There is no such thing as a universal best credit card. The right card for you depends on your lifestyle, your goals and your credit history.
For instance, if you are looking for travel rewards but your friend is building credit, the best card for each of you will differ greatly.
And while there may not be one best card for you, there are many times a card can be wrong for a specific situation.
Here are eight times you could be using the wrong credit card, and what you can do instead.
You are still using your starter credit card
You may have started out by building your credit with a secured card, student card or alternative card, but once your credit is in better shape, it may be time to upgrade.
If you have used a starter card responsibly by keeping your utilisation rate low and paying balances in full every month, you may qualify for a card that is a better fit now.
A different card could offer a higher credit limit, better rewards earnings and perks such as travel benefits.
Some card issuers may automatically upgrade your card once you have reached certain thresholds, while others may not. Contact the issuer to check your options.
You are not using a card enough to earn the sign-up bonus
New cardholders can often earn a welcome bonus, but usually with a caveat: you have to spend a minimum amount within a specific time frame to get it.
Note the spending requirements for a card’s sign-up bonus and use the new credit card enough by the deadline.
If you continue to pay with an older credit card that is already in your wallet, you face the risk of missing out on the bonus.
A little planning can help. Think about big purchases you need to make, such as a car repair or a new laptop. Only one of those could be enough to hit the spending requirements for the sign-up bonus.
You are using a store-specific card
It is true a store credit card can save you money, especially if you are a frequent, heavy spender at that store.
However, the rewards earned with a store credit card are often only redeemable at that store, limiting their usefulness.
Most shoppers would be better off using a general rewards credit card and earning more flexible rewards.
You didn’t realise 5% cards take extra work
Several cards have a top 5 per cent cashback rate in spending categories such as grocery stores, restaurants and petrol stations.
The catch, though, is that you will have to do some work to earn that rate. In most cases, you will need to track categories: qualifying 5 per cent purchases may rotate quarterly, or you may have to choose your own categories.
If you are spending outside of those categories with this card, you will probably earn a paltry 1 per cent instead of the 5 per cent you think you are earning.
Plus, you could run into spending caps in those 5 per cent bonus categories; once you hit those caps, the rewards rate drops to 1 per cent.
For those who find a 5 per cent card to be high maintenance, opt for one that earns a flat 2 per cent cash back on every purchase instead.
You mix up the card names
Some issuers offer suites of cards in the same family and have names that are nearly identical.
Perform a quick audit of your credit cards to make sure that they are the cards you intended to get. Cards that look and sound nearly the same may be worlds apart in terms of fees and rewards structure.
You are regularly using a balance transfer card for purchases
Balance transfer cards can be excellent tools for paying off debt. They consolidate several debts into one place, making them easier to keep up with.
However, if you are using a balance transfer card for everyday expenses as well, it will be hard to whittle that balance to $0.
Plus, many balance transfer cards don’t come with rewards. Leave the balance transfer card at home, but take the cashback card with you — and be sure to make regular payments towards both.
You are not using the right card for purchases
It pays to know the rewards rates for all your credit cards.
Say you have two credit cards, one that earns 4 per cent on petrol and another that earns only 1 per cent.
Using the 4 per cent card whenever you fill up would return $30 more if you spent $1,000 annually on petrol. That $30 may not seem like a lot, but small amounts add up.
To help keep track of different rewards rates, you could label your cards with sticky notes or keep a small reference guide in your wallet.
Often, you will have to keep spending caps in mind, too. Issuers typically cap earnings on their highest rewards rates after you reach a certain amount of spending in a particular category.
Make sure you track your progress towards that cap and switch to another card with a better rate when you reach it — until the limit resets.
You are not using a credit card at all
Although they may look the same, a debit card is very different from a credit card.
Credit cards offer protections and perks that debit cards do not. You can earn cash back and other rewards with credit cards that you will not get with a debit card, and it is often easier to recover from losing a credit card than a wallet full of cash.
More importantly, responsible credit card use builds your credit score.
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
Essentials
The flights: You can fly from the UAE to Iceland with one stop in Europe with a variety of airlines. Return flights with Emirates from Dubai to Stockholm, then Icelandair to Reykjavik, cost from Dh4,153 return. The whole trip takes 11 hours. British Airways flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Reykjavik, via London, with return flights taking 12 hours and costing from Dh2,490 return, including taxes.
The activities: A half-day Silfra snorkelling trip costs 14,990 Icelandic kronur (Dh544) with Dive.is. Inside the Volcano also takes half a day and costs 42,000 kronur (Dh1,524). The Jokulsarlon small-boat cruise lasts about an hour and costs 9,800 kronur (Dh356). Into the Glacier costs 19,500 kronur (Dh708). It lasts three to four hours.
The tours: It’s often better to book a tailor-made trip through a specialist operator. UK-based Discover the World offers seven nights, self-driving, across the island from £892 (Dh4,505) per person. This includes three nights’ accommodation at Hotel Husafell near Into the Glacier, two nights at Hotel Ranga and two nights at the Icelandair Hotel Klaustur. It includes car rental, plus an iPad with itinerary and tourist information pre-loaded onto it, while activities can be booked as optional extras. More information inspiredbyiceland.com
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Try out the test yourself
Q1 Suppose you had $100 in a savings account and the interest rate was 2 per cent per year. After five years, how much do you think you would have in the account if you left the money to grow?
a) More than $102
b) Exactly $102
c) Less than $102
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer
Q2 Imagine that the interest rate on your savings account was 1 per cent per year and inflation was 2 per cent per year. After one year, how much would you be able to buy with the money in this account?
a) More than today
b) Exactly the same as today
c) Less than today
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer
Q4 Do you think that the following statement is true or false? “Buying a single company stock usually provides a safer return than a stock mutual fund.”
a) True
b) False
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer
The “Big Three” financial literacy questions were created by Professors Annamaria Lusardi of the George Washington School of Business and Olivia Mitchell, of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Answers: Q1 More than $102 (compound interest). Q2 Less than today (inflation). Q3 False (diversification).
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
RESULT
Huddersfield Town 2 Manchester United 1
Huddersfield: Mooy (28'), Depoitre (33')
Manchester United: Rashford (78')
Man of the Match: Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town)
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The Florida Project
Director: Sean Baker
Starring: Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe
Four stars
The five pillars of Islam
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
MORE ON TURKEY'S SYRIA OFFENCE
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The schedule
December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club
December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq
December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm
December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition
December 13: Falcon beauty competition
December 14 and 20: Saluki races
December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm
December 16 - 19: Falconry competition
December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am
December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am
December 22: The best herd of 30 camels
The specs: 2019 Jeep Wrangler
Price, base: Dh132,000
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 285hp @ 6,400rpm
Torque: 347Nm @ 4,100rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.6L to 10.3L / 100km
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GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
The biog
Name: Fareed Lafta
Age: 40
From: Baghdad, Iraq
Mission: Promote world peace
Favourite poet: Al Mutanabbi
Role models: His parents
