Secret Credit Card Interest Rate-Hike Revealed!

Did you know that your credit card company can monitor your credit history to find out if you're making payments late to ANY creditor? With some card companies this late payment to another vendor can trigger an interest rate hike up to 29.99% on your card, according to Gerri Detweiler, author of The Ultimate Credit Handbook and co-founder of credittraps.com.

The enclosure with your bill has to disclose that a "universal default clause" allows them to apply a default rate, which generally ranges from about 20% to almost 30%, to your existing credit card balance. If you are carrying a large amount of debt, it may not be easy to switch to another low rate credit card and this sudden interest rate hike will be costly. Check out whether your credit card has a universal default clause, and if you don't like the sound of the terms, shop around for another card. About 30% of the issuers do hike rates automatically when you're late on paying another creditor.