Sa dinami-dami ng credit cards ngayon, ang hirap pumili kung ano ang tama para sa iyo. To determine which one is right for you, balikan ang mga gastusin mo the past year para malaman kung ano ang fit sa iyo.
Siyempre, doon tayo sa pinakamura at pinaka nagbibigay ng reward points. For your guidance, here are the general types of credit cards.
(Read: Paano gamitin nang tama ang credit card).
Standard credit cards
Ang standard credit card ay typically nagbibigay ng napakababang interest rate compared sa ibang credit card companies. Maaari itong magbigay ng mababang interest rate sa umpisa na maaaring lumaki after a certain period.
Kapag nag-balance transfer ka from an existing credit card to a new credit card at binigyan ka ng mababang interest rate para dito, this is also considered a standard credit card.
But then again, this shouldn’t be an issue if you follow my cardinal rule in using a credit card: you are only allowed to have one IF you can pay the statement balance in full every billing cycle. In this scenario, you won’y have to worry of a single centavo that you pay on interest.
(Read: Dabat bang kumuha ng 0% installment sa credit card?)
Rewards credit cards
May dalawang klase dito, yung mga nagbibigay ng cash back at yung mga nagbibigay ng reward points that you can use to claim and pay for travel, gadgets, clothes, food and the like.
Ang cash back credit card ay yung nagbibigay ng percentage of your purchases as rebates. Maaari itong ibigay sa iyo as cash o kaya naman as charge back sa credit card statement mo, meaning ibabawas nila ang rebate sa kailangan mong bayaran o amount due.
If you spend PhP50,000 at ang cash back rate ay 1%, you will get 500 pesos back. Consider it as automatic discount in your purchases. Cash back rates range from 1% to as high as 5% depending on the items purchased.
Ang mga reward credit cards naman ay nagbibigay ng equivalent points based on your purchases. These points can then be used to purchase for whatever items they have in their program.
Dahil ako ay travel bug, I have been very loyal to my credit card and have used the rewards points to pay for free airline tickets for family vacations. Last June 25, I treated my whole family (14 of them) for vacation in Europe. Pito sa mga airline tickets na ito ay dahil sa points ko sa credit card.
(Watch: Ok ba magka-credit card?)
Credit card repairs
Ang mga credit card naman na ito ay mga credit card na usually mataas ang interest rates at wala masyadong rewards. As the name implies, ito ay para sa mga taong may low credit scores at maaari nilang gamitin ito para tumaas ang scores nila.
In the Philippines, usually ito ay binibigay sa mga baguhan pa lang sa trabaho o fresh grads dahil wala pa silang credit history at gustong makasiguro ng credit card company na mababayaran ito.
My partner and my sister were once offered this when we were still starting out. The bank asked them to deposit an amount at ito ang naging credit limit nila. The moment na hindi sila makabayad, kukunin ng bangko ang bayad sa deposit na ito.
Secured credit card ang tawag dito. Prepaid credit card naman ang tawag kung kailangan mong mag-deposito everytime ng pera sa card mo at hanggang doon lang ang puwede mong gamitin.
Subprime naman ang tawag sa mga credit cards na mataas ang interest at karaniwang ibinibigay sa mga mabababa ang credit scores. Ang prepaid at subprime credit cards ay hindi gaanong sikat sa Pilipinas.
(Read: Ok ba kumuha ng salary loan pambayad sa credit card?)
Specialty credit cards
Ang mga corporate credit cards ay karaniwang classified under specialty credit cards dahil malaki ang nakukuhang reward points ng corporation o business owner sa mga business-related expenses. Corporate rates din ang bigay na interest rate which is lower than what the market rate.
May mga store credit cards naman, o yung mga credit cards na magagamit mo lang specifically sa isa or a few store/s or merchant/s; o kaya naman ay website/s. So may limitation sa paggamit nito. Pero kapag ginamit mo sa mga store/s, merchant/s o website/s na ito; usually malaki ang discount o kaya ay reward points.
May mga instances din na, for in-store purchases, mas mababa ang interest na ipapataw ng mga store credit cards kung allowed kang gamitin ito other than the specified stores.
Karaniwan ding may gas partners ang specialty credit cards that gives you discounts or rebates when you gas up with their partner gas stations.
(Read: Gabay sa pagkuha ng 0% installment)
Multiple-features
The reality is, most credit cards mix features that I stated above. Yung akin, may gasoline rebate, may rewards points at mababa ang interest rate which makes it a standard, reward and specialy credit card.
(Read: Ok bang minimum amout due lang ang bayaran sa credit card?)
Use with care
I would like to emphasize, again, that when you use a credit card, dapat bayad mo ang full statement balance o total amount due for the billing cycle. Kung hindi, wala ka pang “K” magka-credit card.
It is not free money kapag mali ang paggamit mo nito.
