Me and my new Credit Card!

[Nelli]

OK folks after years of having a poor credit rating, I sorted myself out, re-negotiated debts etc. and finally got accepted for a credit card. Now the only reason I applied was to increase my credit rating. The lender? .... Capital one. The interest rate? ... 29% :-O. Yes folks I know it is very high, however the credit limit is only �200 which even if I 'maxed out' on it, I could still afford to re-pay the whole amount. Which leads me nicely to my question, if I clear the full amount, every month, on time, will I still be charged interest?

[andy hughes]

If you check your statement when it arrives, it should advise you clearly of your payment date, and I believe most adhere to the policy of showing you different 'last day' for payments for your chosen method - cash / post / cheque / bank deposit etc. Stick to the date, and you won't get stung. remember though, pay the lot off, if you pay �199 one month, you'll still acrue interest on the �200 you owe - that's how they make their money. When (and it's not if, it's when!) they offer to quadruple your limit, say no!

[gilf]

It depends on the terms, most offer that they will not charge interest, but its not a legal thing they have no obligation to do so. Read your small print that will tell you.

[lisaj]

OK. It depends on your credit agreement. I've seen cards that have charged interest from the transaction date. This said, most cards seems to charge from the statement date so you usually have up to 56 days of interest free-ness! The thing to do to rebuild credit is not to pay off the card in full. Pay on time, pay plenty, but not fully - if they make no money off you in interest, they're not interested in extending credit because you're not a customer who exhibits a spending pattern where they'll make more interest on a larger available balance. As a student, playing by these rules, I had �7,500 to play with on one card alone. I never spent anywhere near that limit, but they loved me because they made �25 or so every month in interest.