Have your read your credit card contract through completely? Do you know when it is okay for your creditor to raise your interest rates? If you are not sure about how and when your rates can be affected over the life of your contract you should take a few minutes to read your contract thoroughly from beginning to end.

Creditors must have clauses in their contracts that give them the right to change your interest rates. And if your rates have gone up you can be pretty sure that they are there, you may have missed them on your first read through but they are there buried in the contract.

If even after reading your contract again you still cannot figure out just how your credit card issuer can do this to you ask yourself the following questions.

Have you been late paying your monthly credit card payment recently? If you have, your interest rate going up is most likely due to this factor. Whenever you are late making a payment the credit card company has the right to raise your interest rates.

Have you been late on any other debt payments? Any late payments can cause your interest rates to rise, even ones that are not associated with your credit card. Your creditors have access to your credit report and all payments that you make are on there, if they see you made a late payment to someone else it can get them concerned that you will do the same to them in the future. That is why it is so important to always make your payments on time every single month.

Has your credit card company merged with another company? Mergers can affect your contract. The acquiring company has the right to change the rules on you as long as they let you know what is going on and why.

It is amazing what credit card companies can get away with legally. All you can do is make sure that you understand the ins and out of your contract, that way you will not be stunned when you get hit with extra fees.

Credit cards are a big financial responsibility, before you sign for one decide if it is really the right thing for you financially.

When you sign your credit card contract you probably assume that the interest rate quoted in this contract is the rate that you will always be paying. This is not the case. Credit card companies have the right to up your interest rate. Knowing how and why can save you a lot of stress in the long run.

Martin Lukac

Martin Lukac, represents RateEmpire.com and #1 American Financial, a finance web-company specializing in real estate/mortgage rates. Find low home loan mortgage interest rates from hundreds of mortgage companies!