CREDIT CARDS » Credit Card Rates

People with credit cards are legally bound to it by their card holder agreement. The card holder agreement is your contract with the issuer of your credit card. Card holder agreements carry a lot of obvious information, rules and regulations, as well as a lot of not-so-obvious details that can be critical to your proper use of the card.

The credit card holder agreement almost always comes in the form of a pamphlet or document. It is also very often found online, on your credit card's online account page so that you can access the information easily. Contained within the credit card holder agreement will be such topics as how credit card disputes are resolved, so if you ever encounter a credit card dispute you'll know how it goes down, and what to do. Also included will be the credit card company's method for calculating interest rates, the APR, and other assorted fees and charges. This might be the most important part of the card holder agreement, in that it will help you understand how best to avoid as many fees and charges as possible.

The card holder agreement will also explain - the when, where, what, and how - details of your credit card. If it's not accepted at various kinds of establishments, for example, it could be explained here. Also, this section of the card holder agreement will spell out your options when it comes to cash advances. In the credit card holder agreement you will also find the proper procedures required for dealing with a lost or stolen credit card. This information will come in very handy if you lose your card or it gets stolen - preempting any fraudulent purchases on your credit card will spare you a world of hassles.

Just about everyone knows what a credit card is, but many people are unaware of what a charge card is, and what the difference is between the two. To add to the confusion, many businesses can use the terms interchangeably, because the "charging" part is the point of both types of card. The primary differences between charge cards and credit cards are interest charged on balances, and requirements concerning the payment of balances.

Charge cards were the first form of plastic card introduced to the consumer market. They were often issued by retailers for use in their specific stores, and then became available for wider use. Charge cards very often will not have a monthly spending limit, or a limit at all, but the flip-side of that freedom is that whatever you spend in a billing cycle must be repaid at the end of the billing cycle. There is no minimum payment you can make, because by practice and by definition, charge cards demand that the balance be paid in full at the end of every billing cycle. This is because charge cards do not charge interest on your balance. Thinking of charge cards as short-term loans is an easy way to distinguish them from credit cards.

Credit cards, on the other hand, very often do come with a spending limit. You may get a credit card with a limit of, say, $5,000, and you can't go beyond that. Credit cards also offer a minimum monthly payment option, so you could conceivably not pay off the total of what you owe for a very long time. The flip-side of this payment convenience is that credit cards charge interest on your balance, and sometimes this interest rate can be devastatingly high. The interest rate can also be raised by the credit card company at will. Many people can't get out from under their debt because their interest rates just keep adding to their total balance.

To learn more about the differences between credit cards and charge cards, and which option might be the best for you, be sure to read "Basics of a Charge Card," "The PROS and CONS of Charge Cards," and "What is a Charge Card."

Charge cards , those seemingly old-fashioned predecessors to the ubiquitous credit card , make a lot of financial sense. They also offer much of the convenience that a credit card offers, without a credit card's potential for fiscal mayhem. The basics of charge cards are pretty simple to grasp.

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