You don’t necessarily have to keep up with the balance transfer or cash advance rate if you know you’ll never make those types of transactions. However, you should keep up with the interest rate for purchases. Watch your credit card statement and billing statement inserts to keep track of changes to your rate. If you’re more than 60 days late on your payment, your card issuer is allowed to impose the penalty rate, which might be 29.99% or higher. Know your penalty rate. While credit card issuers are required to lower your penalty rate after you’ve made six consecutive timely payments, they are allowed to continue applying the penalty rate to new purchases. Make sure you know if this applies to your credit card. In addition to knowing how to earn rewards, you should also know how to redeem them. Your card issuer may automatically redeem your rewards once you’ve accumulated a certain amount. Or, you may have to visit a special website to redeem your rewards.
