A question that often stumps many is whether it’s better to use a debit card or a credit card when making a purchase. Just for a quick recap. A debit card requires you to enter a PIN (personal identification number) when you use the card at a retail store (as if you were withdrawing money from an ATM) and you can get cash back. A credit card doesn’t require a PIN, you can’t get cash back, and you must sign the merchant’s receipt copy if the purchase is more than $25.

The confusing part is that today, banks issue Visa and MasterCard branded debit cards, so the same card can function as either a debit card or a credit card. With these joint cards, the money is taken from your linked checking account regardless of whether you use the card in a debit or credit transaction. And because of this, many folks incorrectly believe it makes no difference at the store whether you use the card as a debit or credit transaction. But as Paul points out in the article, the choice you make is really important.

So the next time the store clerk as you “debit or credit,” keep the following in mind. First, credit transactions tend to be more secure than debit transactions. Debit transactions are processed through the electronic funds transfer system, with comes with fewer cardholder protections. There is also a second consideration to keep in mind–rewards programs.

Many debit/credit cards today come with rewards programs. Our debit card earns us American Airlines miles. But here’s the catch. We only earn those miles for transactions that are processed as a credit. Why? Because debit transactions are not processed through the credit card issuer. As a credit transaction, the credit card company earns a percentage of the transaction from the merchant, which helps pay for the rewards program. So if you want to earn the miles or points or cash back that your bank card may offer, always use the card as a credit card, not a debit card.

I love our dog. Her name is Sophie, and that’s her picture above. One thing we’ve learned the hard way over the past two years, however, is just how expensive a pet can be.

Regular trips to the vet can quickly put a dent in our bank accounts, not to mention the unforeseen costs that can take place if an emergency occurs. If you’re like my mom and have more than one furry friend, then your costs can double or even triple before you know it. She has two dogs and is temporarily fostering a third. Just over the last week an unplanned trip to the vet cost her $400. One option that I have recently found that can make these costs a bit more manageable is Care Credit.

Care Credit is a personal line of credit that can be used for your pet care and your health care expenses. It works just like a credit card, but can only be used for health care services. The great thing is that it can be used for all members of the family, even the four legged ones.

The card offers a no interest option on every purchase you make. All you have to do is pay your minimum monthly payment and pay off the balance by the end of the promotional period. Not all health care providers take Care Credit, however, so be sure to check first.

Below are the two interest options Care Credit offers its card members. The no interest option is a deferred interest plan, which means the accumulating interest will be charged to you if you don’t pay the balance off in the agreed upon time frame or if you are late on the monthly minimum payment.

Important: Because terms and conditions can and do change frequently, be sure to check with Care Credit before applying for a card.

No Interest Option

The Care Credit Card offers no interest on your purchases if paid within 3, 6, 12, 18 or 24 months. A $300 minimum purchase amount is required for plans longer than 3 months on the CareCredit account. A monthly payment is required, but no Finance Charges will be assessed if you meet the following restrictions: On promo purchase balance, monthly payments required, but no Finance Charges will be assessed if (1) promo purchase balance paid in full in 3, 6, 12, 18 or 24 months, (2) all minimum monthly payments on account paid when due, and (3) account balance does not exceed credit limit. Otherwise, the promo may be terminated & Finance Charges assessed from purchase date.

On promotions requiring a minimum payment, payments over the minimum will usually be applied to those promo balances before non-promo and other balances. If you have a non-promo balance, this may reduce the benefit from the promo.

Extended Payment Plans

This option is valid on purchases of $1000 or more (24, 36, 48 months) or $2500 or more (60 months) made on the CareCredit account. On promo purchase, fixed monthly payments equal to 4.7966% for 24 months, 3.4129% for 36 months, 2.7276% for 48 months, or 2.3216% for 60 months required, but finance charges will be applied to promo balance at the reduced daily periodic rate of .03808% (ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE 13.90%) if (1) promo purchase paid in full in 24, 36, 48 or 60 months, (2) any minimum monthly payments on account paid when due, and (3) account balance does not exceed credit limit. Otherwise, promo may be terminated.

Bottom Line

I have read both favorable and unfavorable reviews on Care Credit. All the unfavorable reviews stem from the deferred interest part of the card. It is important to understand that in this case the No Interest option is a deferred interest rate. This means that if you don’t pay the balance off in the required amount of time, then the accumulated interest will be added to the balance of your card. In the event that this happens, it could add hundreds of dollars onto your balance.

There are several very good interest free cards that may make a good alternative to Care Credit.

