Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Credit Card Types

Are all the credit cards the same? Before you compare the various credit cards offered by different merchants and banks, you need to know a few main types of credit cards. This will assist you in deciding which credit card suits you better.

If you need to entertain your guests or make business trips frequently, the amount you spend may differ from one month to another. Charge cards will be of good use to you as they do not have credit limits for your spending. If you make the payments in full each month, you do not have to pay any charges on the short term loans. American Express and Diners Cards are such travel and entertainment cards. American Express has other payments options available for you to make your payments over some time. Due to the different schemes available, some people may use the terms interchangeably, but these two are basically different.

The second type of major cards is the credit card we have an idea of. The main credit card companies are Visa and Master Cards, and they work together with banks to issue the credit cards to you. The banks will determine the spending limit on your cards based on your income level. Different terms and conditions apply to different types of cards. If you only pay the minimum amount for your credit card payment, be prepared to fork out hefty sums that stemmed from your interest payments and new purchases. This may add up to quite a huge sum due to the high interest rates as these are unsecured loans.

Business Credit Cards are the next type of cards. These cards may be useful to those for small businesses, but you do not need to own a business in order to receive such cards from the banks. Such cards may have higher spending limits while charging lower interest rates. Small businesses with cash flow issues will be able to tide over tough times easily because there are extensions to the payments.

Last but not least, various major companies offer retail store cards. Some are linked to shopping malls or other retail stores or we have fleet cards, for various fuel purchases as well. Since there are so many different types of retail store cards, the terms and conditions are definitely different. These cards are usually only accepted in specific countries.

You can select what type of cards, such as charge cards, credit cards, business credit cards and retail store cards, gives the best options for your needs since there are so many different types of terms and conditions and methods of payment.

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