It's not unusual for borrowers to take 20 to 30 years to pay off a mortgage, but imagine making payments that long to payoff a big-screen TV or summer vacation. The television may not last as long as the payments; the tan's gone in a matter of weeks. Yet long-term credit card bills are reality for cardholders paying only the minimum payment, typically 3% or 4%, on hefty credit card bills.

While a credit card offers you a slew of benefits, don't pay more—or longer—for convenience than you have to.

The fact is, if you're like most credit union member cardholders you do carry a balance from month to month, but 44% pay more than the minimum payment, says Credit Union Magazine's 1997 Bankruptcy Survey Report. About 13% usually pay the minimum.

Say you have the typical average credit card balance of those members carrying a balance from month to month ($3,000), and figure monthly payments at 3% of the balance with a $25.00 minimum monthly payment, and without adding any other purchases. It'll take you 11 years ( yes, Eleven Years) to pay off the balance and you'll pay $2,495 in interest charges if you choose a high-rate (18%) bank credit card over SMFCU's credit card. If you make $100 monthly payments, it'll take you nearly 3 1/2 years to pay off the balance and you'll pay $1,019 in interest charges. Choosing a lower-rate card, say at 13%, makes a noticeable difference. For the person making the minimum monthly payment, as in the first example, the lower rate cuts about 1 1/2 years off your pay-off time and almost $900 off your interest charges. So take advantage of all that credit cards have to offer, but don't let issuers with high-rate cards take advantage of you. Get all the perks and the best deal by choosing SMFCU's low-rate credit card.

Our VISA card offers a very competitive rate of 12.9% APR. Unlike some of the credit cards with teaser rates which change dramatically after a short period of time our cards have been at 12.9% since they were introduced in 1992. So you can count on that competitive rate to be there year in and year out. We also offer a 25-day grace period for purchases, so if you like to pay your balance in full each month, and pay