Do you spend a lot on gas, whether as a business owner or as an individual? Whatever the case, if the answer to that question is yes, then you have undeniably thought about finding a way to save some money on gas. While doing your research on the ways you could save, you’ve most probably come across the idea of using a credit card that has been specifically made for the purposes of paying for gas with it. Functioning just like a regular card, but with a twist, these have been designed specifically with petrol and diesel in mind. Or to be more precise, with people spending a lot of money on those products in mind.
How do they precisely work? This is something you might have already figured out if you’ve done some research, but it doesn’t hurt to repeat what it is that separates these cards from the ordinary ones. That way, if you’re still on the fence about whether you should use them or not, you’ll have an easier time deciding. Making a decision like that without understanding the mechanism behind these financial tools is certainly not a good idea, so take your time to get better acquainted with them if you’re still not sure about what they entail.
In short, a bensinkort, or a gas credit card, differs from those ordinary ones because you get cash rewards when you buy petrol or diesel using them. You’ve heard about the cashback option already, I suppose. Well, this is the same principle, the same mechanism, but connected specifically to gas. Given the saving potential that it brings to the table, this particular card has become quite popular in Norway these days, as well as probably in the rest of the world.
Apart from the cashback, you can get some other benefits from these instruments. For instance, some may offer discounts per liter at specific petrol chains. And then, some also offer bonus points on fuel that you can later redeem and use for other goods and services, such as flights and food. As you can see, thus, there are lots of benefits to look forward to when you decide to start using one of these cards.
The only thing is, though, you’ll need to find and choose the best one for you, and that is probably the part that’s confusing you. Not having used them in the past, you don’t really understand what it is you should do when aiming at finding the beste bensinkort, but that doesn’t eliminate your need of wanting to choose and get that best option. So, what we’re going to do next is provide you with some relevant tips that will help you choose the perfect option for you.
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Ask Around
Aiming at buying something you’re completely new to, you’ll want to rely on the opinions of people you know and trust. Things are definitely no different when gas credit cards are in question. Knowing anyone that is already using these financial instruments can give you the upper hand and help you get familiar with the different solutions you can find on the market, as well as lead you towards understanding what factors to consider while choosing. The people you trust will, thus, give you some recommendations and share their experiences with specific providers and their cards, thus helping you figure out if they’ve gotten a good deal or not, and if you should consider working with those same providers or not.
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Find Options Online
Don’t have anyone to talk to, because nobody you know is using the gas credit card? Nothing to worry about! After all, even if you had lots of people to talk to about this, you would still take this specific step after the conversations, because it’s not realistic to expect those people to be familiar with all the options that exist nowadays. Especially not if they’ve chosen their solution a long time ago, since new ones are always appearing on the market.
So, the next step I’m referring to consists of, naturally, you searching for these options online. Typing in the important keywords will lead to getting plenty of relevant results and thus being able to check them all out in more details. Visiting the official sites of different providers and exploring the solutions they offer thoroughly will help you determine which of those could be right for you and which ones may simply not work. Before you come to such a conclusion, though, take time to research those options and don’t decide based on your first impression.
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Find Comparison Websites
Clearly, researching those different options is a must, but the question is how you can do that exactly. One thing you can, and undeniably should, do is find comparison websites that will help you check out all the best options in one place, thus facilitating your entire researching process. As you can see at kredittkortinfo.no/bensinkort/, there certainly are plenty of options to research, and having all the necessary information you need at one and the same place is bound to be of great help. So, take your time to find at least one of those great comparison websites, and if you’re not sure what it is you should be comparing, don’t worry – that’s what I’ll explain next.
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Compare Credit Limits
First off, there are the credit limits to check. Not all gas credit cards will offer the same limit. Depending on your spending habits, you may want that limit to be higher, or you may be perfectly satisfied with a lower one. Therefore, calculating precisely how much you tend to spend on gas prior to searching for these cards at all is the perfect idea, as it will put you on the right track and help you easily eliminate those solutions that don’t offer a good limit from the list of potential ones. If you’re not sure about what the limit should be, going for a higher one is always better, because you don’t want the card to become useless at one point.
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Compare Interest Rates
The limit is, of course, not the only factor to consider. As you may well know, the providers of these cards earn by charging interest. Completely normal, and you can’t expect not to be charged any interest at all, as that would be a very unusual way of doing business. Anyway, what you can expect is for some interest rates to be higher, and some to be lower. Naturally, your goal is to get lower ones, but you should always look at this factor in conjunction with all the others, because the point is to get the best overall solution, and not to get stuck on the rates and ignore the rest of the terms and conditions.
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Compare the Interest-Free Periods
Some providers will offer you a period free of interest. This is extremely useful, as it basically means you won’t be paying interest over a certain period of time, which will result in you saving some money. The interest-free period will differ from provider to provider, which is why you need to take the time to compare that, and figure out which option could be right for you. Once again, though, use this as one of the choosing criteria, and not as the only one, because the goal is to get the best deal overall.
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Check the Annual Fees
You can’t exactly understand whether your deal is great or not if you don’t check and compare the annual fees. This is the fee that you will, obviously, be paying on an annual basis so as to be able to use the gas credit card at all. The great news is that a lot of amazing providers don’t charge this fee, and that is a benefit that you should definitely aim at taking advantage of. Meaning, you should search for those providers that offer a 0 annual fee.
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Check for Other Benefits
I’ve briefly hinted at this above, but let me explain it in more details. Some of these cards offer other types of benefits, apart from the cashback you’ll get when paying for gas. For instance, you can get discounts at certain petrol chains, or you can earn those bonus points that will be redeemable for other items you may want to purchase. Think about which of those benefits could work for you best and then check which cards offer them, as that will also help you make the best choice.