Seven Credit Card Company Secrets

Let's get one thing straight right off the bat: We're not against credit cards! We have a few ourselves, and we use them all the time. They're a wonderful convenience and for some things – such as online purchases – they're now essential.

What we are dead set against is the way many credit card companies try to take money out of your pocket and put it into theirs. Just thinking about the way some companies offer you the "opportunity" to rob your own future makes us livid.

No matter what your situation … whether you carry credit card debt or pay off your balance every month (if you do, way to go!) … the card issuers make it sound like a marriage made in heaven when they solicit your business. But they never tell you how much it will cost you down the line, in dollars and tears.

So we'll tell it like it is: The credit card companies are in business to make money – and they want more of your money.

We want you to be able to see right through the sneaky tricks your credit card company may try to pull. So here are seven secrets revealed – things you'll never hear from your credit card company – and our solutions to help you keep more of your own money:

Secret #1: Low-interest introductory rates seldom last very long.

Ah, the old "bait-and-switch" routine strikes again. Have you received any credit cards offers in the mail lately? Of course you have … and every one of them probably has a low introductory rate splashed all over it: "4% [or less] for six months!"

The idea is that a lower rate – even for a few months – will be enough to entice you to get on board. And it may be – if you don't know the full story.

How do you get the full story? In much, much smaller writing somewhere in the offer you'll find the "disclosure box," where they bury all the stuff they don't really want you to know. One of these things is that the super-low introductory rate they lured you in with may go up even before the special introductory period is over.

That's right. We found the following disclosures in the fine print of one offer: If payment is received late once during the introductory period, the rate will readjust to 12.99%. If, at any time, payment is received late twice in any six-month period, the rate will adjust to 19.99% or higher.