Charge Card Or Credit Card?
photo credit: Andres Rueda
Business owners often times think of charge cards and credit cards as being the same thing, just using a different name to refer to them. However, they are actually two totally different things and should be completely understood before you choose either one of them.
With a credit card you are allowed to make minimum payments on your total balance until it is paid off. Where as with a charge card you are required to pay off the total balance accumulated each and every month.
Charge cards often times have much higher limits on what you can spend than a credit card does. Which is a trade off, you can spend more if you need to, but remember the above mentioned where you have to pay it all off every month.
A charge card does have more benefits in terms of their rewards programs being quite a bit more generous than the rewards programs a credit card offers you, as stated on OpenForum.
While a charge card won’t make you a better person, some people do get a certain satisfaction out of flashing an American Express charge card, as it may suggest a certain credit level, business authenticity, or other nebulous grandiosity that potentially could impress someone, Credit cards, not so much. Winner: charge cards.
World of Credit on June 29th, 2009 4:02 pm
With the current economy climate, the golden rule is to treat your credit card as a charge card, i.e. paying the balance in full every month.
American Express charge card requires a higher income to qualify which sets them apart from credit card.
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