Customizable Credit Cards

In the ever-expanding universe of credit card offers, there’s a new, cool kid on the block—customizable credit cards. Customizable credit cards offer you the ability to personalize the look of your card and, in some cases, even handpick the bonuses and terms that work best for you.

You can, for example, customize the appearance of the card by adding your photo to the card or the logo of your favorite sports team. Customizable business credit cards, such as the Advanta Business World MasterCard®, give small business owners the option to feature their business name on the card.

Some customizable credit cards go a step beyond personalizing the appearance of the card. They enable you to define the terms and bonuses, such as the rewards, the duration of the initial 0% balance transfer offer, the APR, and even the annual fee.

The Capital One Lab Card, for example, allows you to select between different attractive rewards and introductory rate periods. Depending on how your credit record ranks (Excellent, Good, Average, or Limited), different options will be available to you. The higher your credit score, the more attractive the options available.

One nice feature of the Capital One Lab Card is that you can choose to pay a little extra for more attractive rewards. For example, if your goal is to accumulate miles for air travel, you can choose to have 2 miles added to your account for every dollar charged to the card. You will pay a small annual fee (as opposed to no annual fee) for the added benefit, but if you charge a lot, the extra miles are well worth it. If you are looking for other types of rewards, you can opt for earning 2 points per dollar spent.

Alternatively, if you’re looking to carry a balance and want as little interest charged as possible, you can choose a low APR for your card. Other options for the Capital One Lab Card include 0% introductory APRs of varying time frames, extra rewards on gas and groceries, lower balance transfer rates, and purchase bonuses.

Selecting one option limits the others available to you, so choose wisely. For example, if you select 1% cash back on all purchases, you will still have no annual fee, but you no longer will have access to the lowest APR rates. Of course, if you get a card in order to earn cash back, you won’t want to carry a balance anyway, as any interest charges quickly would eat up your cash back earnings.

If you simply want a credit card with a customized image, most major credit card companies offer cards with numerous different backdrops to choose from. And many, also give you the option to upload your own picture. Your credit card won’t get more personal than that!

Published: May 22, 2009