The bank card is present in the daily lives of hundreds of millions of people. The keys to its success are the comfort and simplicity with which all kinds of operations can be carried out: withdraw cash, make purchases, make payments… To make the right choice, and take care of your financial health, it is important to know what type of bank cards there are… and which one is the most interesting for you.
The bank card has to be according to you
We all know that there are different types of cards within the banking field, each one with different characteristics: debit, credit, revolving, prepaid or purchase, flexible cards… many times it may happen that we are using one of them and not Let’s know what its main features are…
Or that there may be another option that may end up being more in line with our needs . Because, why use a type of bank card with our di entity is not really what we are going to need it for? Or rather, why make use of one of these cards that have nothing to do with the use that we are going to give it?
For its part, and as the figures from the Bank of Spain say, the number of cards in circulation has exceeded its all-time highs with a total volume of 87.63 million. No one wonders what a card is or how it works anymore. It’s more; plastic has gone beyond the physical to find a niche in the digital world through mobile phones and is increasingly present in the daily lives of millions of people.
Which card to choose
In their case, the establishments have adapted to new technologies, so they allow both cash payment and payment by bank card. In fact, in recent times, and as a security measure, payment by card is being promoted.
Choosing the best one will depend on the circumstances of each one and getting it to become an instrument that benefits you is linked to the knowledge and understanding you have. As such, therefore, the differences between the different types of payment card are becoming more diffuse, but you should know them, so that you can get the most out of them. Do you know what each one is like and what is the difference between them?
Credit card to share expenses
The credit card is one of the most used. With this card we will have access to a line of credit to make our purchases, hence its name. But what does this mean? It means that the money we are using to pay with our credit card is not really ours, but the bank is paying it for us.
After a month, we will have to return to the bank that money that had been advanced to us. But the good thing is that, if we do it within the established terms, we will not have to pay interest. Therefore, credit cards are a very good option to distribute expenses in those months in which everything comes together at the same time.
Debit for everyday purchases
It is the most common and simple bank card modality. The debit card is associated with a bank account, so when paying at online or physical stores or withdrawing cash, you will be using the money in the account.
That is, the amount of the transaction is automatically deducted from the account when we make a purchase. Once we have spent it, we will not be able to continue using it. That is why it will be the most appropriate card to pay for our daily purchases if we do not want to use cash.
Prepaid to buy online
Then we also find the prepaid card, which is a type of card that we have to top up with money to be able to use them. In this way, if we load 20 euros on it, for example, we only have those 20 euros to spend on our purchases.
The main advantage of this card is that it adds extra security, since it does not have direct access to our bank account, but only to the money that we load into it. That is why it is the perfect option to buy online or use on trips so as not to go over our budget.
Revolving to pay them in monthly installments
And to complete this list of options for this ‘plasticized money’ we find revolving cards, which are the ones that allow us to make purchases and be able to pay them in monthly installments based on a credit limit granted by the bank.
As we return the installments, the money returned becomes part of our line of credit. Thus, each month, it will be discounted or added to the credit limit as we buy or return monthly installments, respectively. In exchange for the service of returning purchases that we make later and in parts, these cards will charge us interest for it.
Virtual cards
Have you ever heard of virtual cards? It is a very new modality, but of good use. In their case, they are still prepaid cards that do not usually have physical support. Or what is the same; many of them only exist in the app or virtual banking of our entity.
For this reason, these cards will only allow us to buy online and not in physical stores. Although they do not have physical support as such, we will continue to have the necessary information such as the card number or the CVV. In this way we can make our purchases online with total ease.
