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There are many different banks which offer credit cards to a well informed consumer base these days. And in order to entice high value customers into going for their credit cards, the banks offer several different rewards as a bonus. Gone are the days when one had to pay for a credit account. These days, the bank pays you in the form of bonuses and rewards or points to tempt you to go for their card and use it as much as possible.
There are several types of rewards that are being offered by banks these days. The most common type of reward would be their points based system. Here the customer is rewarded a certain number of points for every transaction that he makes. That is every time you swipe your card, you will get a certain number of points to your account. This is a feature which is present even in debit cards these days if you swipe on the credit option. Another point`s based feature would be dependent on the amount that you spend on your purchases. Depending on the dollar value of your expenditure, you would get a certain number of points. These points can be redeemed for commodities or services at a later date.
While redeeming points you need to be aware of a few things. There will always be a time frame within which you will have to redeem your points in order not to run the risk of having them expired. Make sure you are within this time frame when you redeem the points. You can redeem the points for cash or for certain commodities or services. The bank might be associated with a preferred merchant who will give his commodities in exchange for points.
Another reward scheme would be the freebies which you would get on opening an account. This can include a foreign trip with full return air fare paid for you and a loved one. It could also include hotel accommodation and local transportation. You need to research into this to make sure it is a good deal before going for it. You do not want to be stuck in Bali while there is a hurricane warning in the pacific.
But more than rewards look for schemes which will give you low interest rates on your cards. There might also be schemes where you will not have to pay any interest on all your transactions for a certain period after you open your account. This is the best sort of deal that you can get. But the problem is that they do not give out such deals commonly. You need to shop around and also convince the bank that you are a reliable customer who has a good track record. Showing that you have a good credit history is one of the ways of proving to the bank that you are serious about your financial stability. All that the bank wants to know is whether you will be able to pay back whatever amount you borrow from them in time every time. If you do this diligently, you can be sure of being rewarded for your actions.