The Membership Rewards Program from American Express allows you to earn points for every dollar you spend with your eligible American Express card. There is no limit to the number of points you can earn and your points never expire. The program is a built-in feature of most American Express cards. You might already be enrolled, but if you’re unsure, you can log into your online account and check. This article provides an overview of the rewards program and a list of eligible American Express cards.

Earning Points

Once you are enrolled in the Membership Rewards Program, you can earn points every time you use your Card. Using your Amex card for every day purchases is a fast and easy way to earn points. There are also ways you can earn bonus points when you shop with select partners at membershiprewards.com or at the Bonus Points Mall® website (bonuspointsmall.com).

If you ever get to a point where you don’t have enough points to redeem your reward, you can use the Points Advance® feature to help build your points. With the Points Advance feature, you can advance up to 15,000 points. You can also purchase additional points at checkout so you don’t have to wait, either.

Here’s how you can earn your points:

• Use your Card: Earn points for virtually every dollar you spend on your Card.
• Bonus Points Partners: Go to the Earn Points section of membershiprewards.com to explore opportunities to earn up to 10X points when you shop with select partners.
• The Bonus Points Mall® Website: Go to bonuspointmall.com every time you shop online to earn 3X bonus points with more than 200 popular sites.
• Automatic Bill Pay : Pay your recurring bills through American Express to earn more points.
• Additional Cards: Get points faster by sharing the privileges and benefits of your account.

Using Your Points

You can redeem Membership Rewards points for a variety of rewards that are just for Cardmembers at membershiprewards.com. You can also check out the more than a million products offered online at shopamex.com, where you can use points. And if you don’t have enough points, you can use points in combination with your eligible American Express® Card.

You have a variety of options to redeem your points for travel . You can use your points to pay for vacations, you can transfer points between accounts, and you can redeem your points for travel certificates. Here are some of the options you have when it comes to using your points for travel:

• Pay with Points : Pay for all or part of your next trip using Membership Rewards points. Fly any airline anytime with no blackout dates or seat restrictions. You can also book hotels, cruises, and vacation packages simply by going www.membershiprewards.com/paywithpoints.
• Transfer Points: Top off your frequent traveler accounts by transferring Membership Rewards points to your linked frequent flyer/frequent guest accounts. Get the points needed for a reward flight, stay, or upgrade.
• Certificates: Use Membership Rewards points for exciting travel reward certificates, including hotel stays, flights, theme parks, adventure travel, or car rentals.
• Flight Finder Room Finder: Search for reward travel, transfer Membership Rewards points to your favorite frequent customer programs, and book your flight or room entirely with points, all on the Membership Rewards website.

If you like to shop then you will enjoy the shopping benefits the program offers. You can use Membership Rewards® points on www.Amazon.com to pay in full, or pay in part and use your American Express® Card to cover the rest. All you do is go to www.Amazon.com/membershiprewards and complete a one-time registration and then start shopping. You can use points or a combination of points and your eligible American Express Card to choose from more than a million products from some of your favorite online stores and this is all done without leaving the shopamex.com site.

How To Enroll

The Membership Rewards program is a built-in feature of most American Express® Cards and you might already be enrolled. If your Card is not enrolled, just log in to your account, select the “Points Summary” link, and then the enroll button. You may link all of your eligible American Express® Cards to the Membership Rewards program, along with any Additional Cards you have on these accounts. You can also link any eligible Corporate Card issued in your name for a fee.

Eligible Amex Cards

• American Express® Traditional Green Card
• American Express® Senior Card
• American Express® Traditional Gold Card
• American Express® Green Card
• American Express® Gold Card
• American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card
• The New Business Gold Rewards Card® from American Express OPEN
• Blue from American Express® Cards
• Zync from American ExpressSM
• Blue Cash Everyday SM from American Express
• Business Gold Rewards Card
• The Platinum Card® from American Express

The Citi ThankYou Network is a credit card rewards program. It lets you earn points in multiple ways and pool them in a single account so you can get the rewards you want faster. Having carried both a Citi credit card and debit card for years, I’ve become familiar with Citi’s ThankYou reward program. And I thought it would be a good time to review the program, including how you can earn ThankYou points and what you can do with them once you have them.

