What is the catch with zero interest for 12 month credit cards?

Answer 1

They are counting on you either:

1. messing up and being late
2. not being able to pay the debt off in 12 months and then being too lazy to move it again
3. charging more because you have that credit card (then your payments go against the new charges first and your debt remains)

They want your balance with them so that when the rate expires you pay them interest.

good luck!

Answer 2

The catch is:
-if you are late with a payment, you lose the 0% rate.
-if you go over your limit, you lose the 0% rate
-if you are carrying a balance on the card that does draw interest -- like if you had $500 on the card at a regular APR and transferred $1000 at 0% -- your payment will be applied to the 0% portion first. So your original $500 balance will just sit there and compound interest until you have paid off the entire 0% portion
-cash advances are never included in the 0% rate

-If this is a store credit card -- like a furniture store -- they often have a catch that there is no interest for 12 months IF you pay it off in full before the 12 months is up. If you don't pay it off in time, they will hit you with all 12 months of accrued interest from the date of purchase.

Answer 3

There is no catch. It is 0 interest for 12 months as long as you pay the balance in full. If you don't than they can charge finance fees from the time of the transaction. Use credit wisely. It is killing our economy right now.

Answer 4

Most peolpe don't get the item paid off within the interest free period so they get caught out when the 27% (or whatever) interest rate kicks in....as long as gets paid before the time ends it's ok.... better to pay cash tho & get a discount...