issuers often provide an opt-out clause, allowing customers to stop using the card and pay off the existing balance under old terms.
• Contact the lender. Cardholders who are dissatisfied with account changes or errors should call the card issuer and ask to speak to a manager or customer-retention person.
• Steer clear of traps. Federal banking regulators are pushing for rule changes that could take effect as early as next year. Some current practices that could be eliminated are raising rates on existing balances and applying payments to the lowest-rate charges (such as balance
  transfers.)
• Pick the right card. Consumers should select the right card for the type of borrower they are. CR also found that smaller issuers including credit unions and community banks are worth checking out for various interest-free offers.

For more information, visit the Consumer Reports web site.

Source: Consumer Reports