Credit card is a payment tool based on debit card, which integrates loan and consumption functions. Since it came out in the 1960s, it has been widely used all over the world and has become an indispensable part of modern life. It is not only very convenient and fast to use, but also allows cardholders to enjoy the happiness of "overdraft consumption" and at the same time accumulate certain points and concessions. However, when using credit cards, we often encounter a problem: Do we have to pay an annual fee every year? Can I waive the annual fee by swiping my card?

First of all, most credit cards issued by banks need an annual fee. This fee usually ranges from tens to hundreds or even thousands of dollars, and only a few special types of credit cards will be exempt from annual fees. Why do banks charge annual fees? The main reason is operating costs. Banks must invest a lot of money and manpower to manage customer accounts, conduct risk assessment, deal with arrears and provide customer service. And these costs are not fully covered by interest and handling fees. Therefore, banks need to make up for their operating costs by charging cardholders a certain annual fee.

However, in practice, many consumers with credit cards are unwilling to pay high annual use tax. So banks have also introduced many ways to optimize products to attract more users:

Free annual fee for down payment: some credit cards can enjoy the discount of free annual fee or reduced annual fee when they are used for the first time, which is also a way for banks to attract new customers. But for users who hold cards for a long time and frequently swipe their cards, they can't get substantial benefits from it.

Consumer feedback: Many credit cards will provide points, cash back or other forms of reward mechanisms to consumers, and part of the consumption amount can be deducted from certain taxes in the future.

Signing gifts: In order to attract new customers to sign contracts, some banks will issue related gifts as rewards (such as shopping vouchers and electronic products). ) after opening a credit card. Although this method can not directly reduce the annual service cost, it does make the application and card opening more attractive.

To sum up, although most credit cards need to charge an annual fee, we can reduce our consumption expenses through the above methods. Compare the service quality and preferential strength between different banks, and at the same time, pay attention to the basic operating norms such as not exceeding your repayment ability and regular repayment when using credit cards. Only in this way can credit cards become a good helper in our lives.