5 Awesome Benefits of Credit Cards You Probably Didn’t Know About
We all know what having a credit card means. The two most obvious benefits are also the most widely touted and the primary reasons why people choose to use plastic money to begin with. The first is the ability to buy now and pay later. This comes in handy in many a sticky situation, or even when you just need to indulge. It’s also a great way to save money because if there’s a heavy sale going on and you don’t have cash handy, you can always take advantage of these discounts by using your credit card rather than waiting to make similar purchases when you do have funds, but when the deals are off the table. The second most obvious reason is to build your credit score. Maintaining a credit card healthily – i.e. repaying bills on time and not defaulting – is a great way to improve your credit score, and higher credit scores mean lower interest rates and premiums for insurance policies, easier access to loans, and a whole lot more. These aren’t the only reasons why you should get a credit though, because while these aspects are certainly very advantageous, the benefits on offer are a lot more encompassing when it comes to the utilization of credit card processing.
Here’s a look at the lifestyle benefits of owning a credit card:
Convenience
The fact that you don’t have to carry cash, count it, hand it over, wait for change, and handle it every time you need to make a transaction makes life extremely easy. And the credit card industry is taking this factor to a whole new level. From NFC and online payments to contactless payment, convenience is the name of the game. For the uninitiated, here’s a great resource that explains the functioning of NFC payment technology.
Rewards
Credit card companies offer you cashback deals, frequent flier miles, lounge access, free movie tickets, and a whole bunch of other deals and discounts just as long as you use credit card payment processing for your transactions. The deals and steals on offer are wide-ranging and can save you a pretty penny in the long run.
Tracking expenditure
Your credit card statement every month means you have every expense you’ve ever made right in front of you. You can analyze where you’re spending money, how much of it you’re spending on each expense, how regularly you make certain purchases and more. All this information means you can pick out spending patterns that you’d rather curtail, and look into more economical options for regular expenditures.
Protection against fraud
If a business is accepting credit cards, and you make your payment via this route, then your purchases are protected a lot better than they would with any other payment instrument such as cash, check, or even debit cards. If you’re not satisfied with your purchase, or the product or service isn’t as promised, you can always use chargebacks to refund your money. This means no one can dupe you, or take your money and disappear.
Safety
Imagine you have to make a massive purchase – say a house, a car or a really rare and expensive object like a painting or a vintage guitar. These things cost thousands (maybe even millions) of dollars, and carrying that kind of cash around is a massive security risk. Even if its small amounts of cash – you can be robbed, the cash could slip out of your purse or wallet or pocket, and then it’s gone. With a credit card, all you have to do is call and cancel and you get a new one in the mail, and you never have to worry about losing your hard-earned money due to misfortune, maliciousness, or because you were a little careless that one time. The benefits of credit cards are clear to see. No wonder then that this infographic from Nilson report pegs the credit card as the most used payment device as of 2013 with a purchase volume of $2.49 trillion. The same graphic also hypothesizes that credit cards will remain the most popular payment method with a projected 65% growth in purchase volume up to an astounding $4.11 trillion by 2018. You can’t argue with those kind of numbers, and after seeing what credit cards have to offer, it’s pretty obvious why the numbers are so stark! There you go – five un-arguable benefits of owning and using plastic money in the contemporary times. Having a credit card might not wave a magic wand around your finances, but it will definitely make transacting a whole lot easier for you and the people or businesses you deal with. Whether to use or not to use a credit card is not the question, then. The real dilemma most mompreneurs encounter is when they have to choose between the varieties of cards available out there (especially business credit cards).
