剑桥商务英语第二版 unit8b.ppt

unit8b Business travel Interest rates are not the only measure of a cards cost; high fees become an issue in US. By now, pay later. Credit cards give people that choice. Those billions of small pieces of plastic in use all over the world make it easy to buy things. But people who use credit cards irresponsibly can soon find themselves heavily in debt. Cardholders may not think about it, but they borrow money from a bank or other lender each time they charge something. They avoid interest charges if they pay their bill in full each month. But if they only make the minimum payment, the lowest required, it may take years to pay off a debt. Interest is continually charged on the unpaid balance.?? A credit card may have a number of costs. First, there is the interest charge on purchases, known as the annual percentage rate, or A.P.R. In the United States right now, the average is between thirteen and fourteen to keep them. Cardholders may have to pay cash advance fees if they withdraw money from a credit card. There are also fees if they go over their credit limit, or if a payment is late. Lenders may also raise interest rates as punishment. In the United States, credit card fees have become a political issue. Congress has threatened to take action against what critics call abusive behavior by lenders. Yet getting a credit card has become a lot easier for most people. Maybe too easy: People receive offers in the mail of pre-approved cards that they never asked for. Many cards offer low rates at first, especially if people agree to move their balance from another card. About half of all Americans have at least two credit cards. And the credit rating agency Experian says fourteen percent of the population has more than ten. Jeanne Hogarth at the Federal Reserve, the central bank, says the average family has four credit cards. But families that carry a balance, meaning they do not pay off their statements each month, have an average of five. In nineteen eighty-ei