As with many things in life, suiting the best credit cards to use is largely a question of horses for courses – which type you choose will depend mainly on just how you intend to use it and on your spending and repayment habits. Fortunately – despite the general scarcity these days of easy credit – there is still plenty of choice when it comes to choosing a credit card and finding just the one to suit your own needs and preferences.
For example, if you are rigorously disciplined and ensure that any spending balance is paid off at the end of the month it is due, then no interest will be charged and your use of a credit card gains ready access to interest-free credit. Although you will want to avoid the relatively few cards that charge a registration or monthly administration fee, the choice of card will be very wide, since it could include even those which apply a higher than average rate of interest on outstanding balances. Including the latter would allow the choice of those cards offering “rewards” for, or cash