How to make money on a credit card. How to make money on credit cards and why they are needed. Investing own funds

How to prevent the bank from making money on your credit card?

Banks earn on their credit card customers an average of five times. The first is when they issue a card and charge 1-3 thousand rubles for its service. in year. The second, when a client withdraws cash from a credit card through an ATM, a commission of at least 300-500 rubles is charged. The third is when the borrower uses the money for a long time and pays interest on the loan. The fourth is a monthly fee for SMS messages about the movement of funds on the account. And the fifth time - if the plastic holder misses the mandatory monthly payments and fines are charged to him for this.

At the same time, the bank client has two loopholes and one big bonus:

  1. Use a bank loan for free during the grace period (up to 55 days on average).
  2. Minimize service losses: for example, find a card with a small service fee (in some cases free of charge), as well as disable SMS informing.

Bonus - use a credit card with a cashback or a link to a loyalty program.

Bank money can be used free of charge during the grace period if you do not miss the monthly payment (5-10% of the amount owed).

Income Scheme

The credit card must be made a tool for daily spending. For example, to buy food, clothes, equipment, car fuel, various tickets and other things that can be paid by card.

To receive income, you will need to issue a debit card with the option of accruing interest on the balance or deposit with the possibility of replenishing or partial withdrawal without losing interest. The yield of good debit cards is 8-10% per annum. You can earn on deposits 10-12.5% ​​per annum.

Never withdraw cash from credit cards - a large commission is taken for this.

Every time you receive a salary, you need to leave 3-5 thousand rubles, which are necessary for current expenses in places where cards are not accepted. The rest must be placed on a debit card account or deposit. Make current payments by credit card. At the end of the month, the card loan is repaid with funds from the next salary, from the card where the money brought income, or from the deposit account. If everything is done correctly, then in a year on this scheme you can earn from 1,236 to 20,928 rubles.

The card is not simple, but golden

Now consider the options when a credit card additionally brings income. Customers can choose from cards with cashback for purchases (1-2% for all payments and 5-10% in hotel categories) and credit cards with points that can be spent on air and railway tickets, as well as on purchases in certain stores .

Suppose that a card is issued with a cashback in the amount of 1% of daily purchases, on which 50% of the salary is spent. Then even with a salary of 15 thousand rubles. return for the year will be 900 rubles. If you earn 100 thousand rubles. per month, then the additional income will reach 6,000 rubles.

Thus, the total income from the use of two cards or a deposit will be from 2,136 rubles per year. up to 32,928 rubles. This does not include miles earned on flights or additional points that can be redeemed at certain stores.

Tips

  1. You can find cards with free service, cashback, miles and other bonuses using a calculator and cards. Picking up a profitable deposit is easy with the help of.
  2. Instead of SMS informing, use an Internet or mobile bank to control your account.
  3. Never withdraw cash from a credit card - a large fee is charged for this.
  4. The higher the status of the card, the greater the yield, cashback or interest on the balance. Compare your benefit to the cost of service. Look for options when you need to pay a minimum amount for bank services.
  5. Open a replenishable deposit with a high rate, so that the funds unused during the month are transferred to the deposit with the highest yield. At the same time, do not place more than 1.4 million rubles in one bank. (this amount is protected by the deposit insurance system).

In this article I want to tell you how you can earn on your debit cards.

Instead of hiding your salary in a chest of drawers, it is better to order several debit cards from different banks and receive additional income from your funds.

I make money on cards in three ways:

1. Accrued interest on the balance

2. Cashback (cashback) - refund for purchases with a card

3. Currency speculation

Now about everything in more detail.

1. Earn on interest

The funds placed on the card will not be spent immediately, and interest on the balance is accrued every day. The size of the interest rate, as a rule, depends on the amount of the minimum cash balance during the month.

Each bank has its own conditions. Today, the platinum and gold cards of Loko-Bank are in the lead (11-13.5%), the dark horse - TouchBank offers holders 9%, the Tinkoff Black Card - 8% per annum.

Personally, I am a fan of Corn World, it gives 8% per annum if the amount on the account has never dropped below 30 thousand in a month, and 5% when this condition is not met.

Connecting the "interest on the balance" option cost 156 rubles (one-time payment).

I immediately put 85 thousand into the account, I spend an average of 1600-1700 rubles daily, I restore the fifty dollars spent per month on the day of my salary.

For a month (the balance does not fall below the limit), at a rate of 8%, about 400 rubles accumulate. If the starting amount is, for example, 50 thousand, with a similar spending and replenishment regime, the income will be about 100 rubles. A little, but, you see, it's better than nothing, and then, that's not all.

2. Earn on cashback

Each bank makes a refund differently:

  • money from each purchase,
  • money for a certain category of payments,
  • bonuses from each purchase (they can be settled with partner sellers),
  • bonuses or money depending on what you pay.

It would seem that the most attractive thing is to receive a refund in money, but this is not always the case - the main thing is at what rate, for what and what is the cost structure of the cardholder.

Again, a real life example. I pay only with Corn and, as I already said, I spend about 50 thousand rubles a month, including:

  • for gasoline - 6 thousand.
  • for products - 28 thousand rubles
  • for an apartment - 5 thousand rubles.
  • for electricity, gas, telephone - 3 thousand rubles.
  • for cafes and restaurants - 3 thousand rubles.
  • other expenses - 5 thousand rubles.

For corn, the return is 1.5% of the purchase price and 3% when the “double benefit” option is activated, but not with money, but with bonuses, they can be paid at certain gas stations and partner stores, and this suits me, because I have to travel a lot. "Double benefit" cost 900 rubles and I paid it back in the first month.

For a month I get:

  • on a communal apartment (1.5%, double rate does not apply) - 75 bonds,
  • for the rest (3%) - 1350 bonds.

For bonuses, I gladly fill in about 40 liters of free gasoline.

For comparison, on the Alfa-Bank Cashbac card, the return is in cash at a rate of 10% when buying gasoline and 5% when making payments in cafes and restaurants. At the exit from gasoline, it would be possible to return ―600 rubles, from public catering‖ 150 rubles, in total ― 750 rubles.

It turns out that for Corn, the cashback is more by 675 rubles, despite the fact that Alfa's return rate is higher and he gives money, not candy wrappers.

