By Swain Thorne
A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the holder’s promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts so paid plus the other terms of the agreement. A credit card is different from a charge card, which requires the balance to be paid in full each month. In contrast, credit cards allow the consumers a continuing balance of debt, subject to interest being charged.
Here are some of the advantages of using a credit card:
- Previous credit history
Obtaining a credit card is the most common approach for customers to create and build a credit history these days. The customer will begin to construct a credit history and a favorable credit score after making a few on-time payments and that positive payment history is reported to the credit agencies.
In certain circumstances, customers may need to start with a secured credit card to establish themselves, but after they’ve proved themselves capable, they may progress to a full-fledged credit card.
They can then obtain larger loans, such as vehicle loans and mortgages, after building solid credit. And the higher one’s credit score, the lower the interest rate on these larger loans will be.
- Security
In numerous respects, using credit cards is safer than using cash. For one thing, walking about with a card rather than cash is safer. If your credit card is stolen, you can contact the issuer to get the card canceled. You will not be held accountable for any fraudulent purchases made with the card if the thief uses it. By law, you can be held accountable for the first $50 of a fraudulent purchase, but many credit cards include zero-liability protection, and most will waive the first $50 when reimbursing fraudulent charges.
When it comes to cash, everything taken from you is gone for good.
Shopping online using a credit card is also safer than using a debit card, which puts your real bank account amount in danger. If you pay with credit, you may typically cancel and get a refund without incurring any financial loss.
Many credit cards now come with fraud protection, which means that if a questionable transaction goes through, the creditor will notify you or even deny the purchase on your behalf if it doesn’t look right. This can be inconvenient—you may need to phone your credit card provider to get a transaction authorized—but at least you’ll know that a thief will have a difficult time using your credit card illegally.
- Loans at no cost
You may use your credit card to earn a free short-term loan every time you use it as long as it doesn’t include an annual charge. You won’t have to pay any interest if you pay off the sum outstanding before the grace period ends.
This is rather astonishing. You can obtain all of the advantages of credit cards that we’ve discussed for free. Although not every credit card user achieves a perfect zero balance in this manner, it is conceivable, making credit cards a potentially free product.
- Perks
Customers of credit card businesses are offered a variety of additional benefits and bonuses. These benefits alone are rarely enough to justify going into credit card debt, but when combined with all of the other benefits of credit cards, you can reap some actual benefits from your credit card usage.
Conclusion
While credit cards offer many obvious advantages, they may be deadly if misused. That’s why to be aware of all these benefits and uses.
