Getting a credit card with the bank account
Offers for account opening free of charge including a credit card
Using a credit card to pay for purchases becomes more and more popular. With a credit card, you can pay quick and easy without needing cash, something that works almost everywhere and in almost every shop. It is not always necessary to apply for a credit card separate from onw´s own bank account, it is increasingly popular to get it when opening a bank account. Most offers for bank accounts in the market today include a credit card issued when the account is opened. If it is an account that is offered free of charge, the accompanying credit card is usually free of charge as well.
But this is not the case as one will see soon enough. Usually, only the fees for the first year do not have to be paid. From the second year onwards, the card holder has to pay the annual fees, therefore the card is not free of charge even though it is advertised to be. Moreover, fees have to paid when the credit card is used abroad, and one usually has to pay fees when taking out cash from an ATM machine with the credit card. These fees depend on how the card is used and have to be paid even in the first year as the bank does not pay for it. The amount of fees that have to be paid is calculated on the basis of transaction volume, meaning that variable fees have to be paid by the card holder. Some direct banks offering a credit card with the account may charge no fees for getting out cash, mostly because these banks do not have their own ATM machines and cannot make sure that customers can get cash free of charge. Before deciding for an account that includes a credit card, one should compare different offers. As the regular fees have to be paid after a certain amount of time, those fees should be known beforehand. A customer who wants to use his credit card mostly abroad will have to look first and foremost at the respective fees. On the other hand, a customer who uses his card mostly for getting out cash should take care of low fees in this area. If the card is used a lot abroad, it may even be advisable to pay a slightly higher annual fee if fees for using the card abroad are lower or even free then. A detailed calculation where and when the card will be used should be done before deciding to take on an offer.
