Credit cards can be extremely valuable for consumers. They can give you a way to essentially pay for items and have up to 30 days before the money needs to come out of your bank account. They can also help you earn free or discounted travel all over the world. No matter how you use a credit card there is one thing that every user hates. And it’s the different fees that can be charged.
Here are four different fees that you should never pay and ways that you can avoid them.
Annual Fees
There are a few handfuls of credit cards that don’t come with an annual fee however there are also quite a few that do have a fee. Most of these are reward cards that have high earning potential. That doesn’t mean you should be paying this fee each year. A lot of cards will waive the annual fee for the first year, but then you need to figure out what you are going to do every year after.
The rewards that you would earn from the credit card would need to be pretty outstanding to justify paying the annual fee. If it’s not worth it, then try calling the issuer when the fee is going to be assessed to your account. Let them know that you really like all the benefits that the card has to offer you, but you are not sure it’s worth it for you to pay the annual fee. A lot of times they will extend an offer with the hopes that you will accept and keep the card. Most of the time the offer will include a statement credit in the amount of your annual fee.
Foreign Transaction Fees
It’s never fun to be traveling outside of the United States only to find out that you are going to be charged a fee just to be able to use your credit card. Luckily a lot of the major issuers are starting to do away with this fee. The simple solution is to pack a card without these foreign transaction fees and leave the others safely at home.
Late Fees
Let’s face it, sometimes life can get the best of us and we forget to make a payment on time. One of the easiest ways to avoid this fee is to come up with a system that works best for you. One way might be to make payments on your account each Monday. That way you can make sure your account is always paid off and you never miss a payment. Another way is to set up an automatic payment with your bank. No matter which way you chose you will avoid the dreaded late payment fee forever.
Cash Advance Fee
Another fee that you should never pay is a cash advance fee. The interest that you will pay on this will be outrageous. The best way to avoid this is to call up your credit card issuer and ask them to lower your cash advance limit to $0. This will eliminate your ability to ever pay this fee.
If you have been paying these fees on any of your credit cards then today is the day you make a change. Follow these simple tips and you will eliminate all unnecessary fees from your credit cards forever.
