Store Cards V Credit Cards

By: Alisdair Cosgrove

Over the past year, with finances having been very strained for most households, many people have become increasingly reliant on credit. With Christmas around the corner many of us are likely to use some form of credit to pay for Christmas purchases this year.Amongst the various forms of credit that are commonly used over the Christmas and New Year period are store cards and credit cards.However, for those planning to put the cost of Christmas on plastic it is important to determine what the pros and cons of these cards are and to find out which of these payments methods is likely to prove most suitable.

The general consensus from most industry experts when it comes to plastic cards it that you are far better off with a credit card than you are with a store card, and there are a number of reasons why experts think in this way.By using the right credit card for your needs rather than opting for a store card you will find that you can enjoy a range of benefits that you would not get with a store card.

Retailers make a fortune from store card customers, and at this time of year when spending levels traditionally rise they tend to push these cards at the point of sale in the hope of getting lots of consumers to sign up for them.Store cards come with a very high rate of interest, and those that use the card and accrue debt and then spread the repayments on the balance will find that the items that they purchase on the card ultimately end up costing them a fortune because of the interest that they pay.

Don’t be fooled into taking out a store card just because the sales assistant offers incentives such as discounts, because the amount that you could end up paying in interest will far outweigh any discount that you get off your purchases.It is worth remembering that store cards can only be used at a certain store or chain of stores, and therefore another downside to these cards is that their usage is far more restricted than that of credit cards.

Even credit cards have various problems, and users should remember that they can lead to high debt levels and can also come with high rates of interest. However, you can get cards that offer interest free credit on purchases for a lengthy period, enabling you to spread the repayments on your balance and avoid having to pay any interest.unlike a store card, you can use your credit card to make purchases from any place that accepts credit card payments, and this is another benefit of using a credit card over a store card.It may also be worth considering a rewards based credit card or a cash back card if you are going to be repaying your balance in full within the interest free period.

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Alisdair Cosgrove has been writing finance articles for many years and can find more of his work at the UK site CreditCardsWeb.co.uk, offering credit card deals for UK residents and also a great selection of credit card balance transfers.

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