One needs to apply for a credit card to have financial flexibility. Credit Card has become a part and parcel of the modern day life. Credit Card comes in varieties and making the right choice is very difficult. Generally, consumers apply for a credit card without going through its details and end up with a huge bill hanging over them. Thus it is very important for a credit card customer to research on the details of the credit cards available in the market.
The procedures that should be followed by a customer to apply for a credit card are :-
Firstly , they have to compare the different credit cards, research their past records, know the interest rates, hidden costs and every details associated with them.
Secondly , they have to choose the right credit card matching their personal or business needs.
Thirdly , they either have to apply for a credit card online or have to call up the company representative and apply for the same.
Generally, the call-center executives call the prospective customers and give a brief detail on the different credit cards offered by the concerned credit company. If the customer gives time then the sales executive visits him/her and aggressively promotes his company's card. Then the convinced customer has to fill up an application form in front of the executive. If the application form gets company's nod then he receives it within a very short period of time.
The details that a credit card application form generally seek are :-
- Name and Details (Address, Social Security Number, Date of Birth, Telephone and mobile number, annual income, e-mail address) of the applicant,
- Name of the Authorized User (if any) who are entitled to make purchases on the same credit card account number as that of the primary card holder,
- Signature of the Primary applicant of the credit card accepting all the terms and conditions of the company,
- Name of the scheme of the card chosen and
- Other details like driver's license.
The application form required to apply for a credit card also contains details of the schemes offered by the card issuing company. These detail contains :-
- Computation Method for calculating the Outstanding amounts
- Grace Period for payment of outstanding balances
- Annual Percentage Rate for Purchases
- Delinquency Rate
- Annual fee
- Over-limit fee
- Other Annual Percentage Rates,
- Information on the Variable Rates
- Penalty amount on late payments
- All types of transaction fees (including Cash Advances, Convenience cheques and Balance Transfers)
Thus a consumer could apply for a credit card any time time he wants with a door-to-door facility given by the card issuing companies. But before applying for a credit card a customer should be cautious about the consequences of continuous non-payment of outstanding payments where the interest rates increase in a cumulative manner. Hence, a credit card applicant should be conversant with the payment structure of the principal and interest rate because many a times it has been observed that non-payment of outstanding has led to bankruptcy of the customer.
But it is needless to mention that credit cards give financial flexibility to the consumers and the meticulous payment of the principal amount(in part or full) within the grace period and interest payment thereafter helps a consumer to be financially healthy and at the same time reallocate his resources according to the needs. Thus, a customer can always apply for a credit card but at the same time should try to make timely payments of outstanding in a specified time limit for avoiding excess burden.