Choosing a strategy

I like to travel by car and wondered if an Alfa-Bank card on vacation would be more profitable, because the cost structure will change - more money will be spent on gasoline, and I will have to eat only in public catering. Let's count.

For Corn, cashback would remain the same - 1425 rubles.

In this option, the advantage of the Alpha card is 1075 rubles.

However, if I go on a vacation abroad by car, who will win is another question.

3. Currency speculation

The main reason for my love for Corn is the ability to pay abroad and withdraw cash from ATMs at the exchange rate of the Central Bank. You can withdraw no more than 30 thousand rubles for free, this also applies to foreign currency (converted to rubles), therefore, in order not to bother, I got 2 cards and one more from my husband, I just transfer money from one to another and if the amount is needed large, I break her.

When buying foreign currency, rubles will first be debited from the account at the rate of the bank where the withdrawal takes place, and the next day they will recalculate to the current exchange rate of the Central Bank and return the difference to the card.

For example:

  • On May 16, at a Raiffeisenbank ATM, I withdrew 350 euros for Cook,
  • the euro exchange rate for the Central Bank on that day is 73.6248 rubles,
  • Raif's internal rate is 75.2 rubles,
  • when withdrawing from the card, 26,320 rubles (350 X 75.2) were written off.
  • On May 17, the euro exchange rate on the Central Bank is 73.4549 rubles,
  • 350 euros are valued at 25,709 rubles. (350X73.4549),
  • the difference of 611 rubles (26320-25709) was returned to my account.

Legal foreign exchange transactions

With earnings on the difference in rates, the kitchen is more complicated.

You will need an amount in circulation equivalent to at least 1,000 euros, a telephone widget with exchange rates for the Central Bank (current and the next day) and separately with the MICEX rate to track a promising trend. Additionally, you need to have a debit card that allows you to deposit and withdraw any currency from your account, for example, deposit euros, and withdraw rubles or dollars and vice versa, there are such, for example, in Alfa-Bank.

The principle is the same as in forex - buy low, sell high. You need to track the general trend (growth, fall) and the intra-bank non-cash rate in Alfa, which differs from the Central Bank and, possibly, to your advantage.

Having specified the trend of the MICEX exchange rate, I saw that the euro rate began to grow and put the previously purchased 350 euros on the Alpha card, and on May 24, when the rate became 75.2675, I withdrew, but only rubles and received at the internal rate of the bank (it was at that the moment is slightly lower than the official one) 26,250 rubles (350X75).

In total, for 9 days the income will be 541 rubles (26250-25709). And this, mind you, from only 350 euros.

Pitfall—price of service

Issuance fees, card maintenance, SMS alerts can cost a lot of money and can gobble up both cashback and interest, especially silver, platinum and other VIP varieties are expensive.

The best option is when these services are free, but more often this happens only if a certain amount of purchases on the card is observed or a minimum balance is maintained.

Again returning to Corn—having once paid for opening, you do not pay anything else, regardless of turnover and balance.

And it’s completely stupid to hold debit cards without cashback and interest, for which the bank regularly writes off money. These imperceptible extortions do not bring financial shocks, but if you get rid of them, you can add another couple of thousand a year to the piggy bank.

Competition gives freedom of choice

Banks juggle conditions, with a high interest on the balance, there may be a high service fee or an uninteresting bonus program, but at the same time a large list of profitable partners. It's impossible to win everywhere—pick a few cards you like, carefully study the conditions, decide on your own balance of funds and then make a decision.

As Nathan Rothschild said, whoever owns the information owns the world!

I wish you good luck!

Class Pageviews does not exist

27 min. reading

Updated: 11/06/2019

I have been benefiting from banking products for a long time. It’s easy and you don’t need to be a brilliant financier for this. In this article I will tell you how you can make money on credit cards.

The article will talk not only about credit cards, but also about debit cards with interest on the balance, about the grace period, and also about cashback.

The essence of earnings lies in the following: we immediately put all the income (salary) that you receive on a debit card with interest on the balance (hereinafter referred to as Income Card). This is an analogue of a bank deposit, but more flexible (later I will tell you what flexibility is and which card to choose). In this way first source of income This is interest on our salary.

But do we need something to live on? We will live on credit funds from banks. Here, ignorant people will object: “Do you have to pay for a loan ?!” We will use cards with a grace period for crediting, and if you do not go beyond this period, then you will not have to pay anything, only if you pay for servicing the card, but there are options here, more on that below.

Second source of income is cashback. When we spend credit money, banks return part of the money spent back to us in the form of cashback. This is such a bonus from the bank for the fact that we use their card.

Third source of income- this is the cashing out of credit funds of the bank and storing them on, or on an income card.

Fourth source of income is the use of credit cards with a grace period as a source of financing for small businesses. I thus bought goods in China and Taiwan, and then resold through the online store. The loan was free of charge for me.

I talked about this scheme in the program “Double Standards” on NTV.

Loans against savings

In this scheme, we will need several credit cards and several income cards, which I will specifically describe below. In the meantime, let's tell you more about how it all looks in our family.

How to use the cards?

There are about a dozen different cards in our family. They change periodically, cards with irrelevant conditions go to rest, newcomers come to replace them. We use some cards every day, some work once a month, and there are cards that generally gather dust on the shelf, but at the same time they remain in business.

Before going shopping, we look at the reminder on the phone, where it is indicated in which store which card is more profitable to use. For example, we go to Magnit for groceries with a debit card from Rosgosstrakh-Bank, refuel with a credit card from Alfa-Bank, pay for housing and communal services and communications with a credit card from Eastern Bank, etc.

In the same place, on the phone, there is a program for managing the family budget, looking into which you can immediately see on which card the cashback limits have come, and on which they are still far away. The fact is that each card, as a rule, has such limits for receiving cashback, usually from 1,000 rubles. up to 5,000 rubles, which limits the number of bonuses, which is why you have to have not one card, but several.

What are these restrictions?

For example, until March 2019, using the Rosgosstrakh Bank Excellent Card, you could get 5% cashback for expenses in supermarkets and grocery stores. Restriction - 1.000 rubles. cashback, which means that only 20,000 rubles could be spent with such a card. (5% = 1000 rubles), no longer makes sense, since cashback will not be credited. Therefore, we put the Rosgosstrakh card on the shelf and take another, albeit less profitable one.

