The “skip-payment” option is quickly becoming a marketing tool for credit card lenders. It was often available to cardholders who called the credit card company to express concern over making a payment; but now it’s become something that’s literally offered to cardholders by the credit card lenders themselves.

You may start noticing offers in your mailbox, or even receive a phone call from your credit card company, asking you if you’d like to skip a monthly payment.

Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Having a break from one of your financial obligations? What the credit card company doesn’t voluntarily tell you when giving you the option to skip a payment is how much it’s going to end up costing you to skip it. If you are at all tempted to take them up on the offer, make sure you ask questions to find out exactly how much skipping the payment will cost you- both immediately and over the long term.

Basically, the skip payment offers are giving you the opportunity to accrue more interest, and sometimes- a fee. If you took advantage of the offer and decided to skip a payment, when you got your statement the following month your balance will be higher- even if you didn’t charge anything that month.

Here is what the Skip-payment offer really does for you:

Possible service fee of $25 or $35 (sort of like what you’d be charged if you were late with a payment!) Then, accrued interest is added to your balance. Extra interest may cause the number of months required to pay off your balance to be increased.

If your credit card has a current balance of about $5,000, has a 12% interest rate, and you are paying $100 to the account each month- you can expect to pay $199 to skip your $100 payment. You would be extending the time it takes to pay off the account and your interest costs are increased. If the card company requires a service fee to skip the monthly payment, you’d have to add that to the total cost of skipping the payment, as well.

Still think it sounds good to skip a payment?

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Credit cards with cash back provide consumers with an easy way to earn money when they use their card for applicable purchases. There are many different companies that offer some type of rewards program, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and Bank of America. In addition, there are variations in the terms of credit cards with cash back programs offered, for example house credit cards, cards issued by banks, and cards used for entertainment and travel purposes. Knowing the kinds of purchases you most often make will help in selecting the best cash back credit cards for you.

Cards issued by banks, such as the oft-used Visa and MasterCard, plus American Express, Discover and Bank of America, are very popular because they are widely accepted by a broad spectrum of businesses for a vast variety of purchase options worldwide. Sometimes an organization, like a college, will offer one of these types of credit cards to a group with which they are affiliated, such as an alumni association. Each of these bank’s credit cards with cash back offers varies, so it makes sense to read each set of terms carefully to see if your purchases fit their requirements for receiving the rewards, and if you care for the rewards that they are offering.

House credit cards are available from certain department stores, telephone services, and oil companies. They can only be used to make purchases from that one company that issues the card, so it does limit the scope of the credit card’s usefulness. However, if you consistently purchase products or services from one particular purveyor, then you can save a significant amount by paying with house credit cards with cash back rewards offers. The rewards can vary from free shipping on items to deep discounts on merchandise and services sold.

American Express cash back credit cards rewards are earned by those with this type of entertainment and travel card. With certain card offers, this card company will open a savings account in your name and deposit a percentage of qualified purchases into the account, plus they will deposit a certain amount of money into the savings account after you have used the card for the first time. This type of reward is literally cash in your bank account, which can be attractive to those who travel and dine out often.

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