Comparing Credit Card Types Credit Card Comparison

You always need to take a number of very important things into consideration before signing up for a credit card. Credit cards are serious business – one wrong move and a few late or missed payments and you can do damage to your credit rating that takes years to correct. Likewise, you always want to make sure that you know exactly what type of credit card you’re signing up for. Though one may operate similarly on the surface to the next, each type of credit card often has its own quirks that you need to be fully aware of before you start making charges. The only thing worse that missing a payment for a legitimate reason is missing one because you didn’t actually understand how your credit card worked in the first place.

One very popular type of credit card, especially to new lenders and those with poor credit, are pre-paid cards. Pre-paid cards operate similarly in concept to a regular debit card in that your “credit limit” is tied directly to a specific amount of money. If you want to make $100 worth of purchases during a particular billing period with your credit card, you need to pay $100 in advance using one of a few different methods. There are many advantages of pre-paid cards, one of which is the fact that it is very difficult to make a late payment. If you don’t have money on your account, you won’t be able to use the card at all. Likewise, because people are less likely to abuse credit cards because the credit limit is tied to a physical amount of money, pre-paid credit cards are great for repairing damaged credit or building new credit where none existed in the past. Anyone can sign up for a pre-paid credit card so long as they have money to put towards the balance. Regular credit cards, on the other hand, are only given to people who are considered to be “safe” borrowers with fair to good credit histories or above.

A store credit card operates very similarly to a regular credit card, with the main difference being that it is only designed to be used in one location. If you sign up for a credit card with your local electronics retailer, for example, you can’t use that card to buy gas later in the week. You can only use the card for purchases made either in that specific store or through their online Web portal.

Balance transfer credit cards are designed specifically to allow users to take the balance from a high interest credit card and transfer it over to a card with more favorable terms and conditions.

Hotel or travel points cards are specifically designed to be used to book hotel and air fare accommodations with certain businesses. One card may be branded with a particular airline or hotel chain, for example. Oftentimes these types of cards are targeted at frequent flyers and business professionals who are more likely to earn cash back rewards and bonuses through these types of habits.

Gas credit cards have become very popular in recent years, especially as the price of gas has steadily risen all over the world. Certain gas cards will treat all gas purchases equally, regardless of the retailer. If you’re supposed to earn 100 points for every dollar that you spend on gas, for example, you will earn those points on any gas purchase at any retailer in the country. Other gas cards, however, are retailer specific. You may earn fewer points on gas purchases if you don’t go to the same retailer that has branded the card. In certain situations, you may not earn any points at all as the purchases are deemed “non-qualified.”

Secured credit cards are another type of card that is designed for people with bad credit or no credit. It operates very similarly in theory to a prepaid credit card. The major difference is that instead of paying money towards the balance of the card in advance, you have to put something up for collateral to get approved for the credit card in the first place. Collateral can be anything of monetary value like a home, a car or even jewelry or stocks. However, you always want to make sure that you are prepared to pay off the balance and full and keep up with the terms and conditions. If you don’t, the lender can take whatever you used as collateral as payment for purchases that you mad