Many of the available cards can be linked to Android Pay and Apple Pay. This is true when several people in the family use the card at once and at the same time they are in different places, or you cannot or do not want to carry cards with you all the time.

1 There are long-lived cards in our family. One of these is the credit card of Home Credit Bank - Platinum with Benefit, which I have been using since 2012. But I don't recommend this card. Why don't I recommend it? Because if you draw it up now, then you will have an expensive annual service - 4990 rubles. and cashback is less, while more interesting solutions can be found on the market.

I do not have an annual service, instead a monthly fee of 149 rubles is charged for maintaining the card. For the year comes 1788 p. Why is that? Because I have been using this card for a long time and when I connected to it, it was a card with different conditions. Now I have an archive tariff plan that is not available to new customers.

I use this card for daily small expenses: food, gasoline, restaurants, inexpensive goods. Of the benefits - I get a 2-5% cashback depending on the expense category, the highest 5% goes to cafes and restaurants, gas stations and travel. For everything else, including products, there is a 2% cashback. The grace period is 51 days.

2 Another long-lived card from Alfa-Bank. This is a card with a 100-day credit grace period and the ability to withdraw up to 50,000 rubles for free. cash monthly. But this card, unfortunately, does not have a cashback.

I use this card to withdraw cash, which I then put on an income card and then withdraw 3-5 thousand rubles each as I need cash. You can rent up to 50,000 rubles. inclusive every month during the grace period. That is, in 100 days you can withdraw 150 thousand rubles, in total, if limits allow.

Since I have been using the services of the bank for a long time, they issued me this card with a limit of 170 thousand rubles. After a couple of months of use, the limits were increased.

More than 3-5 thousand rubles in cash I or my wife never have in their wallet. We do not keep cash at home, it "works" on income cards. Plus it's safer. After all, having lost a wallet with cash, you are unlikely to return the money lying there, and having lost a wallet with a card, you will reissue the card and everyone will be there safe and sound.

Another area of ​​application for this card is small businesses. It can act as an alternative to a line of credit. In short, the scheme is as follows - you buy any product with credit money from this card and you have 100 days, that is, three months, to sell this product and repay the debt to the bank without interest, but with a profit for yourself.

I did this for about two years when I developed an online store selling water-saving equipment. One of the most popular items in the store was a sensory faucet nozzle that helped save water. I purchased these nozzles directly from the factory in Taiwan. Payment was made to the PayPal-wallet of the representative of this plant. A PayPal wallet, in turn, is tied to any card, including a credit card.

At that time, I had a card limit of 360,000 rubles. I bought nozzles for the entire limit. Those who have ever opened their own store are well aware of how difficult it is sometimes to withdraw part of the money from circulation for the purchase of any product. Small entrepreneurs who keep shops, boutiques, stalls usually have all the money in the goods. And it was unprofitable to bring 10–20 nozzles from Taiwan, it was necessary to immediately purchase a large batch, which was enough for at least 1–2 months of work. I didn't always have free money in my "pocket". Because as soon as they appeared, I spent them on the purchase of any item for the online store. In this regard, this card helped me a lot.

So, if you are an individual or a small entrepreneur who intends to buy wholesale goods from China and sell them in a traditional store, online store or from one-page sites, as I did, then you can consider the option of such cards. By the way, there is another similar credit card, the bank of the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development, where the grace period is even longer - 120 days, that is, 4 months!

3 Another frequently used card is the Tinkoff Black debit card.

What is most interesting, this card is not the most profitable. It has one of the lowest interest rates on the balance among income cards, it has a small cashback, except for promotions with partners, however, these promotions may not always be up to date. This card has inconvenient conditions, failure to comply with which entails the loss of accrued interest on the balance and the payment of monthly maintenance.

However, this card has many other useful features that make it almost a must-have for every finhacker. Such goodies are the ability to withdraw cash without commission at any ATM, free replenishment of the card from cards of other banks, or as finhackers also call this service - “pulling money”, transferring money to another person to a card of any bank only by card number directly from the Application in the phone , free interbank transfers, various reminders for paying taxes, fines, etc.

On this card, I always have a small amount of money that allows me to use this card without monthly maintenance. I keep my fixed assets on other, more profitable cards. But I often use Tinkov to transfer money without commissions between different cards.

We buy food on the Rosgosstrakh card. This card has the largest cashback for purchases in supermarkets, but at the same time it has a low interest on the balance. Therefore, a day or two before going to the store, I withdraw money from some profitable Income card to Tinkov and transfer money from there to Rosgosstrakh. Such manipulations are necessary in order not to pay commissions for transfers.

Sometimes it happens that we spent 20,000 rubles, which means we reached the cashback limit of 1,000 rubles, but at the same time, a little more than 20 thousand rubles remained on the balance of Rosgosstrakh, for example, 23 tr. Since, according to the conditions for receiving a cashback, the balance must be at least 20 tr, it makes no sense to keep 3 tr there. Therefore, we again use Tinkoff, we pull these 3 tr. and from there we transfer free interbank money to a more profitable card. Everything about everything takes 1-2 minutes with the translation templates set up in Tinkov's personal account.

4 Well, the final example is the Rocketbank debit card, although I could give many more examples, since the experience of using different cards allows me to do this. In fact, this is the younger brother of Tinkov, since it performs basically similar functions. There, the percentage of the balance is slightly higher than in Tinkovo, there are restrictions on the number of free cash withdrawals from ATMs, access to your personal account is carried out only through a smartphone, but these are all trifles.

What I like about it more is the lack of different conditions. Everything is simple on this card - the service is free. Interest on the balance is charged on any amount. This is an example of a card that can sit on the shelf and you don't have to worry about getting charged any fees while you haven't used it. If you come across similar banking products, then order them without hesitation, because in the process of using them, which will be free for you, you will learn, get an excellent experience of interacting with various financial products, which in the future will allow you to easily calculate and compare the benefits between different cards.

Income cards

A profitable card brings us profit not only in the form of interest on the balance of funds that are on the card, but also in the form of cashback. Our task is to find the most profitable solutions that will return 5-10% of the money spent. Why look for such cards? The fact is that sometimes it is more profitable to spend our real, “live” money with a 5% cashback than credit money with a 2% cashback.

