Do you know how your credit card works?

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › Do you know how your credit card works?

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floydbloke

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#668408 6-Aug-2012 16:03

ajobbins:
You would be surprised at what they will give you.

Wasn't that one of the catalysts for the GFC, insititutions lending money to people that can't afford to pay it back. Have they tightened up on this at all when it comes to handing out CC limits?

I'm trying to instill in the kids (13 & 15) never to borrow money for non-essential items, and continue the message about compound interest. Whether they will heed the advice...remains to be seen I guess.

Sometimes I use big words I don't always fully understand in an effort to make myself sound more photosynthesis.

ajobbins

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#668436 6-Aug-2012 16:36

floydbloke:Wasn't that one of the catalysts for the GFC, insititutions lending money to people that can't afford to pay it back. Have they tightened up on this at all when it comes to handing out CC limits?

Suspect they have tightened this up now, but still probably no drama getting a $1k or less limit.

I got a card from NBNZ when I was in 7th form with a $500 limit. I made like $80 a week at the time. That was a few years before the GFC, tho.

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StarBlazer

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#668442 6-Aug-2012 16:40

I understand Kiwi Bank are doing a balance transfer deal.

Procrastination eventually pays off.

tardtasticx

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#668469 6-Aug-2012 17:08

Lol so just got back from the bank, thanks for your advice about looking at balance transfer deals. Got a KiwiBank Mastercard with like 2% or something for the first 6 months on balances transferred so I'm just waiting to be approved for that. Should hopefully ease my mind a bit.

Jaxson

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#668672 7-Aug-2012 07:26

jonb:
You also need to be careful doing balance transfers too - don't use this card to make any purchases until you've paid off the balance transfer. This is how I got stung.

Any purchases you make are charged at full interest, but there is no way to pay them off until you pay all the balance trasfer amount first.

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This is a actually a really key point to note.

StarBlazer

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#668680 7-Aug-2012 08:08

Jaxson:
jonb:
You also need to be careful doing balance transfers too - don't use this card to make any purchases until you've paid off the balance transfer. This is how I got stung.

Any purchases you make are charged at full interest, but there is no way to pay them off until you pay all the balance trasfer amount first.

+1

This is a actually a really key point to note.

Not always the case. Check with your card provider - This is on the KiwiBank web page;

Switch to a Kiwibank MasterCard™ and pay only 2.99% p.a. for the first six months on the transferred balance and new purchases.

But like I say - check with the card provider.

Procrastination eventually pays off.

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Jaxson

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#668713 7-Aug-2012 09:22

Yeah good point StarBlazer. I think kiwibanks is all encompassing probably due to it only being 6 months. Westpac's was for a year or two and in that case all repayments were on the initial transferred portion only.

But yes, message is basically just to check the details and see if it's actually going to be good for you.

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