Usually, senior citizens are advised to stay away from new debt because of their income limitations and repayment. However, credit cards can be used for their benefits. There are several advantages of credit cards for senior citizens. Let’s find out the benefits of credit cards and things to consider when using them.

Also Read: What Is Senior Citizen Card And How To Apply For It In West Bengal?

Can Be Used For Temporary Liquidity Arrangement

Most credit cards available in the market allow an interest-free credit period of up to 48 to 52 days. Senior citizens who normally depend on fixed income generated through their retirement corpus can use the credit card to meet their regular spending needs and repay the outstanding amount before the due date. Thus, it can allow temporary funding arrangements to senior people in a situation when their regular income is delayed or when they financially fall short of meeting their spending needs.

Senior citizens can also earn lots of reward points when they use the credit card for their day-to-day payments.

Easy To Keep Track Of Expenses

Senior citizens may find it challenging to remember the expenses whenever they make cash payment. However, when using credit cards for regular payments, they can easily keep track of their spending by looking at the account statement. It can also help them avoid unnecessary expenses by keeping a strict tab on their spending pattern.

Highly Secured And Easy To Use

Credit cards can offer more security and safety than cash for senior citizens. They can turn the credit cards on and off using the card’s mobile app and also put restrictions on per transaction and daily limit. Recently, particular credit cards were allowed to be linked to the UPI platform, so senior citizens can use this feature for making merchant payments more easily.

Also Read: 7 Things Senior Citizens Should Consider Before Buying Health Insurance

Travel Related Benefits

Senior citizens planning to travel a lot during their retirement can get additional benefits out of their credit cards. There are many credit cards which are designed to offer benefits related to flight ticket bookings, hotel bookings, forex payments, etc. Senior citizens can use such cards to get higher reward points and lots of cashback as well as get discounts on their travel-related payments. While travelling on flights they can get benefits such as travel insurance, free airport lounge access, concierge support, etc.

Things To Keep In Mind

Using a credit card can help senior citizens stay financially disciplined and also get the benefits they offer in the form of reward points, cash backs and other offers. It’s important to choose the right credit card that suits their spending needs. Senior citizens just need to be very careful about the timely repayment of the due amount while using a credit card as interest levied by them is often very high.

The author is an  independent financial journalist.