My hubby got a 'pre-qualified acceptance certificate' in the mail today from BOA. I was reading all the nasty 'ol fine print and am confused. No annual fee, at least 20 days grace period and the card offers 2.9% fixed APR until July ,2002.. then it goes to a variable apr, currently between 13.49% and 18.49%. When we were young and dumb and bought our house, it was an adjustible rate. Payments started out at $472/month and over the course of 8 years landed up at $632. The rate just kept going up, up, up regardless of when the news indicated that rates were going down. So I am not a fan of adjustable rates, but maybe I'm missing something. *Why* would someone want a card with an adjustable rate? Are there some sort of benefits that I'm over looking? At this point, I'd be scared to bother with this card. Insights? Thoughts? Ozzy.
I think the fixed rate of BofA card is better than Variable rate in my own opinion. I didn't get pre-approved from BofA and I applied for Bof A 9.9% Platinium Card. I was approved. The variale rate can be somewhere from 13.49% to 18.49% depends on your credit history. You took it the worst case is 18.49% and it is pretty high rate for the prime card. Fixed Rate is better than Variable Rate Ron.
BofA will issue the card at a rate in between those, and, if it's variable, look further in the fine print to see what they use to calculate the rate - like x.xx% over prime - there are 2 or 3 things they can use to calculate variable rates. I think the way they do their solicitations is very up front and ethical, They don't promise you a low rate and then hit you with a high rate claiming you didn't qualify for the low one, instead, they give you the range of rates they will issue on that card. They are great to deal with, you can negotiate with them just like any other issuer. Their pre-approvals really are "firm offers of credit," so unless his credit has changed since they got their info, he will get the card. I can't recall ever having seen anyone on any board post negative info about the BofA cards or CC service.
Breeze, I had both their Platinium Cards and everytime I asked them to increase my credit limit. They approved it instantly on the phone. Their Customer service is good and they always say that they appreciated my busines because I had a couple of accounts with them. Their cards didn't have any other rewards except low fixed 9.9%. (the one that I have) Ron.
Either way the Bank win. Either fixed rate or variable rate is subject to change when the prime is changed. Ron.
Well, he got approved for $2,000... I think we're gonna ditch his Cap1 Gold card with a $1500 limit on it with a rate of 16.3% and keep this card 'til at least July and take advantage of that 2.9% on balance transfers and new purchases. If I'm thinking correctly, since his Cap 1 card is only a year old and they don't report your limit, this should theoretically raise his score, yes? Then after July when that variable apr comes into play, we can 1)see if they'll give us a fixed rate 2) just have the card for the ratio aspect or 3)move on to another card. I don't think that ditching a card we've had a year is gonna be a big point problem, since we've credit dating back over 10 years.. is that accurate?? Thanks for all your insights! Very helpful!!! =-) Oh.. and just an fyi to anyone wondering... we're in PA and they pulled Experian (our best... hubby's at 695 tonight). Ozzy.
Great!! Did they tell you what your rate is now? Their variable will go up and down with the economic indicator. My Mom has their platinum card. I wish I did (they turned me down - inquiries) check equifax here (everyone does). I will try again later.
Nope.. no mention of what the rate will be after that.. just in the disclosure somewhere between 13. something and 18 point something.. .not good, considering our credit union visa is at 9.9 and my cap1 (with a whopping $1300 limit!) is at 10.63, but even if it's some crazy rate, the 7 months @ 2.9% will be groovy, so we'll just take it as it comes and see if they're able to offer something better after the 2.9% expires. I hope they do... seems like everyone likes BOA. Ozzy.
