I have been borrowing money from credit card companies for many years at low or no interest during short-term promotional periods, and I do so as long as the transaction fee is reasonable. One of my latest was a B of A balance transfer, 0% interest for 9 months, with a 3% transaction fee that was capped at $99. My credit line is $9K, so I made the balance transfer for $8,900, knowing that since it was a 0% rate, my first statement balance would be $8,999.00 and I'd be $1.00 under my credit limit.
So it came to pass, but my recent bill showed an additional $1.79 finance charge and on closer inspection, I saw that they decided to consider the transaction fee a "cash advance", thereby dinging me just enough to put the total balance over my limit, which of course could turn out to generate a huge over-the-limit fee. Since when is a transaction fee considered a cash advance? That's ridiculouis, it's just a scam.
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