What is the Purpose?
The purpose of a credit card is to use it for making payments and get an interest free grace period to repay it. There are few factors one should keep in mind before selecting a credit card - like offers and discounts available on the card, if there are any cash-back options, annual maintenance or usage charges on the card charged by the bank, annual fees, terms and conditions, credit limit, services, among others. In many cards the reward schemes are not valid for too long and expires before it is redeemed. Few cards have the option of accumulating the reward points and using it for travel, hotel stay or making some big purchases.
Options
There are various options available to select from –
A travel credit card, which is meant for people who travels frequently, need to book flight tickets, book hotels and also requires cash for international spends. Travel credit cards enables a cardholder to spend on their travel bookings and pay later.
Shopping credit cards targeted at customers who spend more money on clothes, groceries, gadgets among others.
Lifestyle credit cards are premium credit cards which are best for affluent people as these cards offer greater discounts on dining out, higher reward points among others.
Annual Fee and Other Charges
While selecting a credit card the first thing you should check is if the card has any annual fees and renewal fees. You should also check the waiving off criteria of the annual and renewal fees. Usually, waiving off criteria depends on your expenditure pattern. Also, there are many cards which doesn't have any annual fees and you should consider to get one of them. You need to minutely check other details like - late payment fees, cash advance fees, cash withdrawal charges, GST, rate of the interest charged on the balance amount, mobile alert charges, foreign currency mark-up fees, balance enquiry charges, duplicate statement charges among others.
Out of all, one must careful about the interest rates. Interest rates are charged when you do not pay the full payment with in the due date. Credit Card interest rates can be from 18% to 29%.
Joining Bonuses
You should compare the joining bonuses among similar cards. Most credit cards offer attractive joining bonuses in the form of free vouchers and additional bonus reward points.
Quick Facts
Credit Score plays an important role in getting a good credit card. What influence your Credit Score?
- Credit Payment History: 35%
- Credit Capacity: 30%
- Length of Credit History: 15%
- Number of Accounts you are maintaining: 10%
- Frequent credit inquiries and other factors: 10%
Card Options and Discounts
1. Reward Points
Reward points are one of the attractive features that credit cards offer and many people use credits cards mainly for this reason. Many credit card providers offer reward points that can be redeemed against various gift items.
2. Cash-back
There are few cards that offers cash-back and are similar to reward points credit cards and help you save on all your purchases.
3. Fuel
If you own a vehicle, you should opt for credit card that help save on fuel expenses. One can get up to 3% fuel surcharge waiver on such card.
4. Business Credit Card
Business entities spend a huge amount of money for business operations. Using a business credit card to make all business purchases, such as machinery, inventory, etc, can help earn reward points and cut down the expenses.
5. Secured Credit Card
People who don't have good credit score or who cannot get an approval for a credit card, can opt for a secured credit card, if they have a fixed deposit (FD). The credit limit on this type of credit card is usually provided up to 80% of the FD amount.
6. Women
There are few women specific credit cards that can make use of this credit card to obtain offers and discounts.
7. Student Credit Cards
There are credit cards specially designed for students to help them purchase electronic gadgets, laptop among others. Card limit depends on parent's income and eligibility.
Conclusion
Certainly Credit Card a financial tool, how you use it does matter. You should select the right credit card to meet your goals and expected benefits. You should always read the terms and conditions cautiously before opting for a card.
