0% APR credit cards - do you guys take advantage of it?

[~bs]

So I needed to get another credit card for my business. They insta-approved with a $25k limit (guess my credit must be decent). According to the terms of the card, I have 0% apr for new charges and balance transfers for 15 months.

So unless I'm missing something, I can rack up $25k in charges (paying minimum monthly), then pay the entire thing off before 15 months. The money I would have used to pay off the card monthly can go into a high yield savings account until I'm ready to pay it off. Do you guys incorporate these types of offers in your financial planning?

[bjl584]

This was a thing 10 or 12 years years ago during the days of zero charges for balance transfers and cash advances. With savings rates over 5%, one could make some nice risk-free money.
You aren't going to come out too far ahead these days though. Probably not worth the effort.

[~bs]

^

Yeah i dont really care about my credit score. We'll see. I might end up drawing the same conclusion as you. haha

[disneysteve]

I used to play those games years ago but I haven't bothered for a long time. The effort required vs. the money saved just isn't worth it to me anymore. At this point, I prefer to keep things simple.

Keep in mind that credit utilization ratio is a big factor in your credit score. Even if they are giving you a 25K credit line, that doesn't mean you want to go and max it out as that will negatively affect your score. You never really want to charge more than 20-30% of your limit, so up to about $7,500 in this case. Now if you aren't concerned with your score, sure you could suck out the entire 25K and drop it in an account earning 2.2% or more, just make the minimum monthly payment, and collect all the interest. If it's worth the effort for you, go for it.