Credit cards are a great short term method of borrowing money and can bring with them lots of benefits and flexibility for the cardholder, but this can depend on choosing the best card to suit your needs. Credit cards can be used in a variety of ways, from making payments for purchases and services to withdrawing cash to a balance transfer from one card to another.
Depending on the credit card deal that you choose and what you need it for, whether it’s a purchase or balance transfer, you may also benefit from a whole host of rewards, such as cash back or loyalty points. Apart from a balance transfer or purchase, the one thing that almost all credit cards have in common is the protection that they offer when you make a purchase using the card, both in this country and abroad.
Credit cards are a great way to shield you from a variety of different things that could go wrong when making a purchase, from fraudulent activity to a merchant going bust and you not receiving the goods or service. They are one of the safest ways to pay for goods and services both here, abroad, by mail order or through the internet, without entailing too much hassle. They are indeed a quick and painless method of payment.
Purchase protection through a credit card is where both the card issuer and the company you buy from take joint responsibility for faulty goods or items not received. Refunds will be issued to you by the card company if an item between around 160 US Dollars and 48,000 US Dollars was either faulty or not received.
A lot of people use credit cards for larger purchases, secure in the knowledge that if anything goes wrong with the transaction, then they are covered. For example, credit cards are a great way of paying for a holiday or plane ticket in advance, especially in these tough economic times. Most credit cards companies would issue a refund if the airline or travel company was to go bankrupt. You would however need to claim through your card issuer within a reasonable time.
Credit cards offer the card holder protection against fraud. If you find yourself an innocent victim of fraud by a criminal then the card issuer will pick up the costs on that card. You will not be liable for any fraud on your credit card as long as you do everything reasonable to prevent fraudulent activity for example, not disclosing your PIN number.
Using credit cards as a protection shield works especially well when making purchases across the internet or mail order to companies that you have not previously dealt with, or are unsure about the web security. Most card issuers monitor fraudulent activity on credit cards and will notify you about irregular transactions, such as purchases made in another country or unusually large amounts.
With a whole host of benefits and protection, particularly in these weak and uncertain economic times with many businesses closing, credit cards offer the consumer maximum protection against faulty or not received goods and fraud.
This article was brought to you by Money Supermarket. Check out their site for more information on credit card protection.