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Unprecedented Credit Interest Rates For Hard-Up Shoppers
By Ian Iowek
High credit rate hikes lie in store for the poor and vulnerable who wish to borrow to make their festive season a happy and memorable one. The Christmas Holidays are generally a time for genuine profit for all businesses and in fact, some shops will admit to making most of their profits around this time. This includes credit card companies, banks and above all loan predators.
For the lucky ones who have some form of savings or have saved towards this season, there are no worries. However, for those who have not prepared but intend to borrow to enjoy the Christmas season, things can get tricky if not costly, much later one. As usual, there are many spend-now-pay-later schemes not to mention buy-now-pay-later offers that floods the market this season. In fact, one UK company, Shopacheck, is selling vouchers from major brand name shops and clients do not have to pay a dime until the New Year.
Sounds like a very good idea at first, especialy when can instantly obtain all your holidays presents without breaking any sweat. All you need to do is spread the cost over a certain period. Now here's where the catch is: sky-high interest of historic proportions. For instance, a borrower of 400.00 ($790.00) will end up paying around 550.00 ($1050.00) this well over 70% interest! Someone repaying this at a rate of 5.00 ($9.00) a week will not finish paying for it by next Christmas.
In addtion, we should not forget that voucher companies like Shopacheck buy theie goods at wholesale prices. Thus, not only are they making money reselling them, they are raking in even more profits with the spend-now-pay-later scheme. This is in the wake of the collapse of a well known Christmas hamper company, Farepak, just before Christmas, which left some unease in these Christmas Clubs who seem to think of themselves rather than their clients who save hard-earned money throughout the year in the hope of celebrating the Holidays in style.
Needless to say, the big brand-name shops whose vouchers are being sold in this scandalous way have sought to distance themselves. Some say Shopacheck is buying it through an agency, others deny being connected to them at all while some have offered to investigate this further. As for Shopacheck, they claim they are not doing anything against the law and that customers know exactly what's on offer as they do not hide anything.
This goes to show that, in the end the consumer is responsible, and should be aware when dealing with companies like these. Any missed payment in the future can affect your credit history. Shopacheck claim they do not chase people when they miss payment. However, no one knows which credit agency they report to. A bad credit history can mean being denied a home loan or auto loan in the future when you actually need it.
To reduce debt or avoid it altogether this season can be tricky if plans were not made earlier. Nevertheless, it is best not to use credit card for festive shopping unless you have to. Debit cards are far better. Should you use your credit card, then it will be good to pay it off when the next bill arrives or as quickly as possible to avoid paying any interest. There is still hope however, if your credit is totally messed up, credit repair is available as the last resort to improve credit rating.
About the Author
By Ian Iowek Credit Repair Advisor
Find Free Do It Yourself Credit Fix and Credit Cards Info at Cheap-Credit-Cards.org
Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/article/45620.html
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