Credit card rewards programs are hugely popular with Australian consumers. They allow you to benefit from a wide range of rewards simply for using your credit card.

Here are our top five tips to getting more from your credit card rewards program.

1.Use your card regularly

The vast majority of credit card rewards programs award points based on the amount that you spend using your card. Most schemes award between one and two credit card reward points for every dollar that you spend on your card.

The more you use your card, the more rewards points you will accumulate. If you want to amass as many points as you can, the secret is to use your credit card as often as possible. Use it for large items but also for day-to-day purchases such as fuel and groceries.

2.Use 'bonus partners'

Most credit card providers have a range of retail partners with whom they offer bonus reward points. By using your credit card to spend with these bonus partners, you will also benefit from additional points in addition to the reward points you earn through your card provider.

Sometimes you can earn up to an additional four points per dollar spent by using your card with 'bonus partners'.

3.Pay off your balance regularly

One of the biggest mistakes that credit card rewards customers make is to maintain a balance on their reward card.

If you maintain a balance on your card there is a good chance that you will be paying interest at anything between 15% and 20%. You could therefore be paying hundreds of dollars every year in interest charges.

Whilst the value of your rewards may be good, it is probable that you will be paying far more in credit card interest than the value of the rewards you are earning. So, where possible, you should pay off your rewards card balance every month. If that is not possible, consider transferring your balance from your rewards card to a 'balance transfer' card before using your rewards card in future.

4.Consider upgrading your card

Most card providers offer a range of cards affiliated to their credit card rewards schemes. These typically include a standard card, a gold card and a platinum card.

Whilst you may find that you pay a higher annual fee for a gold or platinum card, they will often offer enhanced benefits. For example, most gold and platinum cards will award more points per dollar spent than a standard card (it is not unusual for platinum cards to award two points per dollar spent). You could double the points you earn just by upgrading your card.

5.Use 'points plus pay'

If you haven't collected enough points for your chosen reward, most providers will allow you to buy the item with a combination of reward points and cash. You can therefore benefit from your chosen reward by using a mixture of your points and paying the balance using your card.

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Ultimately keeping you credit card safe is you responsibility. Indeed, in a worst case scenario, if it can be proven you may have been negligent in keeping your credit card safe, you may find yourself liable for the cost of all transactions made fraudulent on your account should you lose the card. To help you avoid this, here are 5 basic credit card safety tips:

Never have more cards than you need

While it is always advisable that you have more than 1 credit card, in case it gets lost, you should never have more credit cards than you actually need to use. The principal reason why this is the case is because it becomes harder to keep a track of which cards you have and where you have kept them with the more cards you have.

Always keep a photocopy of your cards

How many times have you been asked what you card number is only to find yourself looking for your card to get the number? Now, what happens if you have a card stolen and no credit card statement to-hand? You have a problem! For this reason, it is always best practice to take photocopies of you credit cards to so that always know where to find the number should anything unfortunate happen to your card.

Always keep your receipts separate

Among the most important of the basic credit card safety tips you'll receive is never to keep your credit cards and credit card purchase receipts in the same place – because likely as not if you have lost your card, or if it is stolen, then you'll have lost or stolen the receipts as well. Now there is no way for you to vouch which transactions were yours and which where not – or, there is no way to tell which was the last genuine transaction you made.

Moreover, never keep a record of your PIN with your card, this is only asking for trouble!

Never give your account number to someone you don't know.If you are ever asked to give your credit card details to someone you don't know, or who as initiated a discussion with you (rather than the other way round) over the phone or via email, you should always refuse. Worst come to the worst, phone the card issuer and ask them if it is okay for you to divulge the information or phone the enquirer back. If the enquirer seems reluctant to accept this, you have to ask yourself why!

Never leave your account details open to public viewingCredit card processing typically requires that the customer's information is transferred about four times, which means there are four instances when someone could gain access to the cardholder's details.When a customer first sends the credit card information to you via your checkout or web based form. You are solely responsible for security as the internet merchant, at this stage in the credit card transaction process. Having a secure server and a valid security certificate with the https protocol will protect and encrypt private information you receive from customers.

You will want to be sure that the credit card transaction processing software you use for your business is secure by using a reputable processing company.As customer information is moved in and out of a database through the transaction process, the security must be top of the line- and this is ensured by choosing a solid company that offers encrypted software for this part of the process.

Finally, when customer credit card information is viewed or handled by you or your staff, it's important that you ensure security at this stage as well.

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