It is also worth considering such an important point that for many banks the amount of cashback can be limited to a certain amount per month, for example, you can get a maximum cashback of 2000 rubles. on one card, while you spend more and if it were not for this limitation, then the cashback would be higher. This is where other cards come to the rescue.

After you have received a salary, then immediately transfer it to the Income Card, because there is no need for money to lie like a dead weight - they must work. Let me take my parents as an example. They have been paid in cash all their lives. At home, the money was always in the closet, under one of the piles of clothes. And this habit has taken root so deeply that even now, when they have been receiving their salary on the card for many years, they go to the ATM in the old fashioned way, withdraw money and carry it home to the closet. This should not be.

Income cards give 6-8% on the balance. Yield is constantly changing, as it is tied to, but this also applies to ordinary deposits and loans.

Why is it worth using Yield cards, and not bank deposits?

  • Bank deposits are usually opened for at least six months to a year. And if you withdraw money ahead of schedule, then instead of the promised 6-10%, you will receive income at the rate of the “On Demand” deposit, for example, in Sberbank it is only 0.01%, or nothing. In this scheme, we will need to constantly move money between different cards, so standard deposits are not suitable.
  • There are such concepts as partial replenishment and withdrawal of funds from the deposit. Above it was about the complete withdrawal of all money from the deposit. Here we are talking about withdrawing some part of the money from the deposit or, conversely, adding a small amount. For example, I am an entrepreneur, and I receive money not once a month in one large amount, like with employees, but regularly in certain portions. Most profitable bank deposits prohibit partial withdrawals and replenishment, and this is not prohibited on the Income Card.
  • Money simply lies on a bank deposit and earns interest. On the Income Card, money brings interest, and you can also pay for goods, services, telephone, housing and communal services, etc., make transfers to relatives, colleagues, that is, you have full access to your money, which you can dispose of as you need which the bank deposit does not allow.
  • The difference between the accrued interest on the deposit and the income card is small, and the income card has more opportunities, so there is no point in chasing the highest rate.

I draw your attention to the fact that all the above arguments in favor of the Income Card relate to short-term money, that is, money that you operate on a short period of time, up to 6-9 months. If you have a large amount of funds that you do not plan to use during the year, then it is definitely better to look at classic deposits, as they can give 1-2% more than an income card, and more importantly, by concluding an agreement on a classic deposit, you fix the interest rate for the entire period, while on the Income Card the interest rate varies depending on, or look at other investment methods, such as investing in stocks and bonds.

Read also:

What income cards do I use in this scheme?

At the moment I am using the following cards:

Their list is constantly changing. Why six and not one?

Firstly, there is no reference to the number six. There can be as many cards as you like, the main thing is that it should not be a disadvantage for you, because some of them have annual maintenance and various commissions that can “eat up” all your profits.

Secondly, the number of cards should be determined by the amount that you distribute among these cards. If you have free thirty thousand rubles, then it makes no sense to get a lot of cards for this small amount. In this case, I would limit myself to one card. If you have three hundred to five hundred thousand rubles at your disposal, then here, in order to diversify risks, it is worth scattering this money over several cards.

Well, we figured out the Income cards, let's move on to credit cards, if you suddenly have any questions, ask them in the comments.

Credit cards with grace periods and cashback

In this scheme, it is extremely important to transfer the maximum of your cash transactions to plastic payments. In our family, 90% of all expenses are non-cash.

It is worth noting here that, then there, 95-98% of our expenses were non-cash, that is, we paid for everything with cards. Grocery stores (Auchan, Dixy, Perekrestok, Pyaterochka), housing and communal services, gasoline, clothing, pharmacies, taxis, public transport (Troika was topped up with a credit card), etc.

Now we live in Gelendzhik (Krasnodar Territory). Here the penetration of banking technologies is not as deep as in Moscow. You can’t pay with cards everywhere, for example, only a handful of cards are accepted in the markets, but fruits and vegetables there are much tastier and healthier than in the same Magnit, so there’s no way without cash.

Why do I emphasize cash and non-cash payments? Because most credit cards charge high fees for cash withdrawals. However, there are credit cards on the banking services market that allow you to withdraw cash without interest, we are talking about the Alfa Bank card 100 days without interest. I also put this cash on the Income Card and withdraw it in small amounts as needed to pay off in the same market.

Thus, there will also be several credit cards in our scheme, as well as profitable ones.

What is a grace period for loans?

Before we move on to the review of the cards, let's briefly analyze what the Grace Period is, otherwise it is also called the grace period.

There is a certain amount on the credit card, which the bank assigns based on your income, credit history, the presence of dependents, property and other factors. You can spend these borrowed funds as you see fit. The bank assigns a grace period, for example, 50 days from the beginning of the month or from the first spending, during which if you return the borrowed funds, then you do not pay any interest on the loan. It's like taking a payday loan from a relative. But if you do not have time to return the money, then the bank charges interest from the very first day of using credit resources.

I have been using these credit cards for five years, probably, if not more. In all this time, I had only two cases when I flew out of the grace period:

Thus, while our salary is on the Income Card, we buy food, clothes, pay for gasoline, cellular communications, housing and communal services using credit cards. But as soon as the grace period ends, we close the debt on a credit card with the help of a salary that has been on the Income Card all this time.

During this time, they manage to run up interest on the Income Card + we will return part of the money spent on a credit card due to cashback, which would not be the case if we paid with a salary card or in cash.

What is cashback?

Cashback (from English. cashback- cash back)- This is a refund of a part of the cost of each purchase on the card. This is such a bonus program that, in our case, banks use to encourage customers to make non-cash purchases with a credit card.

The amount of cashback in different banks varies from 1 to 10%, but on average it is 1-5%. There are also one-time promotions where the cashback value can reach 30%, but this is extremely rare. The screenshot below shows examples of such promotions:

Example: in the screenshot above, we see that 21% cashback is provided for book purchases in LitRes. This means that if you collect books for 1 thousand rubles, then 210 rubles will then return to your card in the form of cashback, and, therefore, the books will cost you 790 rubles.

So that you understand how profitable it is or not, I will give statistics from my office at Home Credit Bank:

In total, I have accumulated from January 1, 2016 to January 24, 2018 - 39,441.50 rubles, of which 10,766.75 rubles. is currently in the account and has not yet been debited. 1 point = 1 ruble. That is, for a year, cashback only in this bank brings me an average of about 20,000 rubles.