Ways To Earn Citi ThankYou Points

The program enables you to earn ThankYou Points when you make a purchase with an eligible Citi® credit card, Citibank® debit card or an enrolled Morgan Stanley Smith Barney FMA® Card. You can also earn points for banking with Citibank with an enrolled checking account, booking eligible travel with Expedia® or shopping at over 300 retailers through the ThankYou Bonus Center run by Citi. Here’s a quick summary of the various ways you can earn ThankYou Points:

• Participating Citi® credit card. Here is a list of the cards that are part of the ThankYou network:
  • Citi ThankYou Premier Card
  • Citi Forward Card – $300 Gift Card
  • Citi ThankYou SM Preferred Rewards Card – $100 Gift Card
  • Citi Forward® Card
  • Citi ThankYou(SM) Preferred Rewards Card – $250 in Gift Cards
  • Citi Forward® Card for College Students
  • CitiBusiness® World Card
• Morgan Stanley Smith Barney FMA® Card enrolled in ThankYou Network
• Having an enrolled Citibank checking account and other linked banking products and services
• Shopping through the ThankYou Bonus Center with over 300 major retailers, or in-store using a participating Citi® credit card
• Plus, get bonus points through special ThankYou® Network promotions
• Points with Citi®–You can earn points for every $1 spent on purchases with your Citi Credit Card. You can get points for using your Citibank checking account and other qualifying Citibank products and services.
• Points with Expedia.com®–Expedia.com® is the exclusive travel sponsor of ThankYou Network. You can earn points when booking eligible travel on Expedia.com® no matter how you pay. If you’ve got a Citi Credit Card or Citibank Debit Card, use it to book your travel and earn even more points.
• Points for Shopping–You can get rewarded for shopping at your favorite retailers. Points are earned when you shop online by linking through thankyou.com, or in-store by using your Citi Credit Card. Shop at over 400 online retailers, such as Macy’s, Best Buy, and Target—and earn additional points for every dollar you spend. Use your Citi Credit Card at a growing number of stores, such as Timberland, Eddie Bauer or FAO Schwarz—and earn additional points for every dollar you spend. Also, when you make purchases from participating catalogs or purchase gift certificates, you’ll earn additional points for every dollar you spend.

Purchasing Points

You may purchase ThankYou Points in increments of 1,000 points for $25 charged to any eligible credit or debit card, regardless of whether it is a Citi card or not. You may only purchase points if you have points in your ThankYou Member Account that were earned through one of our Sponsors. When you purchase points with a credit card or debit card that participates in ThankYou Network, you get the points you purchased, as well as ThankYou Points for making the purchase using your card.

Purchased points are non-refundable. A purchase cap of 10,000 points per calendar year will apply. You may not purchase points to offset any PremierPass Flight Points. All points purchased will expire one year from the end of the month in which they were purchased.

Where and How You Get Rewards

Once you have accumulated points, the ThankYou Network has a variety of rewards, which can easily be found on their website.

• 1.You can redeem ThankYou Points for statement credits, issued in the form of a billing statement credit to the Card Account of the ThankYou Member, in denominations of $15, $25, $50, $100, $175 and $250 only
• You have the option to receive cash back if you choose. You can redeem your ThankYou® Points for a $50 Cash Reward. There is no annual dollar cap or limit to the number of cash redemptions you make. For every 8,000 points equals $50 cash back. All cash rewards are mailed directly to your address on file.
• You can redeem ThankYou Points toward any student loan program or monthly mortgage payment issued in the form of a check made payable to your financial lending institution – mortgage or student loan program only; in denominations of $25, $50, $75, $100, $250, $500, $750 and $1000 only.
• You have the option to cash in your points for a charitablie gift. You can redeem ThankYou Points for charitable contributions, issued in the form of a check made payable to the charity, in denominations of $5, $25, $50, $75 and $100 only.
• There are a number of other rewards to choose from which inlcude gift cards from a wide variety of retailers and resteraunts. To help you find your rewards there is a rewards page that will get you started.

If you’re a registered ThankYou Member, you can add rewards you find to either your Wishlist or the cart. A complete list of the available rewards can be found on the Terms and Conditions page.

All Cash Rewards redemptions are final. ThankYou Points redeemed for Cash Rewards cannot be returned unless the check has been cancelled by ThankYou Network and a stop payment is placed, resulting in a return order status and automatic reinstatement of member’s ThankYou Points into their ThankYou Member Account. Please note that a check may be cancelled if, for example there was a misspelling on the check or the member never received it. All Cash Rewards checks not received 10 days after shipment are to be reported to ThankYou Network as lost/stolen.

You can also redeem for rewards by calling the Service Center at 1-800-THANKYOU. The lines are open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. ET and Saturday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET. Your Wish Fulfilled allows you to redeem your ThankYou Points to create your very own reward. All you need is 10,000 points in your account to get started.