Here’s a balance transfer warning: what to look out for when you are transacting balance transfers on your credit card account.

If you read my post on “balance transfer nightmares” then you may remember that there are three kinds of balance transfers. In that post , I described the nightmare that can occur with type three, in which you order a “direct” check made out to yourself.

Today’s tip relates to the second type of balance transfer check, one that you make out to a third party payee.

While this is not – necessarily – the nightmare that the previous problem I described can be, it still is a hassle that has the potential to steal lots of your time and destroy your peace of mind before you get it sorted out.

Yet, it can be avoided with a little planning on your part. Let me explain with a useful example. [Read more →]

If you are juggling funds and it would help you to skip a credit card cycle, you might see if you can take advantage of a glitch that sometimes happens with some credit card company software.

This glitch can occur when you update your personal information on a credit card account.  When it does occur, the update messes  up your credit card billing cycle and creates a credit card billing problem.

If you update your address on your credit card, including changing your zip code, the agent will probably warn you that this may cause a small change to your statement and due date (less than three days difference earlier or later.)

What he doesn’t tell you is that the software being used can  cause an account to completely lose a billing cycle. This can mean, for example, that in the month following the “update” there will be no billing. Whatever you owe for that month will just get added on to the next cycle. Everyone in the business knows that this happens, but I’ve never heard an explanation as to what causes it. [Read more →]