What is the benefit of the bank? Why would he give his clients money?

For a bank, cashback is an additional marketing tool that helps it compete with other banks for customers. There are many credit cards, interest rates and grace periods are mostly the same. So what else to interest the client? This is where Cashback comes on the scene.

It also helps to get customers to do more transactions on the card. It is easier for a client to part with credit money, knowing that he will receive an additional discount in the form of cashback for this.

Well, the bank earns on commissions for monthly or annual card maintenance. And also on interest on a credit card, because not every person fits into the grace period.

Overview of cashback credit cards

In the review below, I did not indicate the interest rate on the loan, the commission for cash withdrawal, the amount of the loan, since these parameters are not needed in our scheme. Our task is always to keep within the grace period, we do not withdraw cash, except for one card so far, which allows you to do this without commissions. Well, the loan amount is not so important, because we will have several credit cards and each bank, when issuing a credit card, will take all this into account and determine the limit for you based on all available cards.

The following credit cards are suitable for our scheme:

NAME SERVICE CASHBACK GRACE PERIOD
Alfa-Bank (100 days) from 1190 rub depending on the tariff No Up to 100 days
The main advantages are cash withdrawals up to 50,000 rubles. inclusive every month and 100 days grace period. At the beginning of the month you withdraw 50 tr. and put them on an income card, the next month you withdraw another 50 tr. and report to the income card, then for the third month another 50 tr. By the end of the grace period, we withdraw 150 tr. and put them back on Alfa, well, or make an interbank transfer if you don’t want to go to ATMs and the income card allows you to do this without commissions.
Alfa-Bank (CashBack) 3 990 rub. in year up to 15% from partners, 10% at gas stations, 5% in cafes and restaurants, 1% for everything else. IMPORTANT! You need to spend 20,000 r. per month at any retail outlets to receive cashback. Max. cashback 3000 rubles / month Up to 60 days
Good bonuses at gas stations and cafes, but expensive service. Suitable for those who have high expenses on gasoline and cafes.
Raiffeisen (All at once) 1490 rubles / year (the first year is free if registered before March 31, 2018) 5% of all card purchases, including taxes, fines, utilities, communications, but not more than 1000 points per month. Up to 52 days
A good cashback, but there is a significant disadvantage - cashback can be exchanged for rubles only after accumulating 20,000 points, which will take 20 months. During this time, they can unilaterally change / worsen / cancel the bonus program.
Tinkoff Platinum 590 rubles per year 1% and up to 30% on promotions, no more than 6000 points per month Up to 55 days
Not high service. Cashback is small. Up to 30% for stocks is rarely applicable, so you need to focus on 1%. Convenient additional services, online banking and mobile banking for other purposes, for example, for free interbank transactions with a debit card, you can replenish the card for free with cards from other banks through the card2card service. Excellent support, at any time in the chat, telegram, by phone.
Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development (120 days without interest) 1500 rubles annually. Or free of charge: upon reaching expenses on the card in the amount of 100 thousand rubles. within 1 year 1% - no limits Up to 120 days
The largest grace period. Cashback is small, only 1%, but without limits. The service is small and can be made generally free. 100.000 rub. easy to spend in a year.
Renaissance Credit 0 rub. 1% and up to 10% for promotions with partners Up to 55 days
Attracts free service. Cashback standard 1%, 10% for promotions with partners. Weak customer support.
Vostochny Bank (heat card) 800 rubles/yearly 5% points for paying utility bills, communications, public transport, for purchases at a pharmacy and 1% points for any other purchases. Restrictions on points: no more than 100.000 rubles. per month. Up to 56 days
The card will be of interest to those who have high expenses for housing and communal services, communications, public transport and pharmacies - all this comes with an excellent cashback of 5% and, importantly, with virtually no restrictions, a ceiling of 100 tr. KB is difficult to achieve. Add to this not expensive service and we get excellent conditions.
Home Credit Platinum 149 rub. per month or 1788 per year (if you do not use the card, the service is free). 2% of the amount of any purchase, but not more than 2000 points per month, 5% (gas stations, cafes, travel), but not more than 3000 points per month, 5-10% in partner stores Up to 51 days
Indicated this card purely for comparison. Now the conditions are different (cashback 1.5 - 5% for the same categories, but the service is 4990 rubles), a card from Alfa-Bank (CashBack), where I like 10% for gas stations and 5% for cafes much more.

Income calculation

Now let's try to calculate the benefit. Let's say your total family income is 100,000 rubles. Perhaps the figure is high for your family, but you don’t need to focus on it, since we need to understand the principle of calculation, it’s easier to do this with a round number. After reading the article, you can substitute your data.

Depending on the income card, we can receive the following income:

  • An income card with a 6% accrual on the balance will bring you about 500 rubles / month or 6,000 rubles / year
  • An income card with a 7% accrual on the balance will bring you about 583 rubles / month or 7,000 rubles / year
  • An income card with an 8% accrual on the balance will bring you about 667 rubles / month or 8,000 rubles / year

Now let's calculate the approximate income from cashback for the month, based on the same total income of 100,000 rubles / month, which was considered above. Below we will consider several scenarios using different maps.

Scenario one

In the first scenario, I use my valid Home Credit Platinum card to calculate cashback income. It gives a cashback of 2-5%. For new clients, the conditions are different (1.5-5% and service 4990 rubles / year). This is not the most profitable scheme, so in the next scenario we will consider bundles using other cards that can give a big profit.

The numbers in this table are arbitrary and will differ for each family. Nevertheless, they are quite plausible, very close to the expenses of our family. If you think that they are far from your situation, then using this example you can calculate your profitability.

So, cashback will give us 2.750 rubles. profit per month. We add it to the profit from the Income Card and get 3.250 rubles. – 3.417 rubles per month. If this money is not spent, but directed to the same income cards, then for the year we will get 40,296.24 rubles. - 42 832.39 rubles. From this amount, we subtract the cost of servicing a credit card 1788 rubles. per year and, possibly, on an income card, depending on the choice, this may be 0 p. in year.

It's money out of thin air. You can literally make them out of nothing! Consider them your 13th paycheck.

