![]() If you have good credit and can avoid costly interest payments, the cash back, points or miles you'll earn with a rewards credit card can definitely be worth it. If you're considering a rewards credit card, make sure you have a plan in place to spend only what you can afford and pay your balances off each month, so you can benefit from the full rewards value. Even if you score some of the best rewards available today, such as 4X points at restaurants or 6% back at supermarkets, accruing interest on your purchases will cost you far more than you earn. One case in which a rewards credit card is definitely not worth it is when you carry a balance.Ĭredit card interest rates currently average higher than 20% APR. Start exploring which cards you can qualify for here now. Then, once you've used it to increase your credit, you can upgrade to a rewards credit card and start maximizing. Instead of applying and getting denied (which can affect your credit score, at least temporarily), consider opening a credit card that you're more likely to get approved for. If you're still building your credit, you may not qualify for the rewards card you want. Many rewards credit cards require at least a "good" credit score (670 or higher, according to FICO) to get approved, but the closer you are to 800 or higher, the better your chances are of qualifying. But even if not, the annual statement credits, airport lounge access, partner discounts and other benefits can go a long way to offset the cost - as long you use them. You may surpass the annual fee cost in rewards value alone, especially if your spending is focused on your card's rewards categories. This is especially true for premium travel rewards cards which can carry fees upwards of $600 annually. To make sure your rewards card is worth it, compare the value you're getting to the annual fee cost. Generally speaking, the better the rewards and benefits a credit card offers, the higher its annual fee. These bonuses typically offer a few hundred dollars worth of cash back or points value after you meet a certain spending threshold within a designated time period after opening. Plus, many rewards cards have welcome bonuses - which can add a lot of value within the first few months. ![]() Not only will you get consumer protections like zero fraud liability and identity theft alerts, but many rewards cards also have annual statement credits, discounts or credits with certain retailers, travel and car rental insurance and more. Many of these cards come with high value added perks that make them worth it long-term, too. The benefits of rewards credit cards don't end with the cash back or points you earn. Credit card rewards are the most valuable if you can benefit over the long run, so pick categories that will help you keep earning year after year. Otherwise, a card with a flat rewards rate across all spending categories might be the better option. If you tend to spend a lot on certain things - travel, dining or groceries, for example - you could benefit from a card that earns higher rewards in those categories. Keystore uses the device’s Trusted Execution Environment, which Android devices have been required to support for some time now.Also, consider how you'll actually earn the rewards. This is compatible with Android 8.0 and later and utilizes another API called the Android Keystore to store mobile driver’s licenses on the device. For older devices and devices without hardware support, Google offers a backward compatible version of the Identity Credential API. However, hardware support for Identity Credential is *not* required to support digital driver’s licenses. This is what’s referred to as the Identity Credential HAL, and this is what very few devices support (and what Google wanted to expand support for by introducing new requirements in Android 13 that I mentioned in my article). In the same release, Google also introduced, basically, an enhanced version of the API that utilizes the device’s secure hardware to more securely store mobile driver’s licenses. Under the hood, Google Wallet uses an API available in Android called Identity Credential to handle ISO 18013-5 compliant mobile driver’s licenses.
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