Personally, I think the most important thing to prepare is the basic knowledge about credit cards. I have written a little bit:

1. Annual fee

Almost all credit cards issued by banks They all have annual fees. Depending on the card level, the annual fees corresponding to the cards are also different. The more advanced the credit card, the higher the annual fee. When applying for a card, be sure to understand how the card's annual fee is charged and the annual fee reduction policy. If you don’t know how much the annual fee is, you must know how many times you can swipe to get the annual fee free. Regular cards and gold cards can be exempted from annual fees after a certain number of purchases, which is generally about 6 times (varies by bank). However, it should be noted that some high-level credit cards have strict annual fee exemption policies, such as Most platinum cards are free of annual fees, no matter how many times you swipe the card.

2. Interest and late payment fees

What will be the consequences if the full payment is not paid on the final repayment date? You will definitely not be able to escape the full penalty interest (except for ICBC cards)! Regarding this part, let me first introduce two terms to you.

Interest-free period: Simply put, it is the period during which we borrow money from the bank after consumption, but do not need to repay interest.

Minimum repayment amount: Generally, it is 10% of the repayment amount. If we only repay this 10% on the repayment date, although it will not affect our personal credit record, we will not be able to enjoy the interest-free period. , interest of 0.05% will be charged every day from the date of consumption. That is, if you consume 10,000 yuan, but the actual repayment is 9,000 yuan, then the full amount of interest on the 10,000 yuan will be calculated from the consumption date to the repayment date.

If the actual repayment amount on the repayment date is not even enough for the minimum repayment amount, the bank will charge a 5% late payment fee for the unpaid portion of the minimum repayment amount.

3. Withdraw cash

Credit cards are different from debit cards. Credit card purchases enjoy an interest-free period. Cash withdrawals not only have no interest-free period, but also have handling fees. The cash withdrawal fee ranges from 1% to 3%, and an interest of 0.05% is charged every day starting from the day of withdrawal. Therefore, it is recommended that you do not withdraw cash as a last resort.

4. Increase the limit of card maintenance

First of all, in the first three months after opening the card, accumulate credit and repay the full amount on time as scheduled, so that the bank will feel that your funds are safe and it will be beneficial to you. Very reassuring. Secondly, take advantage of every opportunity to swipe every day, no matter how big or small, such as electricity bills, water bills, phone bills... Don't underestimate these small credit card swiping records, they are very useful for card usage activity.

The amount of card swiping, the frequency of swiping the card, the type of consumption, the repayment record, the contribution value of the card, etc. are the categories that the bank computer system examines. If you swipe your card frequently and have a large amount, and you can repay it in full and on time, it will only be a matter of time before you increase your credit limit.

5. Set a password

When using credit cards abroad, there is no password. When swiping the card, the cashier will identify it with his signature. However, when you swipe your card in China, you will find that the cashier basically does not read your signature. In other words, if you don’t set a password, it’s possible for someone else to pick up your card and max it out.

However, in terms of banks, if you set a password and the credit card is lost and stolen, the responsibility will be entirely on the cardholder because you did not keep your password well. If you do not set a password, you can enjoy the lost card protection. However, the lost card protection can only compensate for part of the losses incurred in the period before reporting the loss, so it is difficult to make a claim.

Generally speaking, it is safer to set a password.