Okay.  Its time to pull out your credit card statement and take a look at your monthly interest expense.  What you find might not be pleasant.  We plugged some numbers into our balance transfer calculator to estimate the monthly cost of carrying a balance on a credit card with a standard interest rate.  The results weren’t pretty.  Check out these monthly and annualized expenses for people with $3000, $5000, and $10,000 in credit card debt.

We’ll start with $3000 in debt on a credit card with a 14% interest rate.  Every month, this card racks up $35 in interest.  While this may not seem outrageous, over the course of a year, the total interest expense nears $450.  And that assumes the debt doesn’t go up.

Things start getting uglier when we increase the debt level to $5000.  On a monthly basis, the interest expense crosses the $50 threshold, coming in at $58.  While this isn’t ideal, the yearly cost is really striking:  $746!.  And $5000 is only about half of the average household credit card debtload.

Now, let’s look at the costs of $10,000 in debt.  On a monthly basis, interest expenses cross into triple digits, coming in at just over $100.  What’s frightening, however, is the yearly cost.  It totals over $1,400.  No matter who you ask, that’s a lot of money.  And, its money that doesn’t have to be spent.

Although the credit crunch has made it more difficult for some consumers to get accepted for 0% balance transfers, it is still possible to get approved for one of these money saving deals.  Unfortunately, however, the credit crunch may worsen, and the availability of these offers may dry up quickly.  For those reasons, not to mention the fact you can save a few hundred or thousand dollars, the time to transfer balances to a 0% credit card is now.

You can review these offers in the balance transfers section of this website and apply online.  You can also continue reading for some real nightmare balance transfer scenarios.

Nightmare #1:  $10,000 in credit card debt with a 17% interest rate

• Monthly Interest Expense:  $142
• Yearly Interest Expense:  $1839

Nightmare #2:  $15,000 in credit card debt with a 15% interest rate

• Monthly Interest Expense:  $188
• Yearly Interest Expense:  $2411

Nightmare #3:  $20,000 in credit card debt with a 15% interest rate

• Monthly Interest Expense:  $250
• Yearly Interest Expense:  $3215

These scenarios are not uncommon across America, and with high interest rate credit cards, debt can quickly spiral out of control.  With an interest rate of 14%, debt can double in as little as 3 years.  And, as we all know, its much easier to get into credit card debt than it is to get out.

Our advice is simple:  don’t let your credit card debt get out of control.  Consolidate high interest credit card debt onto a 0% APR balance transfer credit card and pay down your debt before its too late.

The proposed Credit CardHolders’ Bill of Rights (see http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1569&Itemid=61) is supposed to help consumers.  And in many ways, it would.  Unfortunately, like most legislation, it couldn’t come at a worse time.  As the credit crunch intensifies, this consumer friendly bill may backfire, drying up available credit to those who need it most.

According to the bill, the Credit CardHolders’ Bill of Rights would do the following:

• Protect cardholders against arbitrary interest rate increases
• Prevent cardholders who pay on time from being unfairly penalized 
• Protect cardholders from due date gimmicks
• Shield cardholders from misleading terms 
• Empower cardholders to set limits on their credit
• Require card companies to fairly credit and allocate payments 
• Prohibit card companies from imposing excessive fees on cardholders
• Prevent card companies from giving subprime credit cards to people who can’t afford them
• Require Congress to provide better oversight of the credit card industry
• Contain NO rate caps, fee setting, or price controls

Now, its hard to argue with the benefits many of these goals would provide to consumers.  Unfortunately, many of these proposed changes, if enacted into law, would fundamentally change the way credit card companies do business.

For example, interfering with the fees credit card companies impose on consumers who pay late or go over their credit limits would alter credit card risk management.  The people who are getting charged these fees are failing to use their credit wisely.  Unfortunately, responsible credit users will pay the price for the irresponsible credit management of others.  This price may be a reduction in 0% offers, higher interest rates, and a return to annual fees.

