Credit Card Rewards

Cash back credit cards are a shoppers delight and have proven to be a huge success after the innovation of the credit card itself. True to its name, the cash back credit card provides cash rebates or cash rewards to cardholders for making purchases using the card. The best cash back credit cards gives a higher rebate on purchases. Cash back programs have been in vogue from the middle of the twentieth century. Initially, they started with a flat rebate (about 1%) of the total purchase made by the customer.

Components of the Best Cash Back Credit Cards

The best cash back credit card can be evaluated on two components – the percentage earned on purchases and the method of its delivery to the customer. With plenty of options to entice you into spending more, it is important to consider certain things when choosing cash back credit cards. This includes – the rebate percentage, Annual Percentage Rate (APR), card partnerships with merchants and other services (like gas, restaurants), the method of getting the money back, and your annual fees. Some cards may have limitations like number of rebate points earned per year and validity period of the earned rebate points.

These cards are more suited for those who do not carry monthly balances. The APR for these cards tend to be higher than the normal cards, which in effect means that if the bill is not paid in full, it would cost more for the borrower than it should and could be. As a customer, you should be aware of the APR on the card, in order to determine if the ultimate finance charges will be more or less than the actual reward benefits earned. Most of the cards do not have an annual fee, have very low or 0% introductory APR, with the facility of balance transfer and attractive gifts. The best cash back credit cards have a higher percentage rebate on certain category purchases like grocery or fuel.

Most credit card companies offer a standard cash back percentage of 1%. Some might offer 5% or 2% in mutual partnership with select merchants like gas stations or drug stores. Certain cards may offer higher rebate percentage for the introductory period and then revert to a standard 1%. The customer should look for higher rebate percentage as higher the rebate percentage; the greater amount of money that can be earned by them. Some cards may offer higher cash rebate percentage with increased usage and others may offer a higher cash back percentage at select merchant or retailers like gas stations or supermarkets. It is important for the customers to choose a cash back credit card that provides special incentives with merchants or services the consumer uses frequently.

How the Best Cash Back Credit Card Works

Typically, most of the best cash back credit card companies offer cash back or reward on purchases, not on balance transfers or cash advances. Cash back programs can prove to be very expensive for credit card companies and they normally charge an annual fee for it. Nevertheless, with competition, many of these cards now have zero annual fees. In case annual fees are charged, it is worthwhile for you to ensure that enough is earned by way of rebate to justify the annual fee payment.

The best cash back credit cards credit the rebate back to the cardholder account. However, different credit card companies adopt different methods of repaying the customer. Some companies pay the cardholder once per year, some pay back as statement credits, while others require the cardholder to request for refund once enough points have been accumulated. Cash payment methods could be as varied as the reward credit cards. These include gifts, gift vouchers, statement credits, cheques, or deposits to bank accounts.

Eligibility for Cash Back Credit Card

Generally, companies require you to have a good or an excellent credit history to qualify for the best cash back credit card. With myriad of options, shopping for the best cash back credit card can be an overwhelming task. Yet with prudence, cash back credit cards provide a fantastic opportunity to get back part of the money that is spent on purchasing and using your credit cards.

As competition in the UK credit card industry has consistently increased in recent years, credit card providers have been searching for more and more ways to attract customers to their own package of products. Most have gone about this by dropping prices with credit card rates available today that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. It is now possible to find 0% credit card interest rates not only on balance transfers but also on purchases. While these rates may only be available for limited introductory periods of a few months, it is easy to see how prices have continued to drop across the market as credit card providers have been searching for new ways to attract customers.

One method that the credit card companies have been very keen to use to attract customers is by offering reward schemes and incentives. These schemes are generally targeted at the higher end of the market and wealthier customers and they will be of more interest to customers who usually pay off their entire credit card bills in full every month thus incurring no interest charges. This means that since these customers are already paying no interest, they will be looking for other feature that will make credit cards stand out and attract them. Reward credit cards are specifically designed for this purpose.

Reward credit cards will give you rewards based on the amount you spend on the credit card. You will generally find that there are three methods of accruing rewards. You will either be getting cash back on the card such as a certain percentage of everything you spend. Another method of rewarding customers will be to give them points or another form of token to collect. These points can then be redeemed for gifts such as luggage, aftershave and whatever else the credit card company can think of offering. While many of these reward schemes offer very attractive gifts and a great range of choices, it is probably preferable to have a cash back reward as then you can spend the money on whatever you like.

The final common method of reward is with airmiles. Airmiles are a very popular reward as most customers have reported that they love redeeming them for free flights or even flight upgrades to business or first class tickets. Whatever kind of reward credit card you opt for, look carefully at the amount or speed at which rewards will accumulate, for example some credit cards will offer you one air mile for every pound you spend while others will offer four. This is a big difference. Also make sure you take the other terms and conditions into account.

Recently, there has been a report published stating that many people are not using their loyalty points. This of course defeats the whole point of using a reward credit card. It was found that the most used rewards credit card was in fact Goldfish and with many other credit cards it was found that only 10 per cent used their reward points.