Handy Tips to Maintain Your Credit Card

Earlier credit cards were only used by the privileged and wealthy people, but today, many people use credit cards. One of the benefits of using a credit card is that it provides financial freedom to people. Also, it is safer than cash.

A credit card also allows one to pay later, which means if you don’t have money, then also you can buy stuffs and pay for them later. That’s not it; credit cards also come with various offers and rewards which save money and allow you to reap many benefits. If you want to get the benefits of credit cards, you would have to maintain your credit score. In this blog, we have listed some of the tips that will help you mantain your credit card and enjoy its benefits. 

Helpful Tips and Tricks to Use Credit Card

1. Pay Your Credit Card Bills on Time

We all know that there are many pros and cons of using a credit card, so we need to take care of both things. A credit card imposes a very high-interest rate on outstanding balances of the credit card. If you do not clear your credit card dues on time, you would have to pay the hefty amount as a penalty.

Moreover, if you do not pay your credit card payment on time, it will hamper your credit score, and because of this, you can face problems while applying for a new credit card for a loan. If you want to avoid additional interest and want to save money outgo, then you need to maintain your credit score; that is why you should pay your bills on time.

2. Keep Your Credit Card Details Secured

It is tough to protect your credit card or debit card from scammers; they keep finding new ways to hack your card details and deduct all your money from your account without your knowledge. One should follow some basic measures to protect credit cards. According to RBI guidelines, one should always keep their security details like CVV number, security pin, OTP, and expiry date secured. Do not handover your card to anyone; always know where it is and who is using it? Swipe your cards at POS and MPOS machines and ATMs only. An unsecured swipe could lead to a huge cyber fraud.

3. Review Your Credit Card Charges

As we have discussed above, all the pros of credit cards, there are some cons too. It’s very important to report any unauthorized credit card charges if they happened from your card as immediately as you can so you aren’t overcharged. However, banks like ICICI, HDFC, and others can help you get all the details. And if your ICICI  or HDFC credit card is stolen, then there is a unique feature by which you can track your HDFC credit card or other credit card and know who is using it and where so that you can file a complaint about it. 

Regularly pay attention to your credit card bill so that if there is any unauthorized payment, you can immediately take action. 

4. Joining and Renewal Fees

If your card is expired or you are applying for a new card, then it may cost you joining and renewal fees. But it doesn’t happen with all the cards, as there are cards which have no fee. Whenever you are looking for a credit card, always pay attention to the joining fee structure. You may get a credit card at low fees or with no fees with more benefits.

The fee should be reasonable and affordable and should be outweighed by the card’s benefits. Moreover, there are many cards that allow a fee reversal if you spend a certain fixed amount annually. Always look for the reversal benefit of your card to save your annual fees.

5. Avail a Loan

One of the best thing or you can call it as benefits of credit card is it also allow you unsecured personal loans based on your credit history and your civil score. If you urgently require financial help, then don’t look for loans; use your credit card for a loan. Use your card to avail of one with minimum interest. Nowadays, a credit card is a necessity for people in many ways. Nobody wants to carry cash when they have credit cards. 

Your credit card score is more beneficial than your debit card score because of the reward points and the ways of conducting transactions, even in a financial crisis.  So before applying for a loan, take time to know about your card’s fee structure, penalties, interest rates, and reward structure, and many more things. Lastly, before applying for a credit card application, make sure you’ve searched online card marketplaces to compare the best card for you.

6. Keep Old Credit Cards Open to Maintain The Longer History

Often people ask why it is important to keep our old credit card open, and they do not understand the reason behind. Here are some of the reasons why one need to keep old cards open, you can benefit your credit score with the help of an old card, and one benefit is you can get the details of your credit card history in length.

Conclusion:

There are plenty of steps that you can take to maintain a good credit and credit card score too. One of the excellent reasons you should maintain a credit card is that you would have to pay lower interest rates, which means more cash in the bank. Credit cards are rewarding, and you can get the maximum out of your card only if you use it smartly. In this blog, we have tried to help you by listing ways to maintain your credit card, we hope you find it informative and helpful.