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Credit cards are financial instruments that help you in overcoming a situation of a financial crisis by providing you with interest-free funds for a particular period of time. They have become very famous over the period of time because of the convenience they provide to credit cardholders. You can shop, pay your bills, book movie tickets flights tickets, etc in a very convenient manner by using these credit cards. However, they can put you in a situation of debt trap if you do not use these cards in a responsible manner.
The selection of the credit card should be done in a very analytical manner after considering various things such as your finances, your spending pattern, the rewards and benefits that credit cards provide, the fees and other charges that are linked to a credit card, etc. The decision of choosing the right credit card is a very responsible decision and the factors that are mentioned above should be taken in due consideration before finalizing a credit card as a right credit card can enhance the value of the amount that you spend using a credit card and a wrong credit card degrade the value of the amount spent using your credit card.
In today’s world, people are inclined towards spending on some specific categories such as a few people like to spend on daily needs using credit cards while others like to spend on travel categories using credit cards. Therefore, keeping such things in mind, financial institutions have launched various category-specific credit cards such as travel credit cards, shopping credit cards, etc, that provide you with accelerated benefits while you spend using these credit cards on the specific categories. As the generation these days is quite particular about their fashion, shopping, lifestyle, etc., in this article, we will discuss the points that cardholders should look for before choosing a shopping credit card. Keep reading the article to know more about this in detail.
What is a Shopping Credit Card?
A shopping credit card means a specialized credit card that offers you generous rewards and benefits every time you shop using this credit card. This credit can either be a rewards or cashback credit card that provides the cardholders with accelerated reward points, in case of rewards credit card or higher cashback in case of a cashback credit card whenever you use your credit card for shopping expenses.
Features To Consider Before Choosing A Shopping Credit Card
Whenever you opt for a category-specific credit card, there are certain features that credit cardholders should look for before they choose a credit card. Following are the points that you should consider once before opting for a shopping credit card –
Rewards and Benefits –
Whenever you look for a shopping credit card, you should take care that the credit card should be packed with benefits that you will get whenever you shop using these cards. Benefits such as discounts on shopping bills, higher reward points, generous cashback deals, etc. Also, these credit cards provide you with amazing welcome benefits as well in the form of discount coupons or e-vouchers, etc which will be credited to your account only if you spend a pre-defined amount using your credit card within the first few days of the card issuance date.
Analyze your spending pattern –
Another point that you should consider before choosing a shopping credit card is that you should first carefully examine where you exactly spend the maximum amount of your credit limit. If you are that one person who spends generously on online shopping, then you should opt for a credit card that will provide you with benefits while you spend money on online purchases. But if you spend more on offline purchases, then look for a card that provides you with maximum benefit on offline transactions.
Fees and Charges –
Like any other credit card, a shopping credit card also comes with a certain amount of fees and charges linked to it. The credit cardholders have to pay a joining and annual fee on the shopping credit card to enjoy the benefits of the credit card. They also charge an interest portion from credit cardholders if they fail to pay the bill amount by the due date. In addition to this, you should also read the terms and conditions of the particular credit card so that you have a thorough knowledge of all the fees and charges associated with the credit card. Hence, an applicant should consider all such charges before applying for a card because our main motive is to gain maximum from the credit card transactions and we should not end up paying more with respect to fees and charges than what we actually earn from it.
Your income and budget –
People generally tend to spend more using their credit cards than what they would have actually spent if they were transacting in cash. It is never a good idea to live beyond your means and spend on things that you actually do not require. We should not get attracted to things and benefits which are just freebies but we have to put in a huge amount of money to enjoy those freebies. Therefore, an applicant should deeply analyze his income and the budget that he has set apart to get a credit card. Once you have a defined budget, scroll between the shopping credit cards of different banks and then choose one that fits your budget perfectly.
List Of Best Shopping Credit Cards
Following is the list of some of the best shopping credit cards that provide you benefits in the form of Reward Points or Cashback –
- SBI SimplyCLICK Credit Card – Placed at a joining fee of Rs. 499, this credit card provides you 1 Reward Point for every Rs. 100 spent on offline transactions, 10x Reward Points when you spend on online partner merchants (Amazon, BookMyShow, Apollo24x7), and 5x Reward Points on other online spends.
- Citi Reward Credit Card – You have to pay a joining fee of Rs. 1,000 to avail the benefits of this credit card. For every Rs. 125 spent using this credit card, you will get 1 Reward Point, and 10 Reward Points for every Rs. 125 you spend on departmental stores.
- IDFC FIRST Select Credit Card – New in the credit card market, you get 3 Reward Points on each Rs. 125 spent offline, 6 Reward Points on each Rs. 125 spent online, and 10 Reward Points on every Rs. 125 on spends above Rs. 25,000. You also get amazing welcome benefits in the form of gift vouchers with this credit card. You do not have to pay any joining or annual fee to avail the benefits of this credit card.
- HDFC Bank Millennia Credit Card – You get 1,000 CashPoints as a Welcome Benefit, 5% cashback (in the form of CashPoints) at select partner online merchants, and 1% cashback (in the form of CashPoints) on all other spends.
- Cashback SBI Card – An amazing card by SBI, you get a cashback of 5% on each online transaction that you make, 1% cash back on other offline transactions, and utility bill payments. You do not have to pay any kind of joining fee to avail of the benefits of this credit card but you have to pay a renewal fee of Rs. 999 to avail of the benefits of the card from the next year.
Bottom Line
Nowadays, applicants have a wide variety of shopping credit cards from different banks to choose from. There are multiple advantages owing to credit cards. All you have to do is to consider some factors such as interest and fees charges, your spending pattern, your income, and budget, etc before you choose the best shopping credit card for yourself. Your motive should be to gain maximum benefit out of the credit transactions that you make and not to pay more than what you actually earn.
