Ah, the sweet rewards of using credit!

Not only do you get immediate gratification with the buy now-pay later plastic, but now, many credit cards offer rewards and incentives for using their card to build purchases. You may get cash back, or gift cards, or reward points that you may spend on merchandise or services from various merchants. There are also cards that allow you to designate your cash back points to a charity sometimes called affinity cards and those that put your cash back into a special savings account for college.

Great deal, right? You spend your funds and get something in return. The catch is, of course, that youre paying interest and card fees to get your cash back rewards. But if youre going to be using the credit card anyway, you might as well get something back out of it, right?

Most cash-back cards give you 1-2% cash back on most of your purchases. You will get a check at specified periods for the amount of your rewards cash. You might cash the check and spend the money on anything you want.

Reward cards give you 1-5 reward points for every dollar that you spend at different merchants and types of merchants. Most pay you 5 reward points for purchases made at their Merchant Thank You network, and for purchases made at gas stations, drug stores and supermarkets. You will get 1 reward point for every dollar that you spend at other merchants. You may then redeem your reward points for particular items from the merchants that belong to the credit cards merchant network.

Which is the better choice?

Each kind of credit card reward has its own pros and cons, and the better choice depends on whats most important to you.

Cash-back Rewards Pros

Cash could be used anywhere, for any kind of purchase.
Gives 1% - 2% cash back on all purchases.

Cash-back Rewards Cons

Rewards points cards may give rewards of higher value, particularly for purchases at merchant networks stores, gas stations and supermarkets.
Cash-back may only be used when a check is issued.

Rewards Points Pros

Rewards points are generally higher assessment of value than cash-back. If you use the credit card for purchases made within the merchant member network, you can get as much as 5% assessment of worth back when you spend your reward points.

Reward points are available to make use of on a rolling basis. Some card companies can require you to accumulate a certain number of rewards points before redeeming them, but reward point rewards are often more easily available than cash-back rewards.
Reward points could be used for cash rewards in some circumstances.

Reward Points Cons

Reward points may only be redeemed from particular merchants and/or on particular merchandise.

Whichever your choice, it makes effective sense to get something back when you choose to utilize credit. If youre a frequent credit card user, the rewards might certainly add up. Among the merchants that belong to various Merchant Member networks are such well-known businesses as airlines, Saks Fifth Avenue, Evelyn & Crabtree and Smarter Edge.