Credit card
Benefits to cardholder

The main benefit to the cardholder is convenience. Compared to debit cards and checks, a credit card allows small short-term loans to be quickly made to a cardholder who need not calculate a balance remaining before every transaction, provided the total charges do not exceed the maximum credit line for the card.

One financial benefit is that no interest is charged when the balance is paid in full within the grace period. In the United States, most credit cards offer a grace period (ex. 21, 23 or 25 days) on purchase transactions.

Different countries offer different levels of protection. In the U.K., for example, the bank is jointly liable with the merchant for purchases of defective products over £100.

Many credit cards offer benefits to cardholders. Some benefits apply to products purchased with the card, like extended product warranties, reimbursement for decreases in price immediately after purchase (price protection), and reimbursement for theft or damage on recently purchased products (purchase protection). Other benefits include various types of travel insurance, such as rental car insurance, travel accident insurance, baggage delay insurance, and trip delay or cancellation insurance.

Credit cards may also offer a loyalty program, where each purchase is rewarded based on the price of the purchase. Typically, rewards are either in the form of cashback or points. Points are often redeemable for gift cards, products, or travel expenses like airline tickets. Some credit cards allow the transfer of accrued points to hotel and airline loyalty programs. Research has examined whether competition among card networks may potentially make payment rewards too generous, causing higher prices among merchants, thus actually impacting social welfare and its distribution, a situation potentially warranting public policy interventions.

Some countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, limit the amount for which a consumer can be held liable in the event of fraudulent transactions with a lost or stolen credit card.
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