Your perfect credit card – plastic money according to your needs

Are you one of the 35 million Germans who own a credit card?? And are you also one of those who pay far too much for the small plastic card?? Could be. Because the banks come up with so many things, so that they also earn good money on a credit card. To keep the overview, however, is also not quite easy. Often the issuers of credit cards advertise that the means of payment should not cost a single euro. Stiftung Warentest has once again found out that this is not always true. Because even if no monthly basic fee is due, there are often

• Payments for cash withdrawal
• Use of the card abroad
• or other fee-based restriction

add. In fact, in some cases you don't have to pay anything at all for a credit card. But it can also cost up to 136 € per year.

What type of credit card are you??

Which credit card suits you?

But first you should be clear about how and what you want to use the card for. Do you use the card only to pay with it, for example, in the supermarket or on the Internet? Then a so-called standard credit card fits for you. If you like to travel a lot, there is another crucial factor: what foreign fees (especially outside the EU) will be added for paying in stores but also for cash withdrawals.

Credit cards from regional banks and savings banks are usually too expensive. Most of the time you will have to pay an annual fee of between 25 and 35 € to these financial institutions. It gets really expensive when you want to withdraw money with the card abroad. That's why we advise you to use some special banks or even credit cards that you can get without a current account.

The standard credit card

By the way: Experts advise against expensive credit cards with additional insurance. To conclude the insurances separately is clearly more favorable.

With some financial institutions you have to open a current account at the same time to get a free credit card. But do not worry, this is usually also free of charge. But there are also financial institutions where you can get a credit card without being a bank customer. Anyway, if you only use the plastic money to pay within Germany, you are spoilt for choice. You can find offers at Stiftung Warentest in the following article. The entire article can be downloaded from the Internet for three euros. There you will also find a configurator that will help you find the offer that best suits your needs. We have especially the cards of DKB-Cash: The free Internet account incl. VISA Card and the ING current account with credit card convinced. There are no costs for cash withdrawals in Germany and other Euro countries and even a partner card is free of charge. However, you have to open a (free) current account with both companies. For both accounts: at least 700 euros must be received regularly each month. If you are not yet 28 years old, this condition does not apply at ING.

With prepaid credit cards you have to deposit an amount before using the card and you can only use this balance. This type of card is quite expensive. That's why consumer protection agencies advise against prepaid cards. They are only something for customers who don't get one otherwise – for example, because the Schufa information speaks against it. If parents want to apply for a card for children and teenagers, it is better to talk to the house bank.

The credit card for travelers

Who is much in the particularly non-European foreign country on the way, which knows the problem. Withdrawing money or paying with a credit card can be really expensive. But even with the foreign use there are still real card bargains. We were particularly impressed by the GoldCard from Hanseatic Bank. It is completely free, even for the partner card. Abroad, there are no fees for cash withdrawals or payment transactions worldwide. However, the Hanseatic card also has a small, easy-to-remove catch. You should deactivate the pre-set partial payment immediately after receiving the credit card. Otherwise there is a risk of high overdraft interest. You will learn more about this in the next chapter.

If possible, always use the credit card bill without additional costs

These three credit cards fully convinced us:

With ING's free checking account with free credit card, holders don't have to have a monthly paycheck until age 28.

If you pay with the Visa card of DKB, you get 2% of the purchase amount back – on each payment up to 25€ – until 15.10.2020.

In our opinion, the best credit card if you like to travel a lot. No fees when paying and at the ATM, even outside the EU.

Caution trap! Credit cards with partial payment!

The classic credit card is the one where, after paying with plastic money, the amount is immediately debited from your checking account. Even more common is the so-called charge card in circulation. With both methods everything is actually in the green area for you. Because there are no high interest rates. However, if you use a credit card with partial payment, it looks quite different. Then, at the end of the month, the entire amount is not settled and cleared. No, you take out a small loan, so to speak, with a residual amount of the monthly turnover remaining. And this unwanted credit is paid for by many banks with extremely high interest rates. So be careful with such credit cards with partial payment. That's where two to three-digit sums accumulate very quickly. It gets really nasty when the issuing bank such a partial payment from the outset in the contract fixed. Then you might not even notice that you have only paid off a few instalments at the end of the month. For this, however, a residual amount is left, for which you pay high interest.