A credit card can be essential as a tool for maintaining finances for every type of consumer, whether it be for casual purchases or emergency uses. Whatever purchases you may be making, a credit card can be handy in a variety of situations. However, not a lot of people utilize all the benefits their lines of credit offer and they may not be aware of all the advantages that their creditors afford to cardholders. These benefits can range from discounts and rewards to even insurance options.
Keep in mind that every credit card company offers different cards that each have their own unique benefits, so it is important to pay attention to any small details about the cards. It is also a good idea to review any current card in your wallet to become aware of new information you didn’t previously know.
It has become standard practice for credit furnishers to offer insights into your credit score and even offer some rudimentary forms of protection against fraud. This protection can be anything from credit monitoring, in which they keep an eye out for new inquiries or new accounts opened in your name, to full-blown security and identity theft protection. The good, premium protection generally comes with more extensive credit cards, the kind that have an annual fee.
Regardless, most credit card companies will offer the most basic of services when it comes to credit protection. This protection includes a glance at credit scores from one or more of the credit bureaus, depending on which bureau the creditor has partnered with.
More importantly, nearly all credit cards have some form of purchase protection in the form of disputing invalid charges, such as doing charge-backs, or through intelligent purchase monitoring.
For example, Tilly has a small credit card with a limit of $2,000 and uses her card for only grocery purchases. However, one day she gets an alert that someone tried to use her card to make a large purchase at an online retailer. This protection saves her a lot of headache and time in regards to helping prevent a fraudulent purchase rather than going through the process of doing a charge-back or going through multiple investigations. Obviously, this option would not be possible if Tilly makes all of her purchases with cash or checks.
The world can be chaotic and not everything always goes to plan. Luckily, a lot of credit cards offer some form of travel protection or insurance. Sometimes things can happen while taking a vacation or when traveling for business. These things can include bad weather shutting down flights or airports, or a global catastrophe that puts everyone on edge, shutting down business all over. Either way, the right credit card can help dispute these events and help recover money back for services not rendered via their travel protection or insurance offerings.
Not only that, this travel protection can even extend to rental car companies. Renting a car can be a headache, especially with the hanging Sword of Damocles that is the fee if you get a mere scratch on a rental car during normal use. Most rental car companies will charge the customer an extraordinary amount of money for any sort of damage done to the car when the car is being used by the renter, which can include any scratch, dent, ding, or other act of God. Luckily, instead of paying for the expensive rental insurance, your credit card company may offer to cover any of these disputes without any additional cost.
A lot of credit card companies will offer a rewards card of some kind in place of a regular card. The card could give anywhere from 1-5% cashback reward or points to use on another kind of purchase. The only downside to these kinds of cards is that they will usually have a lower credit limit compared to a regular credit card. Depending on spending habits, this may not matter too much and can offer a great benefit depending on the kind of rewards the card gives.
For example, a card that offers a 3% cashback through certain online retailers is basically a free 3% off for any online purchase. Again, this benefit can only be maximized depending on the cardholder’s spending habits and what that person buys. So finding a creditor that offers a card that fits a particular spending habit is a good idea.
Other types of cards can offer points like miles for airplane travel as well. Again, this is beneficial to people that will actually use the points. It would be pointless to use a points card that would never be used. The wide variety of lines of credit available and offered by credit card companies allow any consumer to pick the best card that fits his or her needs.
Credit cards can be a great benefit for every type of consumer, but it’s also important to keep track of credit card spending to avoid extraneous interest payments or even worse, bad habits that may negatively impact credit scores. Late payments on credit cards can be one of the biggest detriments to any credit score, from anywhere to 20 to 60 points!
If you ever have questions about improving your credit score we at Fix Your Credit Consulting can aid you with a free consultation. You can contact us at (877) 212-2450 if you have any questions.
If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call at 877-212-2450!
We also invite you to click on the following link to see our reviews on yelp.
You may also like: Benefits of Opening a New Credit Card
The true sign of a business is one that could take your money, but instead tells you the truth that they can't help. I spoke with Sandra on behalf of a friend that had some credit issues and she determined that based on his report, she couldn't help him at this time. This company is wonderful and I would recommend to all friends and family having credit issues.
Thanks again Sandra for your honesty.
I've known Sandra for at least 10 years. She is a phenomenal person to work with and a super hard worker that cares about people. Do not hesitate to work with her and her amazing team. Jeff is wonderful as well!!
Thank you, team Fix Your Credit Consulting you are amazing*****
Sandra is the best she is patient kind knowledgeable and undertaking and provides a judgement free zone no matter how many times you find yourself calling her because life kicked your butt again .
Jeff is also great and super helpful and always is super on top of everything he does and every phone call . I owe them for helping get my life back
When thinking about what I was grateful for over the past year one interesting thing came up as a standout.
Perhaps credit services are not the typical thing to be thankful for at this time of year, and perhaps not for all standard reasons you might expect to hear in a gratitude tribute, but it goes like this...
Sandra is not just experienced and knowledgeable, but also calming in her manner. She was not judgmental and through mutual sharing made me realize things can happen to anyone and not to feel ashamed for inquiring about the subject of credit and all of the 'fun' things that can go along with it etc.
One of the most important things I am grateful for is how she was able to lower my stress level by not only being kind, but also by being respectful and truly understanding.
I am so glad I reached out to get a fresh perspective and get my queries answered on the way to fixing any related issues that need fixing.
Thank you so much again.
