Stiftung Warentest
Where the credit card is free – if you pay attention to a catch
Without a real credit card you can sometimes stand there: the Stiftung Warentest explains where customers get a free credit card from – and what needs to be considered.
There has been some confusion lately when it comes to credit card. Because by default, some large banks now spend cards on which “Visa” or “MasterCard” is on it, which are not real credit cards, but so -called debit cards. These should actually replace both the Girocard (formerly called EC card) and the credit card.
In fact, the debit card has not yet been accepted everywhere. In Germany, some shops still only take “EC card” (i.e. Girocard), which in turn usually does not work abroad. On the other hand, in some cases you need a real credit card, for example when booking rental cars. The credit card is often only available for a full extra fee for many banks.
The Stiftung Warentest therefore advises that if the house bank’s credit card causes more than 30 euros a year, you should rather use the credit card of another provider. Because there are cheaper or even free credit cards. And sometimes even without having to open a checking account, as the goods test experts write in a current test report.
Four credit cards for free
The goods testers compared the prices for common credit cards from the second year (to rule out new customer bonuses). They once assumed a standard user who regularly uses the card for shopping online and in the shop. And they calculated the costs for a traveler who also lifts money from the machine with the card abroad and paid in the shop.
Both model customers were completely without fees with four Visa credit cards without a checking account: Bank Norwegian’s credit card, the Awesome Hanseatic Bank and the credit cards from Paysol and AWA7, both also cooperation partners of the Hanseatic Bank. The goods testers also recommend the Mastercard credit card of the Norisbank, which is linked to the opening of a free checking account.
Cost trap “partial payment”
The four recommended account -dependent cards are only really free if customers handle a small catch that the providers have installed. The “partial payment” option is preset in the card application, reports Stiftung Warentest. This means that credit card payments are not automatically debited from the checking account at the end of the month, but that a part remains on the card as a loan-for which high interest rates then have to be paid for.
This installment function, also known as “Revolving Credit”, can also be found in other providers – it should already be voted out when applying for the card. At Norisbank and some other credit cards in the test, the potentially expensive installment option was not preset. In some credit card providers, the function cannot be stopped at all, consumer advocates recommend such cards. Here, users always have to actively compensate for the card sales themselves so as not to run into the cost trap.
In principle, customers should pay attention to the cost of lifting money at home and abroad as well as the fees for card payment in non-euro countries in addition to the basic annual price.
Source: Stern
