Don't just use your credit cards to pay for big ticket purchases or online shopping and mobile commerce -- those who are able to control their impulses to splurge will find many great reasons to use a credit card for everyday purchases such as groceries and petrol. So if you know your spending habits, you can be sure to find a card that fits like a glove.
(See which credit cards give you the best cashback plans here.)
1. Convenience
The number one reason to use a credit card is obviously its convenience. With one card, you can probably pay for most of the expenses you require on a daily basis, which means carrying less physical cash with you in your wallet. Although some ladies may not feel this if they tend to use handbags, guys will tell you how important it is to carry a slim wallet with them so that they can easily fit it into their pants without side creases!
These days with the launch of Visa payWave and MasterCard PayPass, paying with a credit card has become even easier. These systems allow you to just tap your card (you don't even need a signature) on the card reader at the cashier and you are good to go! It also allows card users to be able to use their cards with more merchants like supermarkets and drugstores.
2. Earn Useful Rewards
One of the best ways to optimise the use of your credit card is to earn rewards. There are different types of rewards credit cards; some let you earn cashback, others let you earn air miles, and with some you earn points.
Different cards also offer higher rewards in different spending categories, like groceries or petrol. So if you know your spending habits, you can be sure to find a card that fits like a glove.
To help you out with this, the Get team has put together a selection of different cards for different types of spending, here you can find our pick of the best credit cards for petrol savings, the best credit cards for groceries, the best credit cards for families, and the best all-round cashback credit cards.
3. Special Discounts And Privileges
Other than earning rewards, a big benefit of using credit cards is the amount of discounts you get with the bank's exclusive merchants. I'm a happy woman when I go to a restaurant and realise I have the related bank card to qualify for a 20% discount.
The banks in Singapore work pretty hard to get great merchant partners in the hope that consumers like us will choose their cards based on the discounts offered by their partners. In fact, you'd find such an extent of discounts available, from hotel bookings, dining discounts and spa treats that if you search through your cards you might just find one that gets you a discount wherever you go!
4. Credit Card Apps
With the number of discounts each credit card has to offer, it means that we quickly lose track and may miss out on some of them when we pay at the cashier. That's where a credit card app can help.
For instance, GET.com's free GETdeals™ app shows you all deals and discounts from all banks in one simple app. Imagine this – you are meeting your friends for dinner but you aren't sure where to go. You can simply open the app to find deals near you and look for a restaurant that gives you discount based on the credit card you have in your wallet!
This makes using your credit card on a daily basis a breeze by taking advantage of the ease of using such great apps.
5. Tracking Your Spending Becomes Fuss-Free
If you are the type of person who manages your finances religiously by following a monthly budget and tracking your expenses, using a credit card to pay for your daily purchases is probably one of the best ways to keep a detailed record of what you spend on.
No more manual recording of your expenses or using complicated tracking apps, just spend on your card and let the bank send you your monthly statement later!
This article was first published on Get.