The headline tells you to skip rewards cards and grab a zero-interest card instead. Brilliant advice for people who've already f*cked up so badly they need to finance their spending over twelve months just to break even.
Here's what they're not saying. If you need a 0% APR card, you're not shopping for credit. You're shopping for a payday loan with better branding. The rewards card guy at least pretends he's going to pay his balance. You've already surrendered. You're just negotiating the terms of your capitulation.
They pitch this like strategy. Call it what it is. You're borrowing money you don't have to buy things you don't need because you spent last year's money on things you've already forgotten about. The zero-interest period is just a timer counting down to the moment you realize you still can't afford any of this.
And let's talk about that interest rate they're so worried about. High APR wipes out rewards value, they say. You know what else wipes out rewards value? Not paying your bill. But they can't write that article because the entire credit card affiliate industry would collapse if people stopped carrying balances like they're collecting goddamn Pokemon cards.
The funniest part is the framing. You don't need rewards, you need zero interest. Like those are your only two options. Like there's no third door where you just don't finance your grocery bill over nine months. But that door doesn't pay referral fees, so it doesn't exist in the article.
These cards aren't solutions. They're methadone clinics for people addicted to spending money they'll earn sometime around the heat death of the universe.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
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