There are few great reward options in the market at the moment (interspersed with the myriad of rubbish rewards), so take a look at which of these will be best suited to you.

Airmiles are a great option if you spend a fair whack on your card each month, but remember that these cards have two other factors to take into account ? do you really fly on Okavango Air one way to the Delta that often and is it worth the monthly fee they'll charge you for the fanfare?

What I am saying is, have a good long look over which airline you get your miles on, how many miles you need to get to where you want to go and how much you'll need to spend to get you there ? every single card will be different. Oh, and they'll probably limit the list of potential destinations too, so take yet another look.

And please, don't pay R170/month for the airmiles programme if you only earn R100 bucks worth of miles a month.

Out there at present is a Standard Bank BA Affinity card and SAA's Voyager cards, operated by Nedbank. Then there's the Virgin Money card for miles with Virgin and a whole host of discount airline options from the likes of Kulula.

As far as rewards go, there are a few options out there, but most of them let you earn electronic points that go towards rewards. FNB's eBucks is the big one and Nedbank has Greenbacks. Last time I checked, both Standard Bank and Absa have a list of partners with discounts, but these change frequently, so it's best to do your homework on them and their reward partners regularly.

Swiping and investing

The newest of the rewards programmes is the Old Mutual Investment card — a credit card that put money into an investment account every time you spend on your card. Nice touch ? at least we are starting to see some lateral thinking in this credit card space.

Remember, credit cards can be a great way to stretch month end finances, but be certain you keep in mind the golden rule: pay off as much as you can as often as you can.

I suppose there is a 'silver rule' too: never withdraw money from the ATM using your credit card ? you'll be paying interest the minute you take the cash out of the machine.

For more information on credit cards, bank accounts and a host of financial services products, check out Justmoney.co.za.