Make sure you carefully read the terms and conditions that come with your credit card. You may be getting more or less than what you bargained for.
When you use a credit card, you agree to the terms and conditions decided upon by the credit card provider. However, sometimes those terms are confusing and the conditions are vague. Here is a brief explanation of what all that fine print means.
APR: The Annual Percentage Rate is the amount of interest you pay on the balance of your credit card in one year?s time.
Introductory rate: The APR you pay for a certain number of months. Many credit cards offer an introductory 0% rate before charging you their normal rate.
Default rate: A higher-than-usual APR that your credit card company can charge against your balance if you?ve bounced a check or missed a payment. Some credit card companies also charge higher interest rates if you have a large balance.
Periodic rate: The amount of interest you are charged on a daily basis. Usually this is your APR divided by 365. By charging you interest every day, your credit card company accrues interest on the each previous day's interest.
Cash advance APR: Simply, the interest rate charged on any cash advances you make. Usually this number is substantially higher than your APR.
Balance transfer APR: Interest rate charged to balance transfers. This rate normally increases after a few billing cycles.
Grace period: The amount of days between the end of your billing period and when your payment is due -- you will not be charged interest on your balance at this time if you previously had a zero balance. Note: many credit card providers allow a "grace period" of a few days between when the bill is due and when they apply a late fee. These are two different things.
*See the online credit card application for details about terms and conditions of offer. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. When you click on the "Apply Here" button you can review the credit card terms and conditions on 's web site.