The vast majority of credit cards, in addition to allowing us to pay for purchases in monthly installments, offer additional advantages to differentiate themselves from their competition. Among the most common advantages are cards that offer discounts and returns on purchases .
Although the two terms are often used synonymously, these are two somewhat different benefits, explains card comparer HelpMyCash.com . We tell you the differences between them and what advantages each one has.
Differences between returns and discounts on cards.
In summary, the discounts on the cards will allow us to obtain a direct discount on the store where we make the purchase with the card . Instead, with the return they will reimburse us a percentage of the amount spent after having paid for the purchase.
Let’s imagine that we want to make a purchase of 100 euros with a card. With a 3% discount, the purchase would cost us 97 euros and we would save 3 euros. On the other hand, with a 3% refund, the purchase would cost us 100 euros and the bank would return 3 euros later.
Banks that do not charge commission if you are unemployed and without payroll. These are the banks that do not charge you commission if you are unemployed and without a payroll.
What are the characteristics of refund cards?
In general, refunds are applied automatically in stores and brands with whom the card issuer has agreements simply for buying with the card, although some offer them in all purchases we make regardless of the store.
Returns may have maximum monthly limits . The refund of the return money may be in the form of money in our account (the most beneficial way for us) or money in the credit line or through a gift voucher to be redeemed in certain stores.
The WiZink Plus credit card , without annual fees and without changing banks, offers a 3% refund in numerous food, fashion, leisure or travel stores such as Zara, Mercadona, Lidl, Primark, Just Eat or Vueling with a maximum of six euros a month and the ING credit card , without annual fees, offers a 3% refund at Galp and Shell.
There are two important points to consider about returns. On the one hand, it is that the money returned is subject to the payment of income tax , so the bank will retain 19% of all returns, HelpMyCash.com explains, or we will have to declare the income if the bank does not practice any retention.
On the other hand, if the return only applies if it is paid in installments, we will only have to resort to this method if we already wanted to make the purchase in installments, since the interest of splitting a purchase will “eat up” the return that we can obtain.
What are the characteristics of the discount cards?
Discount cards allow you to get offers in stores or specific brands with whom banks or finance companies have agreements. To take advantage of the discounts, we will have to access the store’s website through a specific link and, sometimes, even register on the bank’s discount platform. Another option is to use a code or show a coupon. This implies that we must be aware of the offers that our bank has at all times.
The discount will be achieved at the moment and the purchase will be cheaper and is usually applied, especially in sectors such as fashion, hotels, shows or technology.
Depending on the stores that each card includes in its discount or return offer, our consumption habits or how easy it is to apply this advantage in our daily lives, we can choose one card or another according to which allows us to get the most out of it.
The Great Writer and The Passionate Poet As Well, He Graduated from University Of Florida in Journalism and Brad have around 12 years of experience in news and media section.