CreditSesame.com (http://www.creditsesame.com), the fast-growing personal finance and credit education resource site, announced findings today that reveal consumers are still missing out on credit card savings despite numerous services available to help them. Because choosing the right credit card can be complicated but shouldnt be, Credit Sesame also announced the launch of its credit card matching service that will help consumers find the card thats best for their financial situation. Credit Sesame takes the guesswork out of finding the right credit card by analyzing the consumers existing financial profile, goals and credit score to provide credit card recommendations best fit for their individual needs.
The study analyzed over 1.6 million existing credit card accounts and found two distinct groups of cardholdersthose interested in saving money through the best rates and those interested in the best rewards program offers:
Balance transfer fees for 0% offers declined from 3.25% to 2.95%. This is the first time the average fees have dipped below 3% since Sept 2010. Fees are now 12% lower than last year. The average duration of 0% APR balance transfer credit card offers declined slightly in February, according to the SmartBalanceTransfers.com monthly survey of online balance transfer offers. The sharp decline in balance transfer fees in February is largely the result of limited time, no fee balance transfer offers available from Discover and Chase. When these two cards are excluded from the index, average balance transfer fees jump from 2.95% to 3.25%.
The driving force behind the decline in average balance transfer lengths in February was a reduction in 0% introductory periods by Citibank from 21 months to 18 months. This tightening impacted three offers in the survey and dragged down average 0% balance transfer durations to an even 12 months, the lowest level recorded since May of 2011 and a modest decrease from Januarys average of 12.2 months.
At present, Citibanks three 18 month 0% balance transfer offers along with an 18 month offer from Discover are the longest available, while both Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank continue to offer the shortest offers surveyed with 6 month durations.
According to Jeffrey Weber, Editor & Chief Card Analyst at Smart Balance Transfers, In terms of offer quality, February is by far the best month for consumers in the market for balance transfers since the credit crisis. However, the shortening of 0% promotional periods by Citibank this month may mark the beginning of a downward move in introductory periods amongst all major issuers.
Additionally, Mr. Weber points out that because no fee balance transfer offers from Chase and Discover are being offered as limited time promotions, the window for consumers to obtain what are essentially the best balance transfer offers available in years may be closing shortly.
About the SBT 0% Balance Transfer Offer Index
Updated monthly, the SBT 0% Balance Transfer Offer index reflects the average fee and promotional period for a basket of 22 credit card offers. These offers represent all banks included in the J.D. Power annual credit card satisfaction survey, including Citibank, Chase, Discover, Capital One, Bank of America, Barclays, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank.
Additional commentary on this month’s report can be found at http://www.smartbalancetransfers.com/blog/2012/02/february-2012-balance-transfer-credit-card-report-804/
About SmartBalanceTransfers.com
Founded in 2007, SmartBalanceTransfers.com – http://www.smartbalancetransfers.com/ – is a leading destination for consumers seeking targeted information on balance transfer credit cards. SmartBalanceTransfers.com provides consumers with in depth analysis of credit card offers as well as expert advice and tools to help consumers make wise choices when transferring credit card balances.
Dr. Hersh Shefrin, renowned behavioral economist and author of Beyond Greed and Fear, has been retained by Chase to offer tips about how you can use Chase Blueprint to keep your finances back on track. Design a plan for your Chase credit card at www.chase.com Video Rating: 5 / 5
Image by swanksalot Some bogus charges, not all pictured, totaling 3, hopefully to be (eventually) reversed by our bank. To our bank’s credit, they alerted us before we noticed the charges.
As far as I know, this card has never been used for a Paypal transaction, before these ones.
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