Balance Transfer

One of the great things about living in the United States is that for most people who are responsible with their finances, there are lots of banks offering all kinds of credit for consumers, including lots of excellent credit card offers.

Despite an ongoing credit crunch in the United States and around the world, there are still many consumer-friendly credit card deals available in the American market.  0% credit cards are exceedingly popular, as they offer a break from paying interest on credit card debt for up to 15 months.  With all the Christmas spending going on now, many American consumers will soon feel the sting of credit card debt, and will be looking for ways to avoid budget-busting interest charges.  0% credit cards are the answer.

Consumers should look for zero percent credit cards that don't charge a fee transferring balances.  These highly coveted cards are still available today, even with certain business credit cards.

Currently, the most popular credit card on the www.BalanceTransfer.cc website is the Citi Home Rebate Platinum Select MasterCard, which offers a 0% intro APR rate on initial credit card balance transfers for 12 months (this card now charges a nominal fee for transferring balances.)

With the Home Rebate Platinum Select MasterCard, Citi will forward a cardholder's accumulated rebate dollars to the cardholder's mortgage company, on an annual basis. If a cardholder doesn't have a mortgage, Citi will issue a statement credit instead.

"Years ago, the standard method for building home equity was to pay down your mortgage principal," said Steve Brown, who is a content manager at the BalanceTransfer.cc website. "Nowadays, many homeowners across the country are relying on the value of their property rising over time as a way of building home equity, which, of course, is backfiring because home prices in many parts of the country have been frozen and even declining.

"A couple of years ago, many homeowners were using the equity in their home as an ATM machine. Now that the housing correction is in full swing, Americans are trying to find ways to put money back into their homes. Home equity-related issues, specifically lack of equity or negative equity, can make it virtually impossible for a homeowner to sell, refinance or get a second mortgage. Not being able to sell or refinance one's home is tantamount to crippling the American dream.

"Homeowners who are having trouble selling or refinancing, or who are finding it very difficult to get a loan backed by the property they own, like a home equity loan or a home equity line of credit, should do whatever they can to pay down their first mortgage. A quality credit card featuring a rebate program that passively helps to pay down a homeowner's mortgage balance can help. What's great about the Citi Home Rebate card is that it's issued by a highly reputable bank, and, currently, it's a card to which consumers can transfer non-Citi credit card balances, pay no interest on the transferred balance for 12 months," Brown added.

Angelo Mozilo, CEO of Countrywide Financial, which is the nation's #1 home-loan lender by volume, recently commented that he doesn't believe a recovery for the U.S. housing sector is likely to materialize before 2009. And according to the recently released Standard & Poor's/Case-Schiller index, home prices in the Unites States dropped by 3.2% between the second quarter of 2006 and Q2, 2007, the sharpest decline ever for the index. Gauging by the S&P/Case-Shiller index, economists at the investment bank Goldman Sachs expect that home prices will fall by 7% this year, and by a further 7% in 2008.

"Most of us use credit cards to pay for the things we want and need in life, so why not use a card that can help a homeowner pay down their mortgage balance?" Brown continued. "Building home equity is as hard as ever in the current real estate environment, so homeowners should take advantage of any tool out there that can lend a helping hand.

"Of course, as with any credit card, all the standard caveats apply. Consumers should utilize payment scheduling and automatic payments so as to ensure that payments are never late. Consumers should also make a concerted effort to pay their entire credit card balance in full whenever their statement arrives, so as to avoid getting bogged down with debt and interest charges," said Brown.

The terms and conditions associated with any credit card, including the Citi Home Rebate Platinum Select MasterCard, are not written in stone, so it's always a good idea to review thoroughly a credit card's current terms before applying.