Long term low rate credit cards

Long term low rate credit cards are credit cards that don’t just have a low advertised rate but they have a guarantee that the rate will stay low.
There are many low rate credit cards on offer.  The why these credit cards can be offered is that they strip out many of the extra benefits of credit cards, such as free insurance and rewards programs.  These cards do include some programs, such as the zero liability guarantees that are offered by both VISA and MasterCard, who will guarantee that a card holder will not be liable for any unauthorized transactions.

The low rate credit cards are often found through best buy tables either in the newspapers or on comparison sites.  The problem with taking the cheapest credit card can be that a credit card may start to increase their interest rates once the credit card has the requisite number of customers.

Long term low rate credit cards are designed to be able to have a low rate for a long period of time.  This is usually over a period of two to five years, although it can be longer and at times there are cards that guarantee that the rates will stay low forever.  There are two types of low rate cards, those that are set at a certain absolute rate for a period, for example 12%, while there are also cards that are set at a certain margin to the prime rate.

The long term low rate cards are good for disorganized borrowers who are not prepared to simply go from card to card when the very low rate offers run out.  This is also the case for people who are repairing their credit records as multiple applications for credit cards can lower credit scores and it may also be the case that credit cards in general tighten criteria across the board (as they did at the start of the credit crunch) and so make it virtually impossible to get replacement credit.  For an organized borrower with a strong credit score it will almost always be the case that it is possible to beat the long term low interest rates.

Many of the long term low rates are offering simplicity and so they will tend to offer all round low rates. That is, the same rate is charged for balance transfers as for spending on the card.  This will not apply to cash advances.