You may not realize that there are several alternatives to the credit cards offered by mail and those annoying phone calls you receive right at dinner time.

There are five of the alternatives to credit cards listed below.

Debit cards are relatively new in many places, however, they have been used in several European countries for numerous years. Debit cards are just like credit cards in that they are accepted in most of the places where credit cards are accepted.

The one big difference between these two cards is that instead of getting a bill at the end of the month, debit cards take the money directly out of your bank account. You must be made aware of the fact that you may not be as well protected against fraud with a debit card as you would with a credit card. A different name for debit cards is electronic checks.

You can use Prepaid credit cards in the same manner as a regular credit card, however, you cannot carry a negative balance ever. Just like with a pre-paid cell phone, you have to ‘top-up’ the card by depositing money into your card’s account before you can use the card for expenditures. This is one way to control your spending or you may want to give one to a child to help control their spending. Credit cards that are pre-paid can also be safer than debit cards, because if it is stolen the thieves can just spend the money that is on it.

Bank Overdrafts-used in conjunction with a credit card, can be a far better way of borrowing money than using a credit card. When you use a bank overdraft the bank sets the limit on it, in accordance with the amount you deposit into your account each month and you do not have to pay it off until you want to pay it off. This allows you to let your bank account go into the red or have a negative balance. A relatively high rate of interest is charged by many banks for an overdraft, although they are rarely as high as that charged by credit card companies and when the bank considers you to be one of their better customers, you may be given an even better overdraft interest rate.

One of the most commonly used alternatives to credit cards are traditional loans. It is wise to contact a bank or another type of lender if you are planning to purchase a big ticket item like an automobile or improvements for the home to see if they can help with financing. These lenders will be able to grant you a loan with a much lower interest rate than a credit card company could and they can also help you to set up a repayment plan that is suited to your ability to pay.

Credit Unions-this is the final alternative to credit cards that will be mentioned here. Credit unions are very much like banks, only more local; they are formed as a co-operative and owned by their members and run by the community, thus they are a good place to borrow money. Credit unions do not have any owners or shareholders they want to make a profit for and they are limited by laws on how much interest they can charge borrowers, so this is a great place to borrow money. When you have to borrow money, investigate the alternative to credit cards offered by a credit union.

Visit JSNet.org for more information on credit cards including great deals on credit cards for balance transfers

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