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预告片率

优惠利率是贷款机构最初向你展示的低利率,随后在启动期结束后利率会上升。

Automatically translated. Read the original in English.

A man in Ikeja gets a text offering a card loan at 2% for the first three months, and he already feels like the lender is doing him a favour.

A woman in Manchester gets a similar letter about a credit card with 0% interest for six months, and she starts planning to move her old debt onto it straight away.

Both of them are looking at a teaser rate, that sweet opening number that lenders use to get you to sign, borrow, or transfer balances quickly.

The word teaser is honest if you listen closely. It is meant to tease you in, the way a trailer shows you the best three minutes of a film and leaves out the slow parts.

Once the introductory period ends, the rate resets to the lender's normal rate, which is often much higher, and your repayment jumps without warning if you were not tracking the date.

This matters most with credit cards, some personal loans, and certain mortgage products, where the gap between the teaser rate and the real rate can be the difference between comfortable repayments and a real struggle.

Chidinma takes a ₦300,000 loan advertised at 3% monthly for the first two months. She relaxes and pays ₦9,000 interest each month. In month three, the rate resets to 8%, and suddenly she owes ₦24,000 in interest alone, on top of her principal.

Questions people ask

Is a teaser rate a scam?

Not necessarily. It is a legitimate marketing tool, but it only becomes a problem when the lender is not clear about when it ends and what the new rate will be. Always ask for the full rate schedule in writing before you sign anything.

How do I know when my teaser rate will end?

Check your loan agreement or card terms for the exact date or number of months the introductory rate lasts. Set a reminder on your phone a few weeks before it ends so you can plan, pay off the balance, or renegotiate if needed.

Can I avoid the higher rate after the teaser period?

Sometimes. You can pay off the balance before the teaser ends, ask the lender for an extension, or move the debt to another teaser offer elsewhere, though that last option should be done carefully and not repeatedly, since it can affect your credit rating over time.

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