Scenario two

In the second scenario, we will try to make a scheme of several cards in order to get the maximum cashback. We take the same 100,000 rubles as a basis. monthly expense:

Credit card Expense category Amount in rubles/month Cashback in % Cashback in rubles/month Service
Rosgosstrakh debit card (not relevant) Products 20.000 5% 1000 42 rubles/month
Products 15 000 5% 750 125 rubles / month, or 0 rubles / month in the first year of service
Petrol 10.000 10% 1000 335 rubles/month
Credit card Alfa-Bank cashback Cafes/restaurants 10.000 5% 500 ###
Debit card Promsvyazbank All Inclusive clothing 10.000 5% 500 150 rubles/month
Raiffeisen credit card (all at once) Household chemicals 2.500 5% 125 ###
housing and communal services 5.000 5% 250 67 rubles/month
Credit card Vostochny Bank (Teplo card) Communication/Internet 1.000 5% 50 ###
Credit card Vostochny Bank (Teplo card) The medicine 2.000 5% 100 ###
Raiffeisen credit card (all at once) Gadgets 2 500 5% 125 ###
Debit card Home Credit (Cosmos) Vacation 10.000 3% 300 0 RUB/month or 99 RUB/month
Credit card Alfa-Bank cashback Miscellaneous 7.000 1% 70 ###
Total per month: 100.000 4 920 594 - 1,068 rubles
Total for the year: 1.200.000 59 040 7 128 – 12 816

Note: the conditions for some cards have now lost their relevance, but I did not change the cards, as this is just an example. You can collect another combination with no less favorable conditions. Tariffs change every month and it will be difficult to keep track of the relevance of the article.

For the year, only 46,224 - 51,912 rubles will come from cashback. Also, do not forget about the interest from the Income Card. It is difficult to calculate the exact figure here, since in the second scenario about 60,000 r. we will spend with credit cards (annual income at a rate of 7% ~ 4,337 rubles). We will not include here the calculation of income from transferring cashback to an income card, since some banks do not pay out cashback immediately, but, for example, upon reaching a certain level, as in Raiffeisen.

The money (40,000 rubles), which we will spend with debit cards, also complicates the calculation. The expense on them will spread throughout the month, and not immediately in one amount. According to my estimates, this will bring about 300-700 rubles / year.

In the end, we will get about 50,861 - 56,949 rubles / year. This is more than in the first scenario, from which we can conclude that the most effective scheme is when we use credit and debit cards with maximum cashback and minimum annual maintenance.

What do you need to do? Make a sample table of monthly expenses. Analyze and write in it the most profitable cards for your expenses. Then, it remains only to issue them and start using them.

In the tables above, I indicated the cards that I use myself and which I am considering for registration in the near future. I will constantly update this table and add the most interesting solutions here, so check back here periodically. I draw your attention to the fact that I left explanations for each card in order to show you my line of reasoning when analyzing and choosing credit cards. When you choose a credit card for yourself it will help you direct your thoughts in the right direction.

Russia is a big country and what is relevant for Moscow may not be relevant for Vladivostok or Krasnodar. Therefore, monitor the offers in your region and try to find the best deals. I would be glad if you share your findings with me and other readers, or below in the comments to this article.

Subtleties and tricks

1 When using debit cards, I recommend keeping money on the most profitable Income Cards. So, for example, on the Excellent Rosgosstrakh card, we received 5% of cashback from expenses in supermarkets, but the interest on the balance was charged small - only 5%. At the same time, in order to receive 5% cashback, it was necessary to keep at least 20,000 rubles on balances. per month. This means that before going to the store, it was necessary to have more money on the card. If you plan to spend 5 thousand in Auchan, then put this amount on the card so that there are 25,000 rubles.

But what if you have free thousands of 60,000 rubles? Why not throw the entire amount on the Rosgosstrakh card? It will be better 20.000 r. throw on the Rosgosstrakh card at 5% per annum, and the remaining 40,000 rubles. put on the Income card with a higher rate. 1-2 days before going to the store, replenish the Excellent Card and then go shopping. We replenish, of course, through a free interbank or free card2card. Please note that the conditions on the Rosgostrakh card are no longer relevant and are used here as an example.

2 Sometimes you can find bank offers that are relevant to a particular case.. For example, Rosbank has a "Supercard +" for which you can get a 7% cashback in the first 3 months (welcome period) from the moment the card is activated. Further, all the same 7% are charged, but already for certain categories, which are appointed by the bank itself. This can be inconvenient as the category you need may not be available.

The maximum cashback amount is 5000 rubles, which means that your expenses on the card should be about 71,000 rubles / month. If you usually do not make such expenses, then you need to choose a time when you are planning major purchases, for example, repairs, weddings, vacations, etc. and issue a card for this period, because after the welcome period, the conditions on the card will be significantly worse.

3 If you have found an interesting banking offer, then do not take the time to take advantage of it.. I have already given an example with the Home Credit card, which, after a while, continues to function for old customers on favorable terms, but is no longer available to new customers.

Here's another example: Avangard Bank has a "Premium Card" campaign, which allows you to get one of the premium cards of this bank with free service in the first year and get 10,000 bonus miles as a gift, for which you can buy train or air tickets .

True, there is a nuance, you must have a premium card from another bank in order to participate in this promotion. Since this article is about making money on credit and debit cards, when you become a sophisticated banking user and apply all the schemes from this article, you will have a dozen, or even more, cards of different banks, among which may be more than one premium. For example, I now have 3 premium cards from different banks in my hands.

And this example also shows the essence of this article well, when you, again, out of nothing, make money. In this case, you get them in the form of bonus miles, which you exchange for a ticket. In a specific case, the donated miles can be used to buy a ticket for the Sapsan train Moscow - St. Petersburg, which in rubles will cost 3,754.00 rubles.

Click on the picture to enlarge

4 If the card has very attractive conditions, then it can be issued to family members. This is what we did with the Great Card from Rosgosstrakh, which gave 5% cashback on purchases in supermarkets and grocery stores. In our family, about 40 tr goes to the markets. per month, sometimes more. In such large stores as Auchan, Magnit, Perekrestok, you can buy not only food, but also household chemicals, pet food, light bulbs, etc.

