Key credit card mistakes to avoid during upcoming festival season

The festive season generally witnesses a surge in credit card usage, considering the large pool of benefits and discounts. However, amidst all the fervor surrounding festivities, it’s important to remain financially disciplined while using credit cards.

Consumers shouldn't spend more than what they can repay. If that happens, there are chances that the cardholders will repay just the minimum due amount, which is usually 5 percent of the total outstanding amount.

Although this saves them from paying any late payment fee, the rest of the outstanding bill amount continues to accrue interest in the form of finance charges, said Adhil Shetty, CEO at Bankbazaar.

The festive season brings with it the wave of increase in consumer spending. However, experts advise credit cardholders to avoid unnecessary spending during this time.

Buying non-essentials or luxury items can always wait.

Another big no-no is - withdrawing cash from a credit card. Withdrawing cash from credit cards can have hidden charges and it can rack up the final repayments to a very high percentage.

Other credit card mistakes that one must be aware of include exceeding the credit utilisation ratio beyond the 30 percent limit.

"Cardholders exceeding credit utilisation ratio beyond 30 percent are considered as credit hungry, and this can lead to credit bureaus reducing credit score by a few points on breaching this level," said Sahil Arora, director and group head, investments, Paisabazaar.

Credit card reward points can be used for purchasing items during the festival season. As most credit card reward points come with expiry dates, cardholders should keep a close eye on the expiry of rewards points and utilise their benefits.