Another major sticking point is protecting cardholders against arbitrary interest rate increases.  Here, the definition of arbitrary is the point of interest.  Many credit card companies utilize a wide range of data on consumers, such as their credit scores and recent credit history, to determine the interest rates they charge.  When a consumer’s credit score drops or credit report changes, credit card companies “reprice” the consumer’s interest rate to control risk.  Without the ability to reprice debt from consumers that become risky, credit card companies will again rob Peter to pay Paul.  And, in this case, Peter is the consumer that pays his bills on time.

While the Credit CardHolders’ Bill of Rights is not expected to become law this year, many believe it will pass early next year.  In the interim, credit card companies may be bracing themselves by limiting the availability of credit to otherwise worthy consumers and making it harder to get 0% interest rates.

The next few months will be interesting in the credit card world.  And consumers should be prepared.  If you don’t have a 0% credit card in your pocket today, you may not be able to get one two or three months from now, regardless of how good your credit is. 

This website was designed to help consumers save money with 0% interest rates.  In the coming months, that may be a difficult mission.  However, until this bill passes, its a good time to take advantage of the 0% deals available. 

For more information, you can compare 0% APR credit cards and apply online at our main site.

Recently, Chase changed the terms and conditions to many of their online credit card offers, particularly with regard to balance transfer fees.  Previously, Chase was one of the few remaining credit card issuers that still capped balance transfer fees at a set maximum.  For example, 3% per transaction with a maximum fee of $75 or $99 dollars.

However, as has been the case with Bank of America, Citi, and Capital One, Chase has lifted the maximum dollar amount on balance transfer fees to infinity.  For example, if you transfer a $5000 balance to the popular Chase Platinum Visa® Card, the cost will be $150.  Prior to this recent change, it would have been $99.  In contrast, doing a $5000 balance transfer to a Discover Card will only cost you $75.

As we’ve written recently, the credit crunch and resulting turmoil on Wall Street is having a very negative impact on the quality of credit card offers available, even to people with superb credit.  Unfortunately, things are likely to get worse.  Consequently, we continue to encourage anyone who is considering a balance transfer to do it now while decent, low fee 0% offers are still available.

For more information, please see the balance transfer comparison section of this website.

Starting September 30th, a Capital One consumer credit card is offering 0% APR balance transfers.  Unfortunately, however, this offer carries a full 3% transaction fee, which makes it a high fee balance transfer.  (In contrast, Discover limits balance transfer fees to 3% of the transaction with a $75 maximum.)

The Capital One card, aimed at consumers with excellent credit only, that offers 0% APR balance transfers is the Capital One ® Platinum Prestige Visa®.  This card also sports a low long term APR, which is currently 8.9% as well as a 0% APR on purchases.  The duration of this offer changes with frequency, so its best to refer to application for complete details.

Additionally, a number of Capital One cards are now offering 0% interest rates on purchases as well including many popular rewards offers, such as the Capital One® No Hassle Miles(SM) Rewards - Excellent Credit.  Like the Platinum card, the duration of this offer changes frequently, so it is best to refer to the application for complete terms and conditions.

For more information on current Capital One Offers, visit their section in Smart Balance Transfers.  For more information on 0% APR balance transfers, visit that section of Smart Balance Transfers.

Last May, the Federal Reserve proposed sweeping new credit card regulations.  The regulations, aimed at helping consumers, may in fact have a measured negative impact instead.  How could a consumer-centric initiative backfire?  By limiting the ability of credit card companies to offer 0% APR balance transfers, among other things.

The issue lay in one of the main initiatives:  prohibiting banks from repricing pre-existing credit card balances.  Why this may sound like a good thing, Discover’s (DFS) CEO was asked if the availability of balance transfers would be effected by the new regulations.  His response was sobering, as he stated the new regulations, “would and could change how we execute balance transfer offers.”  When asked if this would be an industry wide issue, he quickly responded, “certainly.”

Repricing current balances allows banks to manage risk, particularly the risk associated with extended generous 0% APR deals.  However, should the proposed changes to the the Federal Reserve Board’s Regulation AA (Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices), the ability for consumer who lack the highest credit scores to get a 0% balance transfer may be hindered.

With many expecting this legislation to clear before year’s end, and that little credit crunch issue still lingering, this is not the time to be sitting on the sidelines piling up interest expense.  Take control of your finances with a 0% APR balance transfer soon, as you may not be able to do so later.