Saturday, 18 June 2011

What Are Credit Card Alternatives?

By Troy Jones


Credit cards may be convenient, but they are also very costly. You can get the convenience of a credit card without the high costs as long as you keep in mind these alternatives. Keep reading to learn about these alternatives.

What are Debit Cards? Taking America by storm are debit cards. They are extremely convenient just like credit cards without the high interest fees. Debit cards, instead of using an unsecured loan provided by a credit card company, uses your bank account. Debit cards are usually accepted everywhere a normal credit card is accepted and they are very easy to use and doesn't charge any interest for purchases.

The beauty of debit cards is that they use your checking account making it easy to refill your balance. Many credit cards come with online banking making it easy to keep tabs on your balance and easy to transfer money from another account to refill your checking account. Debit cards usually are very economical and cost nothing at the point of purchase to use. A monthly or yearly fee is charged by some banks but these fees are typically low and cost effective unlike the high credit card interest fees.

Use Paypal for Online Purchases For those that shop online, instead of using a credit card, look into other payment options such as Paypal. Paypal is very secure and uses your bank account or even debit card to make purchases online. Your bank account or debit card account information is securely held on Paypal's network so you don't have to give your credit card number to a merchant. Paypal pays the merchant directly, this way you never have to transfer bank or card information to unknown merchants. Paypal is also free to use for consumers.

What are Gift Cards? Instead of using a credit card, you can also use gift cards to make purchases. At practically all locations that accept Visa and American Express credit cards, you can also use Visa and American Express gift cards. When it comes to these prepaid gift cards, you pay for a specific amount on the gift card upfront. Because of this, it's not necessary to pa for any interest fees later on. Mostly used for holiday gift giving are gift cards but now, to teach their kids how to use credit cards wisely, many parents are using gift cards as tools.

With so many other alternatives, your high interest credit cards and the debt they can cause can be a thing of the past.




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