Credit cards have become a major part of the world economy, allowing for paperless transactions and reducing the need for cheque ledgers and extensive monthly chequebook balancing. With all of the options available for credit cards, however, it can be difficult to decide on which card best fits your personal needs. Below you’ll find a little bit of information that will hopefully help you to find the right card to fit your personal and financial needs without fees or features that you don’t need.
Determining what you’re looking for
The first thing that you need to do when looking for a new credit card is determine exactly what it is that you’re looking for in a credit card. If you’re looking for a simple card to help cover petrol expenses, then your needs in a card will be much different than in you’re looking for a card with a good incentive program that you’re planning on using for major purchases. Take the time to write a few notes about what you’re wanting to use your card for, and what features you’d like the card to have.
How much credit do you need?
Once you’ve determined what you’re looking for in the way of features and uses, you need to figure out exactly how much of a credit limit you want on your card. If you’re only planning on using your card for minor purchases, you might want to find a card with a lower credit limit. If you want a card for larger purchases, then you’ll likely need to find a card with a higher limit. Just remember that you’ll have to pay back whatever you charge to the card with interest, so make sure that you don’t get more credit than you can afford.
Incentive programs
When considering credit card incentive programs, you should take a moment to consider how useful the incentive will actually be to you. Airline miles are wonderful, but they don’t do you much good if you never fly. The same goes for discounts at certain stores or from certain manufacturers… if you rarely shop there or don’t buy the products that the manufacturer sells, then the discount is wasted. If you’re getting a card with an incentive program, make sure that you get one that you’ll get good use out of.
Comparing card offers
Before deciding on a particular credit card, you should take a little time to compare offers from different credit card companies and see what interest rates and terms are available. Check the different cards for any additional setup fees or annual fees that they may charge, avoiding any unnecessary costs if possible. Take the time to check online for other cards that you might not have seen before, seeing if there are any features offered by these cards that you might not have thought of previously. Use this comparison process to help you find the right card for your needs by consulting the list of what you’re looking for and comparing it to the various card offers.
Choosing your card
Once you’ve sorted through various credit cards, it’s time to make your decision and submit your application. In most cases, you should be able to apply for the card online… this can save you time by instantly transmitting your information, and you can often get an answer on your application within a minute or two from an online application.
By: Bill Stone
Posts Tagged ‘Charge Card’
Zero Percent Interest Credit Cards Could Be Your Cost Effective Finance
November 24th, 2009
Zero percent credit cards can be of immense use to you and help you a great deal in solving your financial problems easily. But you need to be careful while applying for such cards. If you use such cards right they be a great source of interest free finance for you.
These cards are just similar to your regular credit cards. You can use them for any purchases at your store, you can use them online and you can also use these cards to make expensive purchases to pay back later in monthly installments. The only difference is you don’t pay any interest on the principal amount for the specified period of time.
What you need to remember about these cards is that they are interest free only for certain specified period of time and they are not interest free for the life time. This period generally lasts for about 9 to 12 months depending on the offer. Once the introductory period is over you are charge interest on the card just like the regular cards.
It is very important that you are aware about the rate that will be charged on your card after the expiry of the introductory period. While selecting the card you must consider two things: the period for which the card will remain interest free and the rate that will be charged after the introductory period is over.
It is always good strategy to return the card after the introductory period and close your account as generally the interest rate on such cards after the specified period is higher compare to other regular cards. These cards are ideal if you want to make some expensive purchase and want to make the payment in installments.
By: Robinn Miller
Defining Credit Card Finance Charges
November 17th, 2009
There are other fees associated with the use of a credit card besides the actual charge from each purchase. These other costs can add to the total balance on your account that you have to pay. The common credit card fees you will encounter at some point are the annual fee, the APR, late payment fees and the finance charge. The finance fee is added to it every month while the others are less frequent.
The credit card finance charge will be the dollar amount that you have to pay to the credit card provider for the use of their lines of credit to make purchases. This finance charge will be different depending on the APR or annul Percentage rate of the card. This is how credit card finance charges affect you card balance.
Your individual credit card company will have its own policies and approach to calculate the finance charge for your card. The outstanding balance will determine how much you will end up paying in credit card finance charges each year more than the APR will affect it. You need to understand how your outstanding balance is calculated.
The outstanding balance on your credit card may be calculated during one billing cycle or within two billing cycles. You must note that there are three types of balances which are used to figure the amount of your annual finance charges. These balances are the adjusted balance, the average daily balance, and the previous balance. Each of these balances has something in common, in that you will need to decide if new or recent purchases will be counted as part of the relative balance. When you have done this, you can then calculate the credit card finance charge. The finance charges will vary depending upon the billing cycle based on the carry- over balance and the timing of different purchases and payments.
Many of the credit card companies provide credit cards that operate under what they call a minimum finance charge policy. With this type of finance charge the cardholder is given a flat rate for the finance charges each year. This will mean that the rate will not vary or fluctuate because of differences in the card’s balance each billing cycle. Your minimum finance charge is activated when your card has a carry-over balance that goes into the following credit card billing cycle.
There is no way to avoid the credit card finance charge. It is a necessary cost which must be paid in order to continue using the convenience of the credit line to make purchases. This means that it is important to have a good idea of how they work with your particular credit card company. You should have a working knowledge of what affects the charges that are added to your balance that you will have to pay. What would you do if you are assessed a wrong amount and then pay for something that is not applicable? You must spend some time studying your credit card terms and uses in order to know what to watch for.
By: Joseph Kenny