Life Style

Why Everyone Should Use a Credit Card More Often

A lot of personal finance consultants will tell you that relying entirely on a credit card is not that good of an...

Written by Deepanshu Gahlaut · 2 min read >
benefits of credit card

A lot of personal finance consultants will tell you that relying entirely on a credit card is not that good of an idea. And these sentiments hold value simply because so many individuals are not thinking straight when spending and end up in debt.

Nevertheless, this does not mean that credit cards are an evil invention by banks to get people to spend without a moment’s hesitation. Plenty of people are careful with their money and do not fall in the traps of shopping on impulse.

Also, you can always get rid of the problem. Westpac’s guide on paying off your credit card is a good way to start. And once you are in the clear, you can focus on better, more positive sides of using a credit card.

What those are? The answer to this question lies below.

Building Credit

A bad credit score is detrimental to your financial situation and will cause you a lot of problems in the future. And if this has been a recurring problem, you should look to get to fixing it immediately.

One of the ways to do that is by using your credit card reasonably. Credit card companies will report your history to bureaus and help you with the score.

Acceptance Everywhere

This tip is particularly important for those who enjoy their life and travel a lot. Certain transactions are impossible if you try using a regular debit card. Whenever a time for renting or purchasing something comes, it is so much easier to have a credit card at your disposal, ready to be used whenever.

For instance, companies that rent cars, as well as hotels, will prefer credit cards simply because they are able to charge customers for unforeseen charges for damage, and so on.

You might find yourself in a situation where paying collateral is imperative. Unless, of course, you have a fully-functioning credit card.

Insurance

Most credit cards come with an automatic insurance plan. And this is one of those things that the majority of people are not even aware of simply because they do not pay attention to things they sign.

You will likely have insurance for your vehicle rental, travelling, and even some purchases.

Grace Period

Whenever you spend with a debit card, the money is gone immediately, more or less. Meanwhile, using a credit card, the money is still in your bank account and will remain there until you take care of the credit card bill.

There are a couple of advantages to this. The first one being that the money that remains in the account during this grace period, no matter how small the amount, will add as extra for a long period.

And the second is that you do not have to be that careful with the account balance.

Safety

Using a credit card prevents you from losing money because of fraud. These days, we do most of our shopping on the internet anyway, right? And using a store for the first time is always risky, even if someone has recommended it personally.

At the same time, if you lose a debit card, thieves will have a much easier time using it and spending all your money.

Meanwhile, if someone has unauthorized access to your credit card, you can simply inform the credit card company and tell them that someone is using it illegally. The whole thing will get blocked, leaving you away from problems.

Cash Back

This sort of thing became quite popular in the United States (and countries such as India) when companies would try to attract as many customers as they could.

The whole plan is pretty straightforward – you use the card and get one percent of the balance refunded no matter what or where you purchased.

These days, some companies offer as much as 3 percent back, but as you can expect, there is a catch or two.

Rewards, Points, Signup Bonuses

People who apply and have a great credit score have a chance to receive a signup bonus that sometimes goes up to as high as 250 dollars. But that is not all.

You can collect points and enter various reward programs and so on. Free stuff like this might not be the biggest difference-maker in whether you are going to choose one company or not, but some free stuff is always more than welcome, especially when you have so little effort to put in.

To sum it all up, besides being the most comfortable means to pay for something, a credit card has a fair share of other advantages, making it that much more usable in one’s life.

If you have had doubts about it before, those should be gone after reading this, right?

Written by Deepanshu Gahlaut
I write on SEO, content marketing, latest technologies, and social media. You can find me online, or at home watching sci-fi movies, listening songs, or sleeping. In addition, my latest obsession is creating, collecting and organizing visual content on my new blog - Infopixi, to help bloggers, marketers, and businesses. Profile

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