What type of card suits you? Guide to choosing your bank card

Debit card or credit card? Regular card or personalized card? Which credit card has the best benefits? ... If you've asked yourself at least one of these questions, we want to help you make the best choice that's right for you.

We invite you to follow the information below:

1. If you use the card just to get money from the ATM (pension, salary, etc.), a debit card such as Visa Classic or MasterCard is enough. We advise you, however, to use the card also for the payment of utility bills and for daily purchases, because a bank card is safer, more convenient and more practical than paying with cash money – on top of that you also have zero commission for card payments. If you are a student, we recommend the BT-Omnipass debit card, which, together with the STAR Student package, can help you better manage your money, shop or travel and celebrate with friends. You will be able to benefit from fast shopping, because the card is contactless, and free travel insurance. If you like to receive bonuses for every card payment, then read also question 5 below.

2. Where do you make the most card payments?

If you shop on the Internet, then make sure that any card you have (Visa or MasterCard, debit or credit), is protected from fraud or, in other words, 3D Secure is activated. If you want to have more control over your expenses, SMS Alert is the right choice for you. You will be permanently informed, through messages on your mobile phone, about the status of the transactions with your card and about the money that enters your account, while also offering you additional security.

If, when you travel abroad, you want to pay by card, any Visa or MasterCard card can be the right choice, given that it has a wide acceptance at merchants, all over the world. Premium cards, both debit and credit cards, will give you additional advantages, such as free travel insurance and access to the lounges inside the airports in Bucharest and Cluj.

3. Do you buy (relatively) appliances or electronic gadgets often?

If the answer is yes, then you fit the purchase card in installments. Its great advantage are the purchases "on credit": you buy now, you pay later. Moreover, most credit cards from us allow you to buy in installments the desired products: gadgets, electronics, home appliances, clothes, shoes, perfumes and so on.

Pay attention, however, to the maximum limit of the daily transactions allowed, because each type of card has predetermined limits, which you can modify later, upon request. For example, the Star Forte card allows an aggregate ceiling of 10 payments per day, which does not exceed 20,000 lei in total. If you use BT24 Internet Banking, it's a quick way to change those limits.

4. Do you travel by plane often?

Then a card on which you can accumulate flight miles for every card payment and every flight by plane is the ideal card for you. After you collect enough miles, you can use them to buy tickets to other flights or over 5,000 other products available in the online store.

If you often go abroad, a premium credit card can be useful because it offers among the benefits a free travel insurance.

5. Do you like to receive bonuses in the form of cash-back (points or money in your account)?

If the answer is yes, then you want to have in your wallet a STAR Forte credit card, with which you receive points for each card payment (1 point = 1 leu). You have to choose from over 8,000 partner stores in the STAR loyalty program of Banca Transilvania. The points you collect you can use for future purchases, in the STAR partner network. In addition to accumulating points, any purchase paid with this card can be made in several installments.

6. Do you like to feel unique, different?

Then a personalized card is the best choice, whether it is Visa Classic or MasterCard Mondo. You can personalize your card with the picture of your choice – whether it's a picture from a BT online gallery or a picture taken by you (with your family, puppy, cat or gang at today's summer festival).

In closing, the debit card is the perfect choice for you if:

• you have recurring income (salary, pension, scholarship, etc.) that you want to collect on the card
• you are a student, you have a limited budget or your professional activity does not generate recurring income
• you do not want to pay administration fees (usually debit cards have zero commissions, or very low fees)
• you want to have at your disposal an easy-to-use payment tool that will allow you to pay for your daily purchases or to withdraw money from the ATM

What you have to keep in mind is that in the corresponding account of the debit card you will always have only as much money as you collect from your own income.

The credit card, more and more popular with us in the form of an installment shopping card, is the perfect choice for you if:

• you make high value purchases (such as electronics, home appliances) that it is more convenient for you to pay in several installments
• you want to get bonuses for the purchases you make
• you reimburse on time the minimum payment amount, month by month

With the credit card you will be able to make transactions not only from your own money, but also by accessing the attached credit line. As an additional advantage, you have a grace period in which you do not have to repay the money used from the credit line.