If you haven’t had an interest rate increase lately, you’re likely in the minority.  For the past six months, but particularly in the past two months, credit card companies have been increasing interest rates at an alarming rate.  The victims:  people with good credit who pay on time.  The perpetrators:  just about every credit card company… and the new credit card laws.

Now, I’ll save a discussion of the causes and effects underlying interest rate increases for a different article.  Here, I want to address the top two questions posed by the honest, credit-worthy people who have contacted Smart Balance Transfers recently wondering what they should do when they learn that their interest rate has been increased by 50%, 100% or more. Continue Reading »

A lot of small business owners who had been relying on Advanta credit cards are justifiably angry.  And with good reason.  If you’re not a holder of a now useless Advanta credit card, then you don’t know what its like to have your credit limit shut off with little to no warning.

In normal times, the Advanta credit card shutdown wouldn’t have been a massive issue.  Another credit card company would have gladly purchased their customer base and continued to offer them credit.  Today, however, small business owners who relied on Advanta are feeling like they stepped in the ring with Mike Tyson in 1986, as the strong left hook delivered by Advanta has been followed up with an equally strong punch in the form of rejection. Continue Reading »

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it here again:  transfer balances as soon as you can.  If you’re a veteran of balance transfer credit cards, you’ve probably noticed that the length of 0% offers is getting shorter as fees increase substantially.  In fact, if you did a 0% balance transfer at Smart Balance Transfers last year and are returning to get a new card as your 0% period expires, you’re probably shocked at how much has changed during one year.  If this is your first time transferring balances, you might not want to read this article, as it discusses truly great opportunities that no longer exist. Continue Reading »

Effective today, Bank of America has raised balance transfer fees to 4% from a previous level of 3%.  While this move was announced over a month ago, the very fact that one of the country’s biggest issuers of credit cards has taken this step could spell trouble for the future of balance transfer fees.

During the past half decade, credit card companies were engaged in a battle to win new customers.  This was great for consumers, who were offered long term 0% interest rates and often charged little to no balance transfer fees.  As the credit crunch intensified last summer, companies began eliminating no fee balance transfer deals.  By fall, companies began to remove the limit on balance transfer fees.  Prior to the fall, most companies charged a maximum fee of $75 per transaction.  Anyone transferring less than $2,500 paid 3%, while those transferring more simply paid $75.  Continue Reading »