Introductory offers can be some of the best things about credit cards, and if they are used well they can also be a good way of using a credit card. However they should be treated with some care and attention as they are not designed to last.
The best way of defining an introductory offer is an offer that is offered for the first few months of the credit card. The offer is often designed to be unprofitable, and it will not make the credit card company any money. However it does serve a purpose. Marketing credit cards can be very expensive and can take a lot of money to attract a good credit card user. Introductory offers can do the same but at a lower price.
The other advantage with an introductory offer is that it can attract the type of person that a credit card would want to attract. So a person who is likely to spend a lot on a cash back card is likely to be attracted by a good introductory cash back offer, and a person who is likely to both maintain a high credit card balance and likely to spend on the credit card is also going to be attracted by a balance transfer offer as they will already have a high credit card balance.
The most common form of introductory offer is to offer low interest on a credit card. This can sometimes be as low as zero per cent. The low interest can be in two forms, as a balance transfer and as a rate on the spending. It is likely that except on the shortest introductory offers that the rate will only apply to one type of balance and the other type of balance will be charged to the standard rate, or sometimes a higher rate of spending.
Cash back introductory offers are becoming more common. This is when there is an enhanced amount of cash back for the first few months. So on a card with a usual rate of 1%, there is a 5% offer for three months. A user should be careful in checking for how long an enhanced cash back offer lasts.
Enhanced rewards in general are also quite common as an introductory offer. Other forms of introductory offers include no annual fee in the first year and a signing on bonus, or instant reward for signing on to a credit card.
