Today, an increasing number of Indians are opting for credit cards across India. India’s overall credit card spending crossed the 48% mark in March 2022 and surpassed the ₹1 trillion mark. In this article, we explain to you how credit cards can be useful for any cardholder, how you can apply for one, which are the types of cards from which you can choose, and ways to avail a lifetime-free credit card. We shall also enlist certain points to be kept in mind while using your credit card.
Why are credit cards useful, and how to apply for one?
Although credit cards can adversely affect your credit score if not used with restraint and moderation, they are often categorized as ‘good debt’ despite the fact that they can adversely affect your credit score. In addition to providing a lot of cashback offers and rewards to a credit cardholder, it also helps us increase our purchasing power. Since you can complete the application process online, applying for a credit card has become very easy in recent years. Let’s take IDFC FIRST Bank’s example to understand how you can apply for a credit card online:
- Visit the IDFC FIRST Bank website
- Select the Credit Card option on the navigation pane
- Click on Apply Now
- Enter your personal details
- Click on ‘get OTP’ and know whether you are eligible
What are the types of credit cards?
You can choose from a wide variety of credit cards in India depending on your financial objective behind choosing the credit card. Here are some of the major types of credit cards available in India:
- Cashback credit cards
As the name suggests, a cashback credit card’s defining feature consists of various cashback offers for the customer on using the credit card to make any purchase.
- Lifestyle credit cards
‘Lifestyle credit cards’ are designed with the aim of catering to the changing lifestyles of the credit card holder. They come with privileges such as golfing privileges, shopping privileges, travel, and dining privileges, etc. Lifestyle credit cards offer superior travel and luxury privileges too.
- Entertainment credit cards
Entertainment credit cards are aimed at helping the cardholder avail a range of entertainment privileges. This includes tickets offered at a discounted price, offers on lifestyle, shopping, and dining; etc. Customers can also earn reward points by making these transactions and redeem points for movie tickets, travel bookings, or gift cards.
- Lifetime-free credit cards
This is an important credit card category and one of the most popular types of credit cards available in India. A popular lifetime credit card in India is the IDFC FIRST Bank lifetime free credit card that offers interest-free ATM cash withdrawals and low-interest rates to cardholders.
- Classic credit cards
Another credit card type is the classic credit card type, which comes with features such as global acceptance, revolving credit, cash advance, interest-free credit period, a rewards program, supplementary cards, insurance, a 24/7 customer care helpdesk, etc. IDFC FIRST Bank’s lifetime-free credit card is also a classic credit card.
Points to keep in mind while using your credit card.
Finally, you must keep the following points in mind even after picking the most suitable credit card for you, as a cardholder:
- You must be aware of the credit card’s bill generation date. Often, when we fail to remember the date, we miss our monthly repayment, and the debt keeps accruing month on month.
- Secondly, you must pay your credit card bill on time.
- Remain on the lookout for rewards and cashback offers linked to your credit card. You would not want to miss out on them!
- You must also plan your credit card repayment to avoid a debt crisis in the future.
If you are looking to opt for a credit card in the near future, be sure to learn more about the type of credit card that interests you and the four points that we mentioned toward the end of this article to avoid a debt trap in the future.