Almost everyone has at least one credit card these days. It has been becoming a need rather than merely a lifestyle. However, do they really know how to use their cards wisely? This is still in doubt. They will surely know how to spend the cards until reaching the limit. They also know how to use it for shipping and the payment made afterward. Most people commonly understand this knowledge already. Unfortunately, most people still do not know how to have sufficient protection over their cards.
Before you use any of your cards, you need to understand that you are going to borrow some amount of money from the credit card supplier. Once you make a payment with your card, you will need to pay the amount back within a particular period. Otherwise, you will need to pay the interest of the borrowed amount as well as some other fees. Therefore, you must be aware on how much you afford for the payment. It is a crucial thing that you need to pay attention, because it is related to your credit rating.
You should avoid any bad credit rating because it can give impact to other field. If your credit rating is bad, you might experience a mortgage application rejection, loan rejection and even job application rejection. Therefore, you need to be wise in using your cards so that your rating is good. One tip here is to avoid over 75% debt on your card limit. It is to protect you from over debt as well as to maintain a good credit rating.
There are so many credit cards fraud currently that you really need to have a good protection over your cards. You can follow some basic precautions here. You may start from the given PIN provided by the card companies. You will receive this PIN soon after you get the card. You can change the PIN afterward and keep it safe for yourself. It is also important to put your signature on the back part of your card so that other people will not claim it as theirs.
Further to following the instruction on the security procedures, it is also important to know all other instructions so that you can get all benefits available from your cards. The benefits will generally include discounts on particular purchases, car rentals, travel and so many others. Moreover, there is also a cash back option for the reward program. If you travel frequently, you can get benefits from the cards, such as travel insurance and protection over you baggage. Besides that, it is also possible to get some joining benefits from the suppliers of your cards. Most often, you will get some discount vouchers.
You also need to have a clear picture of your cards’ fees and commission charges. Mostly, the cards will include the annual fees and interest rate. You can find some credit card suppliers who will free you from any annual fees under certain requirements. Furthermore, your credit cards may also offer some services in which they will charge some amount of commission, for example cash withdrawal and foreign exchange transaction. You can get complete information in the instruction booklet that is sent along with the credit card.
The suppliers of credit cards generally develop various offers from year to year. They will inform these new products to their cardholders through e-mail or monthly billing statement. Therefore, you need to keep posted on the offers. It is possible that you might find something interesting.
Every time you use your credit cards, you will generally earn some points. You can accumulate these points as your rewards. When you have enough points, you are able to exchange your earned points for some gifts. Different credit card suppliers might offer different rewards program. They will state all the requirements as well as the rewards gifts in the catalogue. You will receive this catalogue as a reference when you become the cardholder.
You need to study all the requirements and terms of your credit cards applications carefully. By doing so, you are able to get all the possible benefits from you credit cards.
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