Credit card bills can be expensive. Sometimes they can be simply too expensive. Depending on how you use your credit cards, and how much you spend, and how disciplined and controlled you are over your own spending, you may or may not have trouble paying your credit card bills when it comes to the end of the month and the bill arrives in the mail. No matter what your situation is however, there is always one thing you will not, under any circumstances, want to see on your monthly credit card bill, and that is a credit card fee.
There are different types of credit card fee and different reasons for incurring them, but the good news is that many of them can be avoided by simply following a few simple rules and keeping on top of your finances and bills. The most important way to minimise the fees you receive from your credit card company is to pay your bill on time and in full each month. Generally if you do this, you will be charged no interest of finance charges at all, and will be receiving all the benefits of a credit card and over a month of credit absolutely free. If you are one of the lucky customers who can manage to maintain your account in this way, you will be very lucky.
However, many people cannot pay their account in full each month, therefore, they incur the most common of all credit card fees, and this is finance charges. Credit card companies actually charge very high interest rates to their customers so if you have the option of borrowing in other ways that may be cheaper it is recommended that you use these methods if you are planning on needing the money for more than a couple of months. It is far cheaper to pay back a short-term loan than to maintain a large credit card balance.
Another credit card fee is a late fee for when you are late in making your monthly payment. Many people who have more than enough money to make their repayments simply through a lack of organisation miss payments and incur large fees. If you are late in making your repayment because you don't have enough money to make it you may need some debt counselling or other advice to help you manage your way out of this situation.
There are many other fees that your credit card company can impose upon you depending on the company, but being aware of how they are calculated and what sets them off is probably all you need to know to be able to avoid incurring them in the future.
Credit card companies are in the business of making money. It really is that simple. They earn their money through two principle methods. One is through the finance charges that they levy when you make purchases on the card, and the other method is through the use of credit card fees. It should be understood that these are not one in the same. They are different, and knowing more about the fees that a company charges (or does not charge) its customers can help you save money.
Credit card fees can (and do) vary from one company to the next. There is no set schedule for credit card fees. This makes it very important for consumers to read carefully the literature that is supplied by the company in order to know exactly what you will be billed for during the course of your association with the company.
Some of the more common types of fees include
Annual Fees
Many credit card companies are moving away from this particular fee, but there are still some that use it. The annual fee is generally just a yearly fee, billed monthly, for having the card. Whenever possible, you should avoid credit card companies that charge an annual fee. You get nothing but the card in return for this payment.
Set Up Fee
This, too, is becoming less popular with most companies, meaning they do not charge it any longer. Again, however, there may be some companies that do charge a fee for setting up your account. Read carefully exactly what the fee is and the explanation that the company offers for charging this fee. You may find that working with another company that does not charge this initial fee is a good idea.
Cash Advance Fee
This is one fee that you will find with many credit card companies. This fee is applied to your account if you take a cash advance from the card. It can be a flat fee or it can be a percentage of the cash amount. Keep in mind that this is in addition to any finance charge the company will levy as well.
Late Payment Fee
This fee is assessed when you make a late payment. The trigger date for this fee is the "due date" as it is stated on the bill.
Transfer Balance Fee
Not all companies will charge this fee, but some will. This fee is levied when you transfer a balance from one credit card to another one.
Exceeding the Limit Fee
This fee may be assessed should you exceed your credit limit. Modern technology has made it harder to exceed your limit in that online approval or disapproval from the company is immediate.
Increase Limit Fee
Some companies will charge a small fee when you want to increase your credit limit. Not all do, but some will want to charge this fee.
Bad Check Fee
As with most companies, if you send a bad check the credit card company will usually want to charge for this.
These are just some of the possible fees that a credit card company may charge to your account. It is important to read their literature carefully in order to know what they will charge for and what they do not charge for.
Peter Kenny has sinced written about articles on various topics from Credit Cards, Finances and Best Money Market. Peter Kenny is a writer for creditcards-gb For additional articles and an extensive resource for everything about credit cards, please visit us at