As you understand, a limit of 20 tr. with a bonus limit of 1 tr. per month on the Rosgosstrakh card with our expenses is not enough, so we issued 2 cards at once - one for me, the second for my wife, and the total limit on both cards was 40 tr., which gave us the opportunity to return 2 tr. in the form of cashback. Do not forget to take into account such a moment that in this example, at least 40 tr. must always be on the balances of both cards, otherwise we will not see a 5% cashback. An excellent card from Rosgosstrakh ceased to be excellent in March 2019 and we replaced it with an OTP bank card called "Big Cashback", where the cashback for products was even higher, as much as 7%, but we will change this card soon, as the conditions its actions will change from July 1, 2019.

5 Check how cashback is credited and for how long. When analyzing cards, always start from how the cashback is calculated - in rubles or points? The most profitable option in rubles. If in points, then look at what you can change these points for. If the points are exchanged for rubles 1 to 1, then everything is fine, but if the points are exchanged for some certificates, gift cards from various stores, then this is not always good, since the list may not contain the stores you need.

Now about the time of scoring. Above, I already gave an example with Raiffeisen Bank and the Vserazu card. The amount of cashback is 5%, it is charged on almost everything, but the trouble is, to get this 5% you have to wait 20 months, that is, almost 2 years. Your cashback is frozen for 2 years and this is unprofitable, because we cannot send it to the Income Card.

Another example is the Benefit Card from TalkBank. They also give 5% in many areas of expenses, including: Supermarkets, Medicine, Clothing, Shoes, Entertainment, Motor transport, etc., but even here the money is frozen, though not for 20 months, but only for 6 and accumulate during this time you need at least 16,000 points. It seems that you can be patient, but this bank, and a lot can happen in 6 months, deprives banks of licenses with a bang.

Bank marketing tricks

If you find a credit card with interesting conditions, then in addition to studying the promotional offer, do not be too lazy to study the tariffs, as well as go to the bank office, call and preferably several times to chat with different employees.

  • Firstly, incompetent employees work in banks, one can say one thing, the second - another.
  • Secondly, what can be written even on the official page of the bank, with a careful study of the tariffs, may not be true.

Recently got a loan Asia-Pacific Bank (My Rules) on the official page of which flaunts 7% cashback, which can be obtained from expenses in supermarkets, that is, spending on Food.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

In my family, this is the largest expense item, so I eagerly began to study the conditions. Somewhere in the depths of the tariffs, a not entirely clear postscript is found:

Click to enlarge

The site states that the cashback is 7%. But if you carefully study the tariffs, you will find that no more than 20% of the total volume of non-cash transactions on the card per month is returned.

Example: you spent 30,000 rubles on groceries. - 20% of this amount will be 6,000 rubles. Cashback is calculated from these 20%, that is, from 6,000 rubles. and in our case it will amount to only 420 rubles, which is only 1.4% of the 30,000 rubles you spent.

Conclusion

There is an opinion among the people that a bank is like a casino that always wins. I never set myself the goal of beating the casino, but when there is an opportunity to use banking services to your advantage, then this should be used. There is no cheating in the schemes I have described. Everything is fair here. And the winner, in fact, is both the bank and its client.

I will be glad to answer your questions. I will be even more happy if you share your experience of using banking products. Save this article to your browser bookmarks, or take it to the wall in social networks, so that later you can return and re-read it again, the article will be updated regularly.

In conclusion, I propose to watch the issue of Vesti, where I also touched on the topic of Earnings on credit cards.

How to save a million - a newly minted resident of the Kuban shares his practical experience

Many banking organizations offer their customers credit cards in addition to existing services. Do not rush to refuse this offer. With the help of a credit card, if you use it correctly, you can not only create a financial reserve for yourself in case of unforeseen expenses, but also get a small income. Let's take a closer look at how to make money on a credit card.

Possible earning options

Let's make a reservation right away - it is unlikely that it will be possible to earn millions by manipulating credit cards. But it is quite possible to provide a small increase in salary. To do this, you can use one of the following methods:

  • spend money for life from a credit card, and invest your own;
  • connect a cashback program to the card;
  • use a variety of club offers (accumulate miles to buy air tickets, etc.).

If desired, and some accuracy in budgeting, you can combine these methods and thus increase the final income. Let's talk about each of the options in more detail.

Cashback from purchases

Many banks supplement their credit cards with a cashback program. Within its framework, a certain percentage of the funds spent from the credit card will be returned to your account. The return mechanism may be different. For example, the “Thank you” from Sberbank, known to all programs, involves the return of a certain percentage of the amount spent in the form of bonus points, which can then be used in a limited number of stores. Tinkoff Bank, unlike Sberbank, simply credits the user with a part of the funds spent by him and does not limit their further use in any way. Naturally, the second option is more profitable for those who decide to make money on the cashback program.

How does the interest-free period of the Tinkoff card work?

The mechanism for generating income will be as follows:

  • keep your salary on a debit card;
  • pay all purchases and bills with a credit card (through Internet banking and card issuer terminals);
  • at the end of each day, transfer from a debit card a credit amount equal to the amount of daily expenses.

Thus, you will receive a "premium" from the credit card issuing bank for each completed spending transaction, and at the same time you will not go beyond the credit limit. If you pay off the debt that has arisen immediately at the end of the day, then you can not be afraid of interest on the use of borrowed funds. As a rule, each of the cards of this kind has a grace period during which you can spend funds from them for free. And this period is clearly more than a day.

Bottom line: at the end of the month, in addition to borrowed funds, you will accumulate a certain amount of cashback on your credit account, which will be regarded by the bank as your personal funds. Depending on the conditions of the credit card, a small percentage may even be charged on it, which can also be considered as income.

Investing own funds

Very often you can find tips on how to make money on bank cards by investing your own funds. As a rule, the following scheme is recommended:

  • we get a credit card with a grace period of about 50 days;
  • open a savings account in a bank convenient for you;
  • when receiving a salary, we transfer it to a savings account;
  • during the month we spend money only from a credit card;
  • upon receipt of the next salary, we completely extinguish the resulting debt;
  • the difference (if any) is also transferred to the savings account.

Important! The debt should be repaid in full, not limited to the minimum payment.

As a result, by the end of each month you will have a small income from the interest paid by the bank on the savings account. At the same time, you will not incur costs for using a credit card, since the debt formed on it will be repaid during the grace period. However, for this scheme to be truly profitable, several important nuances should be taken into account.

