| If you are like most people,
you probably have a credit card in you wallet that you applied for
years ago, and never really thought much about replacing. You
will probably change your mind, however, when you learn of some of
the amazing credit card offers that the major providers of credit
cards have made available. Listed below are a number of the
most popular credit card offers available, along with explanations of
their benefits and how they work. Balance Transfer Credit Cards: With interest rates at near historic lows, and many holders of older credit cards tied to high interest rates that were set when they first obtained their credit cards, many banks and credit card companies have been able to offer special deals to lure customers away from their old credit card and to apply for new credit cards. Balance transfer credit cards are designed for people who have credit card debt and pay a lot in interest to their current credit cards. When you sign up for a balance transfer credit card, you transfer your balance from your old card (where you must make large interest payment every month) to the new card, which may charge you no interest at all on transferred balances and debt. Many balance transfer credit cards will not charge any interest at all on transferred balances for an introductory period of 6, 12 or 18 months, and there are even some balance transfer cards that will not charge you any interest at all until the transferred balances are paid in full. If you have credit card debt, why pay interest to your credit card, when you can apply for a credit card that charges you no interest at all? Cash Rebate Credit Cards: (aka cash rewards credit cards or cash back credit cards) There are a number of credit card offers that will provide cash rebates on every purchase you make using the credit card. Usually, you can earn either a flat or scaled percentage of every purchases you make using the cash rebate credit card. Some credit cards offer up to 5% rebates on purchases you make! Depending on the credit card offer, you may receive a direct credit to your bill on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis, or you may even request that a check for the cash rebate be sent to you. Many credit card companies also have partnerships with large retailers to allow you to request that your cash rebate be provided in the form of store gift cards, often providing you up to 200% of the cash rebate value worth of purchasing credit onto a gift card. So if you earn $100 in cash rebates, you could request a $100 credit be applied to your credit card bill, you could request a $100 check be mailed to you, or you could even request a $100, $150, or $200 gift card to a participating retailer, depending on the program. These cards are similar in concept to cash rebate credit cards. They typically provide a relatively high cash rebate, usually equivalent to around 5% of gas purchases. So if you spend $30 to fill up your gas tank, you would earn a gas rebate of $1.50. If you drive a lot or have a long commute, you will appreciate how quickly these gas rewards will add up. Gas rebate cards also usually allow you to accumulate rebates on non-gasoline related purchases, although often at a lower rate, maybe 1 to 2 percent. Similar to cash rebate cards, you often have several options on how your gas rebate can be paid out to you. Typically, you can request that it be applied to your bill, lowering your balance, you can request that you be sent a rebate check, or you can often request that the rebate be sent to you on a gift card from a participating retailer, often providing up to $2 on the gift card for every dollar you earned on your gas rebate credit card.
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