Cash Back Credit Cards ? Reward Yourself

As the competition in the UK lending market has become ever more intense, lenders and credit card providers have had to go to ever more lengths to attract customers to them. While there is a limit to how low they can go on interest rates, in fact many now go as low as zero per cent for well over six months, card providers can also seek to attract customers with loyalty and reward schemes. These basically reward you for every pound you spend on your credit card.

Loyalty schemes come in all sorts of variations and can offer you air miles, discounts on petrol, points and cash. Cash is probably the best reward you can get from your credit card provider as you can spend it where and when you like and you are not limited by the card provider.

As well as the type of reward, you should also be looking at how much of a reward you are getting. Most rewards will be at around sixty pence for every one hundred pounds you spend on your credit card but some can be lower than forty pence and others as high as eighty pence per hundred pounds so its worth shopping around and finding a card with a generous reward scheme.

You should not allow a reward scheme to distract you from your main purpose in getting the card however. For most people, by far the most important things to be looking at when they take out a credit card is the interest rate and other charges.

If you frequently have a balance left over on your credit card that carries forward from one month to the next, then a low interest rate on this will save you far more than any loyalty scheme will ever give you. Likewise, if a card has a good loyalty scheme but an annual subscription fee, calculate how much you would have to spend before you earn back your subscription fee. It is likely that you would have to do an awful lot of shopping to earn back the fee, and if you shop around you could probably find a reward scheme that's just as good but without the need to pay a fee.

If you are one of those customers who always pays off their credit card balance in full each month, then you do not have to worry about interest rates, as you will not be subjected to them and you can afford to choose your credit card based on its reward scheme.

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How To Get A Good Instant Approval Credit Card

When it comes time to get another credit card, you now have the option of being able to get it very quickly. Applying for a credit card could not be made any easier - or faster. Generally, you will know in just a matter of minutes whether or not you are approved. With it being so easy, however, you may want to take a few minutes to find out and make sure it is a good deal. Here are some things to look for when it comes to making sure it is the great deal you want to think it is.

An instant approval credit card is generally only for those who have either good or excellent credit. Otherwise, you probably will not be accepted and your application will be rejected. This is at least true with most credit card companies. Now, however, there are even instant approval Credit Cards for students and some for those with bad credit. So, the playing field is now becoming a little more level.

When you start comparing the various offers for instant approval Credit Cards, you need to choose one of the cards that are most likely to bring you the most rewards or rebates. This may be a travel card, a gas card, a general one, or one that is for special things like entertainment. Driver's cards are another option.

After you choose the main feature then look at the interest. This can run anywhere from between 9.99% and on up to about 18.24%. Being that you could be paying this rate after the introductory period expires, you want to get an instant approval credit card with a good and low rate. Student Credit Cards and those for people with bad credit, or at least less than good credit can expect higher rates of interest and shorter periods for the introductory offers.

Then, if you have outstanding balances on other Credit Cards, you want to get your instant approval credit card with the option of balance transfers. Find out when this option can be used since a number of Credit Cards only permit it when you sign up. Also, see how long you can enjoy the 0% interest on the transfers. You want to get one that gives you that rate of interest (none) for up to at least one year.

The rewards are one of the exciting things about a good instant approval credit card. These come in many different forms and amounts - depending on the type of instant approval credit card you get. Be sure to check on how long the points, or air miles last, and see what type of stores they can be redeemed in, and how close those stores are to you.

Lastly, see about any fees that apply. Some newer instant approval Credit Cards now have no interest, but they will charge an annual fee. There may also be a fee for balance transfers, and, possibly, even more charges. You will have to look at the fine print in order to learn about all of these.

By a careful looking into each of these things you should be able to come away with a good instant approval credit card. Sometimes, if there are any questions about your credit score, though, you may be required to answer more questions by phone, or mail, in order to get it settled. After that, your new credit card should come in just a few days.

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Protect Your Identity This Holiday Season

With the holiday spending season fast approaching, it's crucial that you understand the dangers of identity theft. Though many of the methods thieves use to steal identities are out of our control, there are many measures you can take to protect yourself from the threats identity thieves pose.

Protect Your Credit Card Number From Prying Eyes

When making purchases with your credit or debit card, make sure that only the last 4 digits of your card number are shown on the receipt. The first 12 digits should be unknown, and are usually replaced by Xs. If they aren?t, by law you are permitted to mark out the first 12 digits on the merchants copy with a pen.

It is especially important that you check your credit card receipt at restaurants. Don?t leave the restaurant's copy on the table after your meal if all 16 digits are shown. It's best to cross out the first 12 digits and personally hand the receipt to the wait staff. Otherwise, you risk an identity thief walking away with your name, account number, and quite possibly your card's expiration date.

Only Use Your Social Security Number When Absolutely Necessary.

Though it is necessary to use your social security number when applying for credit or opening a bank account, it isn?t always necessary that you use it in other circumstances. Although not that common nowadays, some stores and organizations may want to use your SSN as an ID number within their system. Though this practice is discouraged by law, you will still run across it from time to time. In these situations it is best to use your judgment. If for any reason you feel uncomfortable, there is usually an alternative available if you ask.

