Owning Credit cards is a fact of life these days. Not only you can use credit cards to pay for what your purchase at stores, your gas, and your bills, you can also use them to build your credit history. Unlike many countries around the world, your credit history in the U.S. can determine whether you can get a car loan or even one for your college education. At the end of the day, your credit card is a tool can help you save on your everyday costs and build a better credit history.

Credit cards are great cost savings tools if they are used the right way. Many consumers apply for credit cards that come with a lot of cost savings features but do not tap into their cards’ potential. A good credit card is become a credit card processor  like a good car. If you don’t use it the right way, it is not going to benefit you the way it should.
Consumer credit cards and business credit cards are very much different, and the thought process that goes behind choosing them is different as well. But, most consumer and business credit card holders choose one credit card over the other due to one of the following factors:

Annual Fee: a credit card with an annual fee is simply looked down upon by most consumers. Consumers simply do not like to have to pay a fee on an annual basis to have the right to own a credit card. What many consumers do not consider is the fact that credit cards with annual fees often come with more features and cost saving benefits. Business credit card holders are more open to the idea of paying an annual fee to business credit card issuers. So there is no wonder credit cards such as the Plum card and American Express Gold are the most popular business credit cards on the market.

Balance Transfer: balance transfer features matter to both consumers and business owners. Credit cards that come with low balance transfer APR are almost as popular as cards that come with higher APR but no transfer fees. The standard balance transfer in the credit card industry is 3%. But there are minimum and maximum amounts that you could be charged, and those amounts differ among various credit card offers. At the end of the day, lower transfer rates are useful to people who are planning to transfer very high balances to their credit cards.

Introductory offers: credit card offers are very powerful in attracting and retaining card holders for a while. Chase, Advanta, American Express, and Discover all offer credit cards that come with introductory 0% APR for 6-15 months. Some cards only focus on purchase APR, while others focus on both balance transfer and purchase APRs. It is given that credit card companies may limit their introductory offers with the economy struggling, but introductory offers are still one of the most popular reasons people choose one credit card over another.

Life-Time benefits value: there are a few brave men and women among us who stick with one or two credit cards for more than a couple of years. These folks choose their credit cards based on its life-time cost saving value. Credit cards that come with life-time balance transfer or purchase rates are very popular to this group.

There are many other factors that you need to consider before applying for a credit card. However, the above factors are considered to be the most important by most business and consumer credit card holders. At the end of the day, you should have a clear goal about what you need to accomplish with a credit card before choosing a credit card. That way you can save yourself a lot of time and headache and get the best out of your credit cards.