Credit cards are one of the best financial instruments for those who know to use it well. With credit cards, one is not required to carry a huge amount of cash every time the person goes shopping. There are a number of benefits of credit cards but if you do not use it judiciously, you…
A credit card comes with an annual fee which the cardholder has to pay to the bank every year for availing the credit card services. There are many cards that come with zero annual fees or are lifetime free credit cards. However, they do not come with additional benefits and offers which cards with some annual fee might provide.
A credit card issuer is the bank or NBFC that issues you the credit card. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI Card are a few examples of credit card issuers in India. On the other hand, credit card networks act as the bridge between the card issuers and the merchants. While credit card issuers back the cards financially, the networks act as the technical backbone of the cards and payment system.
Credit cards can be perplexing for the first time users as they are a lot more than just a piece of plastic and it is imperative to have a basic understanding of credit cards in order to use them effectively. Credit cards usually differ in terms of rewards, benefits and privileges they offer but the basic features mostly remain the same for all credit cards.
Whenever you make a purchase, withdraw money or even when you dine out, the seller will give you an acknowledgment of the payment in the form of a receipt. Though it may be annoying to look for the important stuff in a purse or wallet full of scrap paper, saving your receipts is, in fact,…
It is super convenient to have a wallet that has multiple credit cards. The important question remains how many credit cards should you ideally have. If you want a basic credit card for occasional use to probably make small payments online or offline, then having one credit card might be sufficient but if you are looking to maximize your rewards or to build your credit score then having at least two credit cards could be a great strategy for your long-term goal.
Credit cards come with a credit limit and it is the maximum amount that you can spend on your card. In order to maintain a lower credit utilization ratio, you should keep your credit card balances well below this limit. And when you use up the entire limit available to you, or are very close to exhausting the limit, your card is maxed-out. So, if your total credit card limit is Rs. 1 Lakh and the overall balance due is Rs. 1 Lakh, this means you have maxed out your credit card.
Credit cards offer multiple travel benefits including airport lounge access, low foreign exchange markup rates, hotel memberships and air mile earnings. All of these help you in reducing the cost of your travels either in the form of complimentary services or by offering rebates on certain expenses. In this article, we will talk about air miles- what they are and how you can use them to your advantage.
