Getting the Most Out of Your Card

There are many credit cards out there for you to choose from. There’s no reason for someone to carry a card that doesn’t quite work for them, but it happens all the time. There are just a few steps you should take to make sure that you’re getting the most out of your card.

The first thing you need to do is make sure your credit score is in good shape. Simply put, you can accomplish this by paying your bills on time, being careful to avoid missing payments and by being sure to avoid over utilizing your cards credit limits.  In general, you don’t want to use more than 30% of your total credit limit on any one card, otherwise your credit score can be adversely affected.

The reason that you want to take care of and monitor your credit score is quite simply because having better credit will cost you less money in the form of lower interest rates.  Additionally, you’ll be eligible for cards that offer better terms and more advantageous benefits than card holders with weaker credit.

One decidedly important use of credit cards is when you make large purchases for electronics, appliances, computer equipment, etc. The purchase protection provided for by credit cards through the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) is pretty substantial. Although you should always make an attempt to work the problem out with the merchant, you always have the “Trump” card in the form of the card issuer that can help you to mediate the situation with the merchant. The card issuer can often times help to resolve disputes with merchants as they carry a significant amount of leverage over merchants that accept their cards for payment. If you make the purchase with a debit card, on the other hand, you won’t enjoy the same protection.

Using a credit card is also safer when it comes to making online purchases. According to the Fair Credit Billing Act, fraudulent online purchases enjoy the same purchase protection as do traditional in-store purchases.

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Tagged as: credit cards, Security & Technology