The Perfect Credit Card

Credit cards now days are becoming more and more personalized.  Some companies allow us to choose our credit card colour as well as the design.  The credit card is the new check book. Remember checks? I have ordered a book of checks once in my lifetime; and to date, I have only used 17 of the 50 checks.  My checks are pink with roses in support of breast cancer. They are also personalized with my name and phone number.  If my credit card wasn’t joint with my boyfriend Nick, it would also be pink.

If you could create the perfect credit card what would if offer? Some of us may have 2 or 3 credit cards because each offers their own features such as cash back, Air Miles, or the option to earn points that we can redeem for travel rewards or merchandise, such as gift cards.  What type of credit card would make you happy?

When thinking about all the qualities that we would love to have in just one credit card, we have to be realistic. Remember that Banks have to make a profit from their clients. We will need to have either an annual fee or a low interest rate.  If you had to choose which would you prefer?

If you choose to have an annual fee with a low interest rate is that because you carry a balance on your credit card?  Would you carry a balance on your credit card if your interest rate was 19.99%? If you choose to have no annual fee with a higher interest is this because you never carry a balance on your credit card and therefore the interest rate is not relative? Or is it because you only use your credit card to build and maintain your credit score?

Some of us may not have credit cards because they may be inconvenient at times. I am not sure if our credit cards will ever become as widely accepted payment method as cash or debit. Each payment method has their positive and negative qualities. We can use our credit card to make purchase online, but we cannot use our cash. We can usually buy our daily coffee with cash, but not always with a credit card.

We need to have one universal payment method that is accepted by every merchant worldwide. Since each country has their own currency, it seems only logic that credit cards become a widely accepted method of payment. I know that VISA and MasterCard are accepted worldwide, but, they are not accepted within all merchants.

DINKS, I ask you. If you could create the “Perfect” Credit Card what qualities would it have?

Let’s start by answering these questions:

I wish my credit card had _________

I hate that my credit card has _________

I wish I could pay for ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­__________ with my credit card

I always use my credit card to purchase _________ because __________

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(Photo by Lel4nd via Flickr)

Kristina Tahnyak

Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.