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BUSINESS Wednesday 11 september 2019
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Millennial Money: Decode your credit card terms like a pro

By MELISSA LAMBARENA vances, balance transfers
Associated Press or late payments. You can
Sifting through a credit avoid some of these fairly
card’s terms and condi- easily, but others may be
tions can be daunting. inevitable, depending on
The language isn’t always your habits. For example, if
straightforward, and it’s not your card carries a foreign
uncommon to feel lost. transaction fee, you’ll be
Two-thirds of consumers charged each time you
report fully understanding use it overseas.
credit cards’ rewards of- ARE THERE REWARD LIMITA-
ferings, according to J.D. TIONS?
Power’s 2019 Credit Card If your card offers a re-
Satisfaction Study . And wards program, its terms
cardholder satisfaction might be included in the
with issuers’ explanation of general card agreement
terms scored low in com- or in a separate document.
parison to other card fea- Here’s what to look for:
tures and services. — SIGN-UP BONUSES.
But the more you under- While these can be gener-
stand your card, the bet- ous, you’ll have to meet a
ter financial decisions you’ll spending threshold first —
make. “I’m big on calling typically several thousand
the company and asking dollars — within a certain
them to walk me through This Aug. 11, 2019 file photo shows Visa credit cards in New Orleans. time period. Don’t over-
it,” says Jamila Souffrant, Associated Press spend just to earn a bonus;
creator of Journey to certified financial planner balance transfers and cash of the expiration date. make sure you can truly
Launch, a personal finance at Yeske Buie, a financial advances. — ANNUAL FEES. Annual afford it, Abugideiri says. If
blog and podcast. planning firm. Start with the — INTEREST-FREE INTRO- fees are typical on rewards you plan to keep the card
Here’s what to think about Schumer box, a hard-to- DUCTORY OFFERS. Some cards or cards for those with long term, its ongoing re-
while navigating your miss table on the first page cards feature a 0% intro poor credit (typically credit wards will be more impor-
card’s fine print. of your card agreement APR offer that can help you scores of 629 or below). For tant than a one-time bo-
HOW MUCH WILL THE CARD that lists fees and interest finance a large purchase rewards cards, Souffrant nus.
COST? rates, including: — ANNUAL interest-free for a period says she looks for perks that — REDEMPTION VALUES.
You can understand the PERCENTAGE RATES. Your of time, or help you pay can offset the fee. Cards Terms and conditions often
long-term expenses of “standard variable APR for down an existing balance designed for poor credit note that reward values
carrying a credit card by purchases” is the interest faster by moving it to the usually don’t offer rewards. vary depending on what
reviewing the card agree- owed for purchases when card. Note that this is differ- A better choice might be you redeem for, but they
ment that comes with it. you carry a balance. Your ent from a deferred interest a no-annual-fee secured don’t always specify how
Identify every potential APR will vary based on the offer . In these cases, “in- credit card. These require a much each option is worth.
charge and stay organized. card and your creditwor- terest is actually accruing cash deposit upfront, typi- You may have to log in to
“Have all the material laid thiness, but the average and if you don’t pay the cally a few hundred dollars, your account or ask cus-
out in front of you, pull out APR in the second quarter entire balance off before which becomes your credit tomer service. Be aware
your highlighter, and iden- of 2019 for credit card ac- (the promotional period ex- limit. You get the money that some cards have mini-
tify the key pieces of infor- counts that incurred interest pires), you’re going to get back when you graduate mum required redemp-
mation that you need to was 17.14%. You can avoid socked retroactively with to an unsecured card or tions, meaning you can
be aware of — the inter- interest charges by pay- all of that interest,” says close the account in good only redeem “starting at
est rate, any fees, condi- ing your bill in full monthly. Chi Chi Wu, staff attorney standing. $25,” or “in $5 increments,”
tions, things of that nature,” Note that some cards have at the National Consumer — OTHER FEES. Look for for example.q
says Yusuf Abugideiri, a different APRs for things like Law Center. Make a note fees on things like cash ad-

US job openings fell 0.4% in July

By BANI SAPRA but have fallen by about bor market indicators, the that they are not as up-
Associated Press 400,000 since then. This is JOLTS report signals that beat as they were at some
WASHINGTON (AP) — The the second consecutive job market conditions are earlier stages of the expan-
number of open U.S. jobs month in which job open- reasonably healthy, but sion,” Silver said.q
slipped 0.4% in July, while ings have declined.
hires climbed slightly, a sign Still, total hiring edged up
that some employers may to 6 million. The number
be growing cautious amid of quits, which tends to in-
rising economic uncertain- crease when people are
ty. confident in the prospect
The Labor Department of finding a new job, rose
said Tuesday that employ- to 3.6 million.
ers advertised 7.22 mil- The figures point to a large-
lion available jobs in July, ly healthy job outlook, said
down from a revised 7.25 Daniel Silver, an economist
million in June. Job open- at JPMorgan Chase Bank,
ings reached a peak of in a note to clients.
7.6 million last November “Like many other recent la-