Feras Alhlou breaks down how 0% APR credit offers trap business owners. The rate jumps to 26.24% after 18 billing cycles, targeting people with good credit who think they can pay it off in time. He says only use it if you have an accountability partner and absolute discipline.
If you're a founder or a business owner and you're in a financial bind, do not use an offer like this if you get it in the mail. It's a very attractive offer. You get 0 APR, no annual fee, and then you can have purchases and balance transfers for 18 billing cycles. The catch is after 18 months, the APR is 26.24%. So think 10 times before you apply for a credit like this, especially if you have a solid credit score. That's when you get these offers and then you end up transferring a lot of the balances to this card, and then you're hit with this obnoxious criminal APR. The only time it's okay to use these offers is if you are very, very financially disciplined and you have an accountability partner who will make sure that you're making payments toward this balance before they're due.
