My friend told me tonight that she got suckered into getting an Aspire card. It gave her a teaser rate of 1.9% for several months, no annual fee, and no monthly fees. So she signed up for it. Then she got the card and read the fine print and it said that after the teaser rate, the a.p.r. would be 40% !!!!! She is not going to activate the card and is going to cancel it. Has anyone heard of such incredible interest rates? It just blows my mind. I thought 29% was the highest. I guess I am wrong. But come on, 40%?
I received an offer over the phone today, gave all of my information, the caller spoke very broken english; she was extremely polite. I didn't have the heart to ask many questions as it was obvious we were already having a hard time communicating. When the supervisor came on the phone to verify my information I asked for the fine details. I was being offered a $300 credit line, the acceptance fee was $112 and the program fee was $9 a month. I would need to pay $20 via an electronic check, or later mail in the money to activate the account. The best rate I could qualify for was 19.9% but based on my credit report it could be higher. The delinquency rate if two payments were late was 27.9% and would be lowered after six months of timely payments... at this point I declined the offer... she seemed very surprised I was not interested in building a good credit history.
NEVER!!!!!!!!!! AGAIN I SAY NEVER GIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION OVER THE PHONE FOR A PHONE CALL THAT YOU DID NOT MAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAVE THEM SEND YOU WRITTEN INFORMATION IN THE MAIL...
Good point George, it just had been a long time since anyone called asking for my info ... in the past such info equaled a gold card, not anymore (lol). From now on I will use your method. That way I can read the fine print before taking my chances, and at the very least save many potential problems.
Re: ASPIRE charging 40% a.p.r. !!!! well, she could keep it, enjoy the 1.9% rate and once the teaser rate period has passed, just cancel it. good luck!
Re: ASPIRE charging 40% a.p.r. !!!! ******************************************* **Aspire Visa** General Information Annual Percentage Rate: 18.25% Variable (Prime + 8.75) Grace Period: 25 Days Finance Charge Method: Average Daily Balance Fees/Other Disclosures: Late Fee: $35; Overlimit Fee: $35; Cash Advance Transaction Fee: 5% of total amount or $2, whichever is greater; Important APR/Reporting Information: IMPORTANT! Your APR may be as high as 20.25%, 22.25%, 25.25%, 28.25% or 35.50% (with a penalty APR as high as 41.50%) depending on your past credit history. Please note that your history is NOT automatically reported to the major credit bureaus. ********************************************* 41.50%?? WOW!!!
Re: ASPIRE charging 40% a.p.r. !!!! I WANT IT...I REALLY WANT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LET ME SEE..I CASH ADVANCE $5,000... PAY 5% FEE AND INTEREST @41.5%... FIRST MONTH BILL SAYS BALANCE DUE $5,422.92 MINIMUM PAYMENT IS 3% PAY $162.69 SECOND MONTH BILL $5,442.15 MINIMUM PAYMENT $163.26 THIRD MONTH BILL $5,462.46 MINIMUM PAYMENT $163.87 I SHOULD BE ABLE TO PAY THIS OFF IN 100 YEARS....NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HOPE THEY ARE WILLING TO INCREASE THE CREDIT LINE EVERY MONTH BECAUSE YOU NEVER WILL PAY ANY PRINCIPLE, UNLESS YOU PAY A LOT MORE THAN 3%!!!!!!!!!! NOTE: I ASSUME NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE MATH...AND IT IS SIMPLE INTEREST NOT COMPOUNDED DAILY...FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY. GOOD LUCK WITH THE ACCOUNT...
Re: ASS - PIRE I still choke every time I even think about 41.75%. I bet they give paycheck advances too!
Re: ASPIRE charging 40% a.p.r. !!!! I also was looking at your math and was thinking about the cash advance fee: $2 or 5% whichever is greater - the ONLY WAY you would ever pay less than 5% is if you cash advanced $20.