Important Schema Aspects

Any credit card is a big temptation. In order not to drive yourself into debt and really make a profit from using the method described above, you should get a credit card with a limit not exceeding your monthly income. It is better even if the limit is 3-5 thousand less than your salary, because one way or another, when funds arrive, you will have to withdraw some cash from your debit card for everyday expenses.

The next important point is the interest-free period of the credit card. For the scheme to work, it should be from 1.5 to 2 months. This way you will be protected from accruing interest on the debt in case of salary delays or other sudden financial problems. But at the same time, you will not have time to relax and postpone the repayment of the debt for an indefinite time.

Important! The best option is cards with a grace period of 45-50 days. Most employees are paid twice a month, so you have every chance to pay off your credit card debt without incurring interest.

The third rule of earning is that a credit card should be used only for non-cash payments. Any withdrawal of cash from a credit account is subject to a commission. Plus, most banks immediately begin to accrue interest on the withdrawn amount for use, despite the grace period. This, especially in the early stages, can wipe out all of your income from the scheme.

Try to withdraw from the debit card the amount necessary for everyday expenses immediately upon receipt of the salary. If the cash is over, you can offer one of your colleagues or friends to pay for their purchases from the card, and take the spent amount from them in real money. This way you will at least avoid the cost of cashing out.

And the last point - the funds in the savings account must be inviolable. Firstly, if you withdraw any part of them, your income will automatically decrease (most financial institutions charge interest on the minimum account balance for a month). And secondly, you can exceed the spending limit, and instead of earning money, incur credit card debts.

Tip: set yourself a maximum period during which you do not withdraw money from a savings account, or the amount you want to save. And try to follow this restriction.

Use of bonuses

Various bonuses accrued for using credit cards can hardly be considered an independent means of earning. They are quite specific - not everyone needs a regular purchase of air or railway tickets. But if your credit card allows you to make such savings, they should be used in combination with one of the schemes described above, and maybe with both at once.

Important! When choosing a card, make sure that the cost of its annual service does not exceed the maximum amount of bonuses available for accumulation. Otherwise, the idea loses its meaning.

In order for earnings on credit cards to bring as much income as possible, you should correctly approach the choice of this payment instrument. At the same time, you can not particularly pay attention to interest on borrowed funds, since it is assumed that you will not get into debt on a credit account. But worth appreciating:

  • the cost of annual maintenance of a credit card;
  • payment for additional services (SMS informing, Internet banking, etc.);
  • the presence of bonuses from the bank - interest on the account balance, cashback, the possibility of obtaining discounts from partners, etc.

The general rule here is that the costs associated with using a credit card should be kept to a minimum. Choose the cheapest of the suitable options, and immediately after receiving the card, disable all additional services from it.

As for bonuses, evaluate how relevant they will be for you. Perhaps you will never need a discount on the purchase of household appliances, nor the accumulation of miles on tickets. And using a card that has such options can be much more expensive than a regular credit card.

If you are a regular customer of a bank, you can contact him with a request to select a personal offer for you. In this way, there is a chance to get either a completely free credit card, or a card with a minimum service fee. Also, many financial institutions provide preferential credit cards for their payroll clients. The conditions for obtaining them should be clarified with the bank manager assigned to your employer.

By the way! Active use of credit cards, albeit for earning money, will help you improve your credit history.

Entrepreneurial people manage to make money on non-standard things. For example, on a credit card. It is paradoxical, but true - it turns out that with a competent approach, you can get an increase in the family budget with the help of a credit card.

First, let's look at how banks make a profit from owners of credit payment instruments:

  • Most banks charge interest on banknote withdrawals.
  • Almost all credit institutions charge a fee for issuing a card.
  • SMS notifications about completed transactions.
  • For an annual service.
  • In case of late payment, banks charge fines and penalties.

How to profitably use a credit card

In order not to remain in debt to the bank, you need to use borrowed resources correctly:

  • it is beneficial to use a credit card if you are asked to leave a deposit for a rented car while traveling, it is better to use borrowed funds if there is a grace period;
  • if you urgently need money, a credit card will help out (for example, a car broke down while traveling, there are not enough banknotes for a bargain in a store).

How to make money on a credit card

Let's analyze what simple tricks you can use to improve your level of well-being:

  1. you need to issue a credit card with a grace period (usually 55 days, but some banks, for example, offer up to 110 days);
  2. make purchases with a credit card;
  3. We analyze and choose just for you. For example, if you often buy air tickets, it will be more convenient to issue with bonuses for this category;
  4. we issue a debit card, with interest on the balance or open a deposit in a bank. For example, offers 6% per annum on the balance;
  5. we receive a salary and wait for the accrual of interest;
  6. if we want to put money on a deposit in a bank, then we withdraw money from an ATM. It is optimal to choose a credit institution that does not charge a commission for cashing out, for example, Alfa-Bank and Raiffeisen offer credit cards with free banknote withdrawal;
  7. at the end of the grace period on a credit card, we repay the debt by transfer from a debit card.

From theory to practice: earnings on the Tinkoff card

Consider an example of earning money on credit cards using Tinkoff Bank products. We issue two at once: debit and credit. Suppose our salary is 50,000 rubles.

  1. We spend money from a credit card within the limits of our income (we don’t go into minus).
  2. We receive a salary of 50,000 rubles (we will assume that all profits will be spent).
  3. We pay utility bills by credit card, make purchases in stores.
  4. We take 5,000 rubles. Money will come in handy in those places where there are no terminals for payment. will take decent interest, and with an amount of 3,000 rubles or more without commission at any ATM.
  5. At the end of the month, Tinkoff credits cashback. If we take 1% as a constant, and do not count the increased percentage (for example, 5% for restaurants), at the end of the month we will get a profit of 450 rubles.
  6. Let's calculate earnings. The money was on a debit card with 6% on the balance (45,000 rubles * 6% / 12 months) = 225 rubles.
  7. At the end of the grace period, we transfer 45,000 rubles to a credit card.
  8. The annual income will be (450 + 225) * 12 = 8,100 rubles.
  9. Subtract the cost of annual maintenance 8 100 - 600 = 7 500 rubles.

As you can see, the higher your income, the more significant profit you will get using this method. Whether it's big or small, it's up to you. Any penny will never be superfluous, because at the end of the year you can please yourself with a small gift for this amount.