Your Trash is Treasure to an Identity Thief

The most important investment you can make in protecting your identity is a good paper shredder. Identity thieves won?t think twice about going through your trash in order to find sensitive personal information that will help them obtain credit in your name. Shred anything and everything that has personal information, such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, dates of birth, phone numbers, etc. Do it at home. Do it at work.

The holiday season is a time for us to enjoy shopping for our friends and family. With every swipe of our Credit Cards, however, it is imperative that we protect our financial futures from the dangerous threats identity thieves pose.

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Rewards Or Cash Back ? Credit Card Choices

A very common question you hear asked these days is which is the better, cash back or rewards Credit Cards loyalty schemes. The following is a brief explanation of the cash back vs. rewards Credit Cards loyalty schemes argument:

Cash Back Credit Cards

As their name suggests, cash back Credit Cards offer customers the chance to reclaim a certain percentage of their credit card expenditure in the form of a cash back payment. This payment can be made either as a credit on the balance of the customer's credit card statement or in the form of actual cash being paid to the customer.

In most cases, the cash back being offered is in return for purchasing certain brand-named products or for using the card in particular stores. Thus, while it is true that you are getting a percentage of your purchase price back as a cash back reward, the bigger question you should be asking yourself if whether or not you would have purchased the product in that shop had you not been offered the cash back!

Rewards

By far the more popular credit card loyalty scheme is the rewards program. Here, a card provider will offer a certain number of rewards points per threshold amounts spent using the card. This way, the more you spend on the card, the more rewards you receive. Within a specified deadline date, you then need to exchange the points that you have accrued for a reward.

The reward can be in the form of air miles, household products, or any one of the other rewards usually set out in a catalogue sent to the card provider's customers. The major difference between the rewards loyalty scheme and the cash back loyalty scheme is that the rewards scheme usually works on the amount you spend, not the product you buy.

Advantages of the Reward Schemes

A credit card with a fruitful reward scheme is more common, and often more valuable, than the cash back scheme because the affiliated credit card company makes a certain amount of profit from its goods. Think about it, if you spend $100 in store how much did these goods actually cost the company? The profit that they make can e offered with the reward scheme of the credit card, keeping customers happy. If they only offered cash back then this may be at 50% of the reward rate.

Therefore if you can choose a reward credit card that you can use, i.e. a store where you regularly shop then the best choice in this debate must be the reward credit card scheme.

Regardless of what your personal feelings are towards the cash back vs. rewards Credit Cards loyalty schemes, if you are applying for a credit card today then it is most definitely in your best interests to ensure that you are offered one or other of the two loyalty schemes as to do otherwise could mean you missing out on a golden opportunity to have your credit card giving you something for a change!

You may freely reprint this article provided that the author bio and live links are left intact.

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Choosing A Credit Card That Suits Your Repayment Habits

When choosing a new credit card it's best to pick a card that suits your spending habits. However, this is not the most crucial factor. Even more important is to choose a credit card that matches your paying habits. This will ensure that you don't end up paying over the odds to repay your credit card debt. Consider these scenarios:

Big Spender, Big Payer

You put most of your spending on your credit card each month. Petrol, shopping, clothes, days out, drinks at the pub ? it all goes on there. But you're one of the lucky ones. You earn enough to be able to pay off the balance in full each month. If you're this kind of spender, you won't be worried about the interest rate, provided the card has a long interest free period. (Some cards charge interest from the day of purchase; this is not a good option for regular spenders). The best card for you will be one that has other incentives, such as cash back or reward points of some kind.

Some people spend regularly on their Credit Cards, but can't clear the whole balance each month. If this is you, you'll want a card with a low annual percentage rate. This will keep repayments on uncleared balances relatively low. Check for cards without an annual fee but with other incentives if you can get these at a low rate.

Look For Low Interest

If you put most of your spending on the credit card but pay off very little or the minimum amount, then you need a different type of credit card. A card with a very low interest rate will keep repayments manageable. It's also worth checking to see what percentage of the outstanding balance has to be repaid. This can vary widely.

Another option for those who leave large balances on their Credit Cards is to shop around for balance transfer offers. Some of these offer a low rate for however long the transferred balance stays on the new credit card. This is usually significantly lower than the bank rate and can help with managing long term debt.

Some of credit card companies offer a balance transfer rate of 0% for a fixed period of six to nine months (and occasionally 12 months). This means that anything you pay will reduce the outstanding balance on the credit card. This will help to keep finances manageable.

Rate Surfing Advantages

You could also consider becoming a rate surfer. This means applying for a new card before the expiry of the 0% offer and transferring the balance to a new 0% credit card. Do this for long enough and the outstanding debt is bound to go down.

Whichever offer you choose, remember to look at the fine print. For example, credit card cheques arrive in the post and it can be tempting to use them. However, some credit card companies charge a higher rate if you use credit card cheques than if you spend with the card.

It's also advisable to see if the rate that applies to balance transfers also applies to purchases. Sometimes new spending on the credit card is charged at the standard rate. In these cases, payments are often applied to the lower rate balance first, which means you could end up making higher repayments than you had planned.

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