Credit cards are now used for various purposes other than being used as just a means of payment. Some provide better deals on groceries, others offer exclusive offers on dining, travel, or day-to-day expenses. With all these variations, it is challenging to choose which one fits your spending habits. In this aspect, here we’ll discuss the primary card types and how you should select the best credit card that suits your lifestyle.
Influence of Credit Cards on Daily Spends
The right credit card is best suited when it fits in your daily routine. Someone who travels a lot would hardly benefit from a card that offers grocery deals. But people who do not travel often might not need the perks of travel credit cards. It is better to divide your primary costs into smaller parts and find out where the rewards will be most significant.
Types of Credit Cards
Today, credit cards are tailored to a particular lifestyle, such as groceries, dining, travel, fuel, and even cashback. So, it’s better to evaluate your preferences before getting a credit card. To help you with that, here we will discuss different types of credit cards and what you can get from each of them:
1. Grocery and Supermarket Cards
These cards are reward cards that reward daily shopping at the supermarkets and online grocery stores. They also usually offer faster points or refunds on food and necessities, which is beneficial to those with monthly budgets. Other advantages can be the discount offered on partner retail chains or offers on kitchen and household items.
2. Dining and Entertainment Cards
Specially curated for the foodies and social events, such cards can offer higher rewards at restaurants, cafes, and delivery platforms. Others have benefits such as free movie tickets or application discounts. The savings can be a big amount to someone who loves to dine out frequently.
3. Travel Cards
The travel credit cards are targeted towards people who like to go on road trips and frequent travellers by air. They can offer air miles, free lounge facilities, free check-in baggage or hotel partnerships. These credit cards often bring zero foreign exchange markup.
Along with that, banks like AU Small Finance Bank offer a 10% discount on hotel and flight bookings on their travel credit cards. These advantages assist in reducing expenses and enhancing comfort for individuals who love to explore.
4. Fuel Cards
The purpose of fuel credit cards is to relieve the increasing fuel prices. They offer cashback or waive charges at the petrol pumps. These cards can help reduce daily commuting or road trip costs.
5. Cashback and Everyday Cards
With cashback credit cards, a portion of all purchases is returned directly to the bank account or given as vouchers to the user, whenever you shop online at the grocery store or pay utility bills. They are attractive to people who do not wish to follow categories of rewards but still expect to receive measurable monthly savings.
How to Choose the Right Credit Card?
You can begin to find out where your money is going. Find out your last three months of spending: food, eating out, transportation or fuel. Pair your top-most expenditure areas with a card that can be advantageous for those areas. Consider yearly fees, joining bonuses and redemption flexibility. A single card might not have all the necessities but having the correct one can ensure the best savings and rewards you can get.
Final Thoughts
When you use a card that fits your habits, you get to enjoy the benefits of the rewards without altering your spending habits. Be it groceries, eating, travelling or purchasing items that you use daily, the right one will help your money work efficiently. Now that you have an idea of all the credit cards, choose a card that can translate your expenditure into rational and steady savings.