We receive a lot of complaints about credit card companies and the number of complaints about some large banks has increased recently.  Recent interest rate increases, credit limit decreases, and general mistreatment of consumers has become rampant.  Consequently, many people look for a place to voice their complaints.  Oftentimes, requesting a supervisor when you are talking to your credit card company can get you better results than the first person you talk to.  As a rule, its always best to ask for a supervisor right away, especially if you have an important issue.

However, getting a credit card problem resolved can be difficult and many feel cheated by their credit card companies.  If you fall into this category, we suggest you report your bank to the FTC, which handles consumer credit card complaints.  Also, we’d appreciate it if you left a comment here so others can learn what credit card companies are doing.

• File an FTC complaint

In general, there aren’t too many differences between the credit cards issued by major banks to consumers with good credit.  Therefore, finding the worst credit card involves taking a look at subprime credit cards, many of which are issued by little known banks.  When I set out to identify the worst credit card, I realized that the task was a bit larger than one article would permit.  Consequently, I’ve decided to right a series of articles on the worst credit cards.  I’ll begin with subprime cards, as those are the most obvious offenders.  Eventually, I’ll make my way to the worst credit cards for prime consumers.  However, my early research indicates that it would be difficult to label any major banks credit card as a the worst credit card.  After my first review, you’ll see why.

Candidate #1 for worst credit card is the Continental Finance Gold MasterCard.  Targeted to subprime users, the credit card advertises rates as low as 9.75% and the “prestige” of carrying a gold card.  However, as I reviewed the terms and conditions, I quickly learned that “prestige” has a price.

The Continental Finance Gold card does offer a competitive APR-9.75% is better than many rates offered by the major credit card companies.  And at $50, the annual fee isn’t so bad.  However, the $50 annual fee is a drop in the bucket compared to the other fees that make this card a strong candidate for worst credit card.  First off, there is a one time account processing fee which, I assume, must be paid immediately.  This fee is $175.  Seriously.  ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS!  Apparently, processing accounts is expensive.

Of course, the $175 account processing fee is a one time thing.  The $180 account maintenance fee stays with you as long as you hold the credit card.  To make things easier, they do break this fee up to $15 a month, every month, as long as you have the card.

Could this be the worst credit card?  So far, we’ve got first year fees of $405 and ongoing yearly fees of $355.  This seems like a lot of money to pay just to get a credit card.  Heck, you can get an American Express Gold Card (which is actually a prestigious gold card) that allows you to earn American Express rewards and only pay an annual fee of around $100. 

Clearly, the Tribute Gold card is not the best credit card.  And, so far, it is a strong candidate to win the first ever Smart Balance Transfers worst credit card competition.

If you have experience with this card or another you feel deserves a shot at winning worst credit card, post a response below.

Over the past few years, I’ve received countless emails filled with every imaginable credit card complaint.  At first, it was shocking to find out how the various credit card companies treated their customers.  Over time, however, I grew a bit immune to it.

My immunity to the nasty tactics employed by credit card companies has approached its limit recently.  I’ve heard horror stories of interest rates being raised to nearly 30%, credit limits cut so much that people’s credit scores dropped by 50 or more points, and, perhaps worst of all, credit card companies demanding that people pay twice as much every month or else have their interest rate increased.

The slew of recent credit card complaints has caught my attention and I would like to learn more about how the various credit card companies are mistreating customers.  Thus, I am opening up the Smart Balance Transfer’s blog as a forum for people to anonymously air their credit card complaints.  If you’re reading this and you have an issue with your credit card company, please leave a comment describing the problem.  Even though the comment form requests an email, you can use a fake one for an extra layer of anonymity.  I would just like to expose what is going on so that I can help others avoid bad credit card companies and perhaps draw attention to the banks committing the most egregious acts.

Thanks for participating and I hope that, with your help, we can ruffle a few feathers.

Since I started Smart Balance Transfers in the summer of 2007, more than 14,000 people have applied for and been approved for 0% APR balance transfer credit cards.  This is no small number and I recently became curious as to how much money visitors to this site have saved.

To begin, I stared with a low estimate.  I assumed the average person transferred only $1000 from a credit card with a 14% interest rate.  Using this number, Smart Balance Transfers has helped our visitors save 1.8 MILLION dollars in less than two years. 

However impressive that number seemed, I believe it is a dramatic understatement of how much visitors have saved.  For starters, the majority of people I have communicated with via email have balances of close to $10,000.  Plus, according to many statistics, the average household also has close to $10,000 in debt.  Therefore, if the average balance transfer on Smart Balance Transfers was $10,000 (and the previous interest rate was only 10%), this site would have saved its visitors a mind blowing 16.8 MILLION dollars since its inception. 

Now, as much as I’d like this to be true, I think the actual savings falls somewhere in between 1.8 million and 16.8 million.  Nevertheless, the savings reaped by visitors of Smart Balance Transfers is noteworthy, and one of the main motivators for me to spend my time researching and writing about credit cards.

In 2009, I hope to continue helping people save money.  Credit card companies, and more specifically, the banks that issue them, have been treating consumers with nothing but disrespect all year long.  Balance transfer fees have risen substantially since the beginning of 2008 and many banks have shortened the duration of 0% introductory rates.  On top of all this, it now requires a much higher credit score to gain approval for a new credit card. 

Hopefully, the economy will mend and banks will again become generous with 0% rates.  Unfortunately, this probably won’t happen for at least a few months.  Nevertheless, I look forward to helping people like you save money and appreciate all the kind words I’ve received from visitors over the past few years.

For information on how much you can save with a 0% balance transfer, try our balance transfer calculator.

The new year is a week old and many of us have already broken our New Year’s resolutions.  However, a common and vague resolution that can be easily fixed generally goes like this:  I will not waste money this year.

Fortunately, this resolution can be partly taken care of in a matter of minutes by doing a balance transfer online.  With a 0% balance transfer, you simply transfer your high interest credit card balance to a credit card that charges no interest for a year.  The process takes about 10 to 20 minutes, and the money you can save is dramatic. 

For example, a person with $4000 on a credit card that charges 15% interest will save over $500 with a 0% balance transfer.  With $10000 in debt, balance transfer savings skyrocket to over $1400.  Even a $1000 balance transfer will save a person over $100.

No matter how much credit card debt you have, transferring balances from a high interest credit card to one that offers a 0% interest rate is a quick and easy way to stop the flow of money from your bank account to your credit card company’s balance sheet.  Plus, many balance transfer credit cards also offer 0% interest rates on purchases, which can help you save money on any new purchases you make.

Credit card debt is something many of us don’t want to think about.  But if no action is taken, this debt can quickly grow from an issue to a problem.  The best way to satisfy your New Year’s resolutions and start saving money is with the smart use of balance transfer credit cards.