Morning 9 am

In my experience with credit cards, getting a cash advance is not a good thing. There are usually high interest penalties. Every card is different though. You should have received an "agreement" when you applied for it. That agreement should tell you how much interest you have to pay back.

Many cards get you with no interest on purchases on the card for the first year and then slap you with 20% or more interest rate when that year ends. Not a big deal if you pay it off each month...very big deal if you accumulate debt during the year.

thanks for the info

Credit cards will charge 21-24% interest on cash, 19% on purchase; no charge - mostly - if you pay back the full amount within 20-30 days. If minimum payment is done monthly, above interest rates applied on the balance. Crittle: the one year no pay is offered on card fees by few banks, not on cash or purchase. in summary: avoid credit cards!

Adnan wrote:

Credit cards will charge 21-24% interest on cash, 19% on purchase; no charge - mostly - if you pay back the full amount within 20-30 days. If minimum payment is done monthly, above interest rates applied on the balance. Crittle: the one year no pay is offered on card fees by few banks, not on cash or purchase. in summary: avoid credit cards!

I didn't mean no pay. I was referring to 0% APR on purchases for the first year. Many of them exist. I have fallen victim myself. The banks rely on you spending money you don't have and carrying a balance you can't pay off, so they can then add a large amount of interest to the balance on month 13.

And I've never seen one that didn't charge for cash advances at any time.

im with the majority on this one; avoid credit cards altogether.

HB, only the Gulf Bank can inform u of their percentages and deductions exactly, the info u are getting here is general. i.e. generally if u repay the amount within a certain period u will bear no interest cost, that is true. withdrawing cash is NEVER advisable from a credit card, that is true.

the best use for credit cards is if u travel alot and do not prefer to carry cash. or if u are in Kuwait and want to buy an item shortly before your salary is debited to your account. that way the minute ur salary is there, all u need to do is pay the amount back to ur credit card to avoid racking up any interest.

fees for credit cards are about 20~25KD annually, that is the amount they waive off for the first year, to get u hooked, then they beat u senseless with the fees and interest rates.

so, unless u are in ABSOLUTE DIRE need, avoid the credit card. ur better off without it. banks will tell u tales till they are blue in the face about how useful and good it is, but in the end, it is to serve their interest, and not yours.