Gold Cards And Platinum Cards

The last few years have witnessed a major transformation in the promotion of Technicolor credit cards. In the early days, people considered the gold cards as something exceptional meant only for the privileged class or those who were affluent enough to afford them. Moreover, it was really not easy to obtain a gold card that had a minimum credit limit of $5,000 and provided exclusive services that were usually not available with the inexpensive and ordinary credit cards widely used in the market. However, all that has changed now. These days, anyone is able to avail a gold card with minimum credit limits of $5,000 or more, which is now being offered by many non-gold cards too. It is also worth mentioning that in several cases, the credit card issuing companies has now curtailed the special characteristic earlier associated with the gold cards. Instead, the benefits those come with the gold cards are somewhat similar to what is available with any other ordinary credit cards.

Interestingly, the credit card companies are now fighting to acquire the name 'platinum cards' that they sincerely believe will herald new marketing and operational opportunities. Frankly speaking, though the credit card companies may gloat about the benefits of possessing special credit cards like the gold and platinum cards, in reality there is no such additional advantage available with such plastic money. In fact, the benefits of the metallic cards such as the gold and platinum cards are so vague that majority of the companies issuing such cards have virtually done away with the practice of charging any yearly fee from their customers and engaged themselves in increasing their earnings through other means.

Just think that the normal cash advances available on the goldie Visa and MasterCard accounts is about four fold more than what is available on the ordinary bank card accounts. However, this does not mean that people possessing the goldie Visa or MasterCard enjoy any additional benefit. On the contrary, they too have to pay the same exorbitant interest rates on the loans that an average bank card user gets trapped in. What is worse is that if you have a gold card, you are more susceptible to frauds and deceits. As the minimum credit limit for gold Visa and MasterCard is $5,000, organized treacherous groups usually search for these gold credit cards for swindling. Since the money involved with these credit cards is much more, the profit for the frauds too is greater. Remember, the higher the credit limit of a card is, more is the risk involved with it.

Nevertheless, from time to time, these metallic cards also come with some additional benefits. Some of the additional benefits offered on gold and platinum credit cards are as follows:

• Rental car indemnity: These days a number of companies issuing gold and platinum credit cards are offering indemnity to shield their customers from collision damage waiver, something which several companies engaged in car rental service make use of to fleece their clients. This policy is only available provided one uses gold cards to rent cars and is indeed a very useful advantage. Moreover, this policy does not cost the card holder the $10 to $20 daily, which the car rental companies demand for similar coverage. It is interesting to note that as competition among the card issuing companies is escalating, even many non-gold credit cards are now offering the same kind of insurance coverage to their customers. It is advisable that if you are keen on getting a metallic card, you should go through the insurance coverage document sent by the credit card issuer carefully or straight away call up the company for details and clarifications.
  (It is important to note here that some modifications are occurring on this front. While Visa and MasterCard have already withdrawn this insurance facility on all non-gold cards, American Express has abolished the insurance cover on rented cars in some countries, such as Israel, Italy, Jamaica and Ireland, on the pretext that the claims in such cases have been exorbitant. In such a situation, it is advisable to call the bank that has issued your credit card and tell them that you are contemplating to rent a car overseas and find out about the insurance coverage on rented cars they are currently offering. You should further ask the bank to dispatch a written statement regarding the insurance coverage and when you have it, keep it safely in your file.)
• Lesser interest fees: It is interesting to note that there are a few gold cards issued by some banks that charge a lower interest rate on credit purchase than the non-gold ordinary credit cards issued by them. This facility is especially valuable when the card holder has a bear a hefty balance and is unable to come across an ordinary credit card with a lesser interest fee. However, given the present scenario in the credit card industry, it should not be too difficult for anyone to find a regular credit card offering much lower interest rates than a gold card.
• Referrals: Remember, the gold bank cards, Amex and Diners all offer gratis recommendations for medical and legal services in almost all places worldwide. However, a free of charge referral does not essentially denote that the card holder will not be charged by the doctor, lawyer or anyone whom he or she may have been referred to.

Scam "Gold" cards

Marketing counterfeit 'gold' cards whose only utility is purchasing high-priced items only from a single list or inventory is a very common instance of swindling in the credit card industry. Normally, such fake credit cards are proffered to individuals who have been confronting some kind of credit problems. The modus operandi of selling such fake cards is simple. Usually the swindlers send junk mails to prospective customers pretending to market a Visa or MasterCard gold card, while in reality the bogus 'gold' cards are attached to some imaginary membership in an exceptional buyers' club. Although the envelope and the application form dispatched to the prospective customer may display the Visa or MasterCard insignias prominently, it essentially does not denote that the credit card these cons are offering is a Visa or MasterCard that may be used to purchase virtually anything just about everywhere. Contrarily, this may actually put the card holder in real trouble if he or she purchases anything with the fake card. In fact, any one falling prey to such fraud might have to use their original Visa or MasterCard to reimburse the inflated annual membership fee for the fraudulent gold card that the swindlers are attempting to market. On the whole, a usual scam signifies that accepting the phony gold card would help the customer in resolving his or her credit problems in one way or the other, but in reality it just does the reverse.

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