I have never in my life NOT paid my full balance at the end of the cycle. I have them all set automatically.

But I recently got approved for the ink cash which has 0% APR for 12 months and I was thinking about taking advantage of it. But how does it work?

Do I just make the min payment each month? No payment? a different way?

Will this hurt my score?

You need to look at the conditions, is it for purchases or for balance transfers or both. For balance transfers there typically is a one time fee (3% or 5%). You then make the minimum payment every month. It won't hurt your credit score unless you run up the utilization, I just took a 25 point hit for running up the utilization on my new Hyatt card to 60% to make the minimum spend. But even if you do get hit, it will go away as you pay down the balance.

Just one correction, the Ink Cash is a business card, which Chase doesn't report to credit bureaus, so there wouldn't even be any impact to credit score.

I did a large kitchen project and put it on a Lowe's card with 0% interest. I think I could pay it over 2 years.

I doubled the minimum payment because I was so nervous about the terms and conditions.

If you somehow mess up, you then owe interest based upon the entire time.

Really tight payment times, unfriendly payment options, etc. It was like roadblocks to pay on time.

I think the Ink card is better about that, but for someone who never carries a CC balance, having a CC balance was nerve wracking and I couldn't wait to pay it off.

So, I guess I would want to understand what happened if I missed a minimum payment or was somehow late before I took it on.

Ink Cash is a regular Visa card - I have it as well. At the end of the 12 months the interest rate just adjusts back up to the regular purchase rate (or BT rate as applicable). You're not required to pay off the balance within 12 months or face up to 12 months of back interest, as is the case with store cards like the Lowe's you mentioned. The worst that happens with a late payment is a $39 late payment fee or potentially the interest rate reverting back to your standard rate earlier...the card agreement will specify if so. Chase is very easy to set up and manage payments, set account alerts, etc. FWIW

Some of those store cards are a pain and you definitely have to stay on top of things. That said I've used store cards' 0% offers at various times for 25+ years and have never had any problems. Some issuers have made the process much better over the years - for example Home Depot & Best Buy, currently run through Citi, have reliable interfaces and automatic payment processes so I can ensure I get it paid off. Yet others lag behind and as you said, seem designed to make it hard! I do arrange for things to be paid off 1-2 months ahead of the deadline, though, just to be on the safe side!

Thanks for answers!

In other words you all agree that setting up an auto pay with chase (I have so many auto pays) but only paying min payment for 12 months is ok? I will do that

dif topic if you don't mind - when I applied for ink I also, as part of the app, had my wife there as an authorized user... I want her to apply to chase ink cash as well today or tomorrow... is that a problem?

Please follow the redirect as we relocate this query.

~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk

There is no back interest on credit cards. That applies only to store cards. If you do not pay off balance on Chase card in full before 12 months promo ends, interest will start accrual from that point only.

I feel like paying more than the minimum (if possible) would help prevent any issues, especially with store cards. For example, if you have a 12 month 0% APR offer, take the amount you'd charge to the card and divide that by 12 to get the amount you should pay. Then again, I'm loathe to pay any interest at all if I can avoid it.