Retire Your Credit Card Debt With Citi Simplicity Card - No Late Fees Ever
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The best thing that you can do with your credit card is to always pay your entire balance in full and on time. If you do not pay your balance in full, you will incur interest on the average daily balance of all of your charges. And if your payment is not made on time, you will be charged a late fee, and your card's interest rate will be raised to what is called the penalty interest rate.
But there is one credit card on the market that is designed to help cardholders avoid these problems, at least temporarily. The Citi Simplicity® Card - No Late Fees Ever from our partner Citi offers new applicants 21 months of interest free financing on balance transfers and 12 months for purchases. In addition, cardholders are never subjected to late fees or a penalty interest rate.
Why We Like This Card
- 0% intro APR for 21 months on balance transfers
- No late fees or penalty rates
How This Card Works
New cardholders are offered 0% APR promotional financing on purchases for 12 months and balance transfers for 21 months, but there is a balance transfer fee. (Balance transfer fee applies with this offer 5% of each balance transfer; $5 minimum.) Qualifying balance transfers must be made within four months of opening an account, and cardholders must still make monthly minimum payments.
After the promotional financing terms end, interest will accrue at the regular variable ratee.
Other Benefits
Shopping benefits. Despite its name, this card is anything but a no-frills product. For example, purchases you make on the card are covered by an extended warranty program that adds one year to manufacturer's warranties of five years or less.
Citi Price Rewind. All purchases are eligible to participate in Citi's Price Rewind program that will refund the difference in price of a registered purchase that is discovered within 60 days of the original purchase.
Pros
Longest intro APR. 21 months of 0% interest for balance transfers is the longest offer of its kind currently on the market. If a cardholder utilizes this offer as part of a comprehensive plan to pay off as much debt as possible, this can be a fantastic deal.
No late fees or penalty rates. It is nice to see a bank take a less punitive approach by getting rid of late fees and penalty interest rates.
Cons
May encourage financial irresponsibility. Customers should not interpret Citi's generosity as an invitation to be irresponsible. Even without late fees and penalty interest rates, making late payments is a bad habit that will hurt your credit score. Furthermore, those who use promotional financing offers to postpone paying off their debt will eventually see this practice catch up with them with devastating results. (See also: 5 Best Credit Cards with 0% Intro APR for Balance Transfers)
Who This Card Is Best For
This is the card for those who realize that they have not been using credit cards as well as they should have. I am talking about those of us with credit card debt — approximately two-thirds of Americans, as well as those who sometimes make a payment late.
I strongly encourage such cardholders to use a card like this as an opportunity to change lax credit habits for good, not as tool to continue the same patterns. Start avoiding late payments today by setting up automatic electronic bill payment with your bank. Create a realistic budget that pays off as much of your credit card debt as possible within 21 months. And then get a card like this one so you can save hundreds of dollars in interest, late fees, and penalties.
Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
