Pros and Cons of Using a Credit Card- Considering both sides of the story
Credit cards, also known as plastic money, are popularly used by a lot of people to pay various bills, for example- house rents, electricity bills, water bills, other miscellaneous expenses, etc. A credit card can be readily used as an alternative to cash. This makes it widely used and popular amongst people. Earlier, when these plastic cards were introduced in the financial markets people were extremely skeptical towards their usage. Some reasons that can be traced supporting this trend are given below-:
Lack of awareness
People were not aware to an extent that they turned out to be confident to use credit cards to pay regular bills like house rent. However, as people started to know about it more, through family, friends, workplaces, etc. they learned to use it properly.
Lack of reliability
People didn’t feel credit cards were a completely reliable and trustworthy form of economic action mainly because they lacked the use of a physical entity. Unlike cash, credit cards don’t revolve around the concept of the physical exchange of money. This came out to be a safe way to deal with economic transactions. However, many people did not completely trust this concept due to the same reason.
Considering the popularity gained by credit cards from the past few years it’s clear that this concept is more widely understood and used efficiently than ever before. Here is a list of pros of using a credit card for paying rent -:
Amazing discounts and offers
Paying rents and other bills using credit cards generates various discount offers and coupons for customers to avail benefits while they pay the rents. Bonuses and rewards are also earned if the rent and bills are paid well on time or even before time.
Automatic system to feed standing instructions
The system allows users to feed standing instructions to remember the due dates on which the rents are to be paid. This helps the users not to miss the due date and also make the most of the benefits that come with paying the rent on time.
Assistance to get loans and credit when in need
A good credit score and credit history assist the credit card used to avail instant loans at nominal rates of interest when in need. Also, credit can be arranged if the client using a credit card maintains a decent track.
Flexible availability of options
Flexible options about the needs and requirements of the clients are provided by the authority who issues the card against an individual’s name. Flexible options provided by the authorities include exceeding the due dates to pay rents and other bills, tax concessions, etc.
No matter how good it looks to use a credit card, everything comes with some cons. Given below are some cons of using credit cards along with solutions that can be used to convert the mentioned cons into pros-:
Extra charges may be incurred
Extra charges may be incurred while the client pays rent or other bills using a credit card. These charges include service and processing fee, which needs to be incurred by the individual client and not by the authority who issues the credit card to the client.
Skipping payment dates
The due date for making a payment may be missed in case the credit card has expired or the limit of the credit card is exceeded. In such a condition, extra charges shall be implied as late payment penalties which need to be borne by the client only.
Credit score being negatively impacted
At times due to reasons like late payments, fluctuating credit history, etc. can impact the credit score negatively which in turn creates complications in applying for loans, demanding credit, etc.
Conclusion
In the end, it’s good to understand that credit cards can definitely be used to create beneficial opportunities but can create complications too. If used wisely, plastic money brings a lot of positive impacts like dealing with money transfers safely and securely.
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Author-Achal Chaurasia
A young businessman who has been in the line of entrepreneurship for quite a few years. He is an active learner and loves to know more about new technological developments coming up as well as how they can be put to great use to yield better results for society.
