If you haven't taken a moment to scout new credit card offers, the time has arrived. Credit card companies are battling for the largest client base, and as a result, consumers are on the receiving end of very attractive benefits. One of the most popular types of cards on the market today is the cash back reward card. Although the logistics change depending on the financial institution, the result is the same: get cash back on every purchase!
Below are the top four cash back rewards cards; check out the benefits and choose the one that's right for you. I've chosen these particular offers because of the size of the rewards and because of low interest rates.
Chase Cash Plus Rewards Visa Card
This is one of my favorite cards because Chase doesn't bog down the customer with a laundry list of rules and regulations. With some available cards, you have to follow very specific guidelines in order to receive rewards. With the Cash Plus Rewards Visa, all you have to do is use the card, and you'll get cash back.
Every time you use the card at a grocery store, gas station or drug store, you receive 5% cash back. When you use it for other purchases, you get 1% cash back. Then, when you build up a balance, you can either request a check from Chase Bank, or you can request a gift certificate for merchants such as Best Buy, Macy's and Home Depot.
There's no annual fee for the Cash Plus Rewards Visa card, and new customers receive a 0% introductory APR for up to twelve months on both balance transfers and purchases.
HSBC Cash Back Rewards MasterCard
I recommend this card for anyone who enjoys security protection and fair, competitive rewards. With the HSBC Cash Back MasterCard, you receive 1% cash back on all purchases, with no spending requirements. They offer a 0% introductory APR for the first twelve months. There is no annual fee, and you'll receive Zero Liability in the event that your card is stolen or used without authorization.
With the Chase card, you received 5% back on some purchases, which is not true of the HSBC card. However, this card comes with unlimited purchase protection, extended warranties, and travel accident insurance.
Citi Dividend Platinum Select Credit Card
This is a card for anyone who wants cash back rewards, but who plans on paying the card off every month. Customers receive 5% cash back on purchases at grocery stores, drug stores and gas stations, and 1% back for all other purchases. Citi offers a 0% APR on balance transfers for the first twelve months, but the regular APR is higher than the other cards being compared here. The cash back rewards are good, but this is not the card on which to carry a balance.
Citi offers the highest in security protection with a Photocard option and a fraud early warning block. They also provide Lost Wallet Protection, which means that if your card is lost or stolen, they will replace it within 24 hours.
Blue Cash from American Express
This is the perfect card for anyone who wants to share the benefits with a family member. Blue Cash offers up to 5% back on all purchases ? the most at drug stores, grocery stores, gas stations and home improvement stores ? and you receive the same cash back rewards with additional cards. That means that if your spouse, parent or child has a copy of the card, you earn cash back with their purchases as well.
Blue Cash offers a 0% introductory APR for the first six months, with a low regular APR afterwards. There is no annual fee, and no spending requirement to start receiving cash back. You might also want to check out American Express? Smart Chip service with ID Keeper. This web tool allows you to store personal log-in and password information for the web so that you don't have to input your information every time you log on.
Cash back reward cards are an excellent way to get your feet wet in the credit card world. Try some of these on for size, and see what they have to offer. If you're going to be buying things anyway, you might as well reap additional benefits!
The basic premise behind a credit card is simple: you use the plastic to pay for goods either in person or online, and then you either clear the debt within a month or you begin to be charged interest on it. As anyone who's spent any time at all comparing credit cards will be able to attest, things are nothing like so simple.
Not only do different cards charge different rates of interest, and indeed a single card can charge many different rates of interest depending on how it's used, but there are a whole host of different features that card issuers use to vie for your attention and custom.
The classic kind of credit card inducement was the balance transfer offer, where you could shift a debt from one card to another and avoid paying interest for an introductory period. Once it became clear that many people were avoiding interest almost indefinitely by constantly moving from card to card, and so costing card issuers billions, the balance transfer fee was introduced, making the whole exercise rather less attractive.
As the balance transfer craze waned, two features closely related to each other became the new battleground for credit card marketers: rewards and cash back.
Both of these operate on the same basic idea, that being each time you spend on the card you receive a benefit in return. With cash back, a small percentage of each purchase you make is credited back to your account, usually annually.
With rewards, the benefit is more subtle in that you build up points in relation to how much you spend, which you can then use to cut the cost of certain products or services, depending on the specific type of reward program your card offers.
Both rewards and cash back can be extremely attractive, especially for heavy card users, but which one should you choose?
Cash back cards give you the freedom to spend the rebate you receive on anything you want, but they have the disadvantage that the actual cash back rates are pretty low, usually at around 1%. Some cards, however, are upping the ante by offering much higher introductory rates, but only time will tell whether or not long term rates will rise much further.
In contrast, most rewards programs allow you to redeem your points against a strictly limited range of goods or services, but can often therefore afford to give more actual benefit. For example, travel enthusiasts might find a card which rewards them with hotel discounts and free flights much more useful than an across the board 1% discount on their purchases.
Similarly, wine buffs may find a card which gives them access to a discount wine club a more attractive way to benefit from their card use, and drivers may especially appreciate a rebate on their fuel costs.
In most cases, a rewards program that fits in well with your lifestyle is likely to give a more satisfactory overall result than a general cash back program, but this depends on being able to find a card that suits you well.
Whichever kind of card you choose, these days it's no longer necessary to pay through the nose just for the convenience of using your card - you should be able to find a card which gives you something very worthwhile back.
Both Edward Vegliante & Michael D. Strauss are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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