Life without credit cards is hard to imagine these days. You may go anywhere -- a bookshop, a restaurant, a travel agent -- but the same question shall be asked: "Payment by cash or card?" Most people today have a credit card or two occupying pride of place in their wallets. The sheer convenience that a credit card provides must be underlined. The development of this little piece of plastic has done away with the need to carry along huge bundles of cash. And the retailer is also more willing to accept payment by credit card than by check. After all, if the check does bounce, the retailer will have to go through the rigmarole of finding the buyer again. In the case of a credit card, he does not have to worry.

Yet, even today there are large numbers of people who are not comfortable with running up credit. This may be a hangover from the old days where we were advised pay up as and when. But credit cards are here to stay, and it is high time that we accepted this as fact. In fact, with credit card providers emerging every minute, it is just a question of time before credit cards become the preferred mode of payment. For the time being, cash is the preferred mode of currency. But I doubt if the day is far away when the position of supremacy held by cash will be taken over by plastic.

Why should you avail of a credit card? There are many reasons. For one, nothing beats the convenience of carrying that small square piece of plastic. It does not weigh you down unlike equivalent bundles of money. Then again, you can buy so much more. You do not have to rush to the nearest ATM to withdraw cash if you have a credit card about you. Moreover, you also do not have to worry about your wallet full of cash getting robbed on the road. The cash in your wallet you may never get back, but you can stop payment on your cards in such a case.

If none of this seems to be adequate reason to avail of a credit card, just take a look at the range of reward credit cards in the markets. Credit card companies are now targeting individuals who make limited use of their credit cards. Reward credit cards are designed to motivate you to make more credit card payments. Done prudently, this not only raises your credit score, but it also allows you to avail of the many rewards offered by the card. The two main types of reward credit card are cash back credit cards and reward credit cards. Cash back credit cards motivates the card holder to spend more so that he can get back cash rewards. The travel reward cards provide points which may be used to get free air tickets.

The great thing is that such deals are available readily. Moreover, they are managing to win over the mistrustful as well.