Profiting from Junk Mail – How to Make Money with Credit Card Offers

You may have easy money just waiting for you in your mailbox and not even know it.  Typically after collecting the mail you end up with a pile that gets shredded without even reading it.  Three weeks ago I found a credit card offer that I couldn’t resist.  (I would have posted this deal sooner but I always have to verify the deals myself before I post them to my blog)

Chase recently offered the following deal:

-          0% APR Balance Transfer Checks (To pay off another card, a wedding, etc.)

-          No transaction fee (Typically there is a 3% fee)

-          Can write a check for a maximum of $3000

Here’s how you make money with this promotion:

Write the check to yourself for the max amount of $3000.  Deposit the check into your interest-bearing checking account and let it make you money for a year.  At the end of the promotional period either pay off the card with the money from your checking account or look for another balance transfer offer and transfer the balance to another 0% card.  $3000 @ 2.75% (People’s Community CU) will make you $82.50 for the year in interest.

*Keep in mind you will still have to make a minimum payment each month or you will default on the 0% rate and it will jump back up to the standard percentage.

*Also note that if you currently have a balance on the card, do not write a check that will exceed your credit limit.  This works best when you have multiple credit cards so you can stop using this card for purchases for the year and just use it for the interest-free money.  Your other purchases will still have to be paid off on time.  Thanks to the new Credit Card Act any payment the rules are now in your favor if you have two different APR’s on your card.  The law states that any payment over the minimum payment will be applied to the balance with the highest interest rate.