Ireland Credit Card

A few years back this could have been a huge topic for debate, but not any more. Today, there is not an iota of doubt that a credit card is a necessity for most people. Credit cards are no more just a fad or just a matter of convenience. They are so much central to our day to day life that they have become almost essential today. As the Celtic Tiger keeps growing, ever so slowly, we need to look closer at our needs.

Top 5 things that make credit cards inevitable:

1) Convenience: The first thing of course is convenience. This was the promise that the credit cards brought along with them when they first entered the Irish world (or wallets). Not only are the credit cards easy to carry but also easy to use. Gone are the days when you were required to carry a lot of cash on you for shopping and walking out of D2 on Grafton street afraid for your life at Christmas time! Now, you just need to carry a small piece of plastic (credit card) in your wallet. Also, with credit cards, there is no hassle of counting the amount to be paid or collecting change from the payment counter. You just need to swipe your card for the exact amount and sign the receipt (or now, enter your pin number).

2) Safety: If your cash got stolen, you couldn’t prevent the thief from using it for his/her own benefit. However, if your credit card gets stolen, you can get it blocked and hence render it useless for the thief. Getting the credit card blocked is as simple as making a call to your credit card supplier (and these emergency lines operate round the clock, 24×7). Muggers are known to target people who flash cash in shops, bars and marketplace. With credit cards, what you would be flashing is just a piece of plastic. In fact, people with credit cards carry very little cash with them. It’s kind of like a burglar, why would he burgle a house with an alarm when there is a house next door with the doors and window open and a wad of cash on top of the television?

3) Financial Contingency: There can be times when you need money immediately. This can be for an urgent payment or for funding an immediate need related to treatment of illness or for simple things like taking advantage of a sale which is coming to an end before the next salary day or just some unforeseen expense. Your credit card can take care of such contingencies and by the time your credit card bill comes in, you would have your salary sitting pretty in your bank account. You can also choose to pay your credit card bill over a period of time so as to spread your payments.

4) Shopping discounts: This is one of the most lucrative things that credit cards bring with them in Ireland. A lot of credit card suppliers have associations with other businesses like retail chains, restaurants, hotels, car rentals, airlines etc. When you shop with these businesses, you get discounts on any payments made using your credit card. Most of the times these discounts are so attractive that it might actually become a reason to get a particular credit card. In fact, some retain chains and other businesses themselves are credit card suppliers too. For example, Ryanair offer free flight credits and Sony offer pulse beats credits.

5) Budget planning: The facility of ‘Buy now, pay later’ can actually help you in organizing your purchases and planning your budget (Yes, if only it was that easy!). You could make a purchase today and pay for the same in installments on your credit card. Moreover, you can use your credit card bill to review your spending history and figure out what is making you go over budget.

These are just the top 5 benefits. There are much more benefits too which together make the credit cards indispensable in Ireland today. We will be running an article this week on the new TSB disposable credit card making obtaining a credit card in Ireland only a walk to the local newsagent!