There are lots of kinds of cards on the market today, from secured cards, checked cards to debit cards etc. The most important names in the business are Visa, Master Card and American Express. Customers are most important for the networks, because the system is kept going by card fees and taxes, as well as a small amount ranging from 1% to 3% of each purchase you make with your card. On the other hand, customers are interested in cards that return some of this money, in cash or other stuff like bank merchandise, telephone points, rebates on cars, appliances and many more.

Most prefer cash, so they won’t be forced to buy a specific company’s products. Direct Rewards MasterCard for example returns 5%, but there are rumors that there are difficulties in getting approved for this card. Then TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express return 3%, but only for restaurants. Cards that offer airline rebate are second in this list of preferences. Airline companies like American or Delta bonus the tickets with flyer points. Third would be gasoline cards, for example Visa gives back 1% to 5%, if you buy from specific gas stations. These programs change in time and not all the cards are accepted anywhere. Some cards offer advantages if you charge lots of money, on expenses like charitable donations, mortgage payments and others. Other cards have specific dates when rebate is offered. Discover card for example is working on an anniversary system.

Find out if your credit card reward points are transferable. Businesses specialize in buying unused credit card reward points.