Credit Cards

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The use of credit cards has been part of most of the people's daily lives. And when I talk of owning credit cards, I do not mean just one credit card per person but even more! I found out that most of my friends carry with them two and some even five credit cards ready to be swiped on their credit card-thickened wallets! Sounds pretty familiar right? Some people know have been paying for years to finish their credit card debts and most especially its compounded interests. Some are even using their credit card to pay for another credit card bill thru balance transfers. These simply hinder them to their financial freedom -- from debts.

The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest. -- Albert Einstein

In the Philippines, there are several types of credit card brands namely MasterCard, Visa, JCB, American Express and Diner's Club.

MasterCard*

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• AIG Philam Saving Bank
• Allied Banking Corporation
• Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc.
• Bank of the Philippine Islands
• Bankard, Inc. (YGC member)
• Citibank
• East West Banking Corporation
• HSBC
• Metrobank Card Corporation
• SB Cards Corporation (Security Bank)
• Standard Chartered Bank

Visa**

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• AIG Credit
• Chinatrust (Philippines) Commercial Bank Corporation
• Equicom Savings Bank
• Equitable PCI Bank
• Metrobank Card Corporation
• RCBC Bankard
• Standard Chartered Bank
• Sterling Bank of Asia
• HSBC
• Union Bank of the Philippines

JCB

• Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc.
• RCBC Bankard

Diner's Club

• Security Bank

For customer retention and to attract more clients, the competition between credit card companies has been pretty tough. And as a result, credit card holders benefit with the great deals these credit card companies have been offering from time to time such as credit card 0% interest on purchases; swipe and get freebies, discounts and rebates; straight to installment plans, balance transfers from one card to another; raffle promos and a whole lot more. You will be surprised that someone from a credit card company will be calling you from your office or from you home tactfully offering and convincing you to apply for a card under them while you are wondering how the heck were they able to know you and how were they able to get your number... I don't know either...  

I was thinking why do some people apply for too much credit cards? I personally have 2 credit cards on stand-by in case of emergency and simply for points accumulation. Do we need to pay using our credit cards even if we have cash on hand? Is it really worth it to have a lot of credit cards?

On this section of my blog, I will try to discover ways on how to wisely use credits cards to avoid dept burdens and what good stuff we can get out of our credit cards. 

We equate credit cards = debts... Well, not always. Credit cards are not always bad for us -- we just need to know how to properly utilize them.          

*via Mastercard
** via Visa Southeast Asia