Credit cards can be good or bad, it all depends on how you use them. If you let them use you, you're doomed. Make them work for you. Pay off your balance every month and on time and never get close to your limit. If you follow these simple rules, you'll never be subjected to tactics like these:
For example, many banks calculate finance charges using what's called double-cycle billing, a confusing practice that averages out the balance from your previous two bills. So if you carry a balance and pay a finance charge one month, you'll get hit with a finance charge on your next bill as well, even if you've paid off the balance.Yes, credit card companies want to squeeze every fee from you. But they've clearly, if not in BIG BOLD RED LETTERS, detailed all of the fees and charges they may levy against you in the Terms & Conditions (Ts & Cs, in credit card lingo) that you agreed to when you opened the account. It's in the fine print, of course.
Get familiar with the Ts & Cs. Or obey the rules above and never be concerned with them.
I do agree that some of the tactics credit card companies use are ridiculous. It's true that you don't necessarily know the Ts & Cs until after you open the account. This is completely ridiculous.
BUT KNOW THIS: The credit card companies all employ similar tactics; take the worst offenders and apply their tactics to your particular account and you will never be hit with these fees.
If you're concerned about late charges, and the domino fees and charges that accrue thereafter, put your finances on autopilot.
Drowning in debt: Deceptive credit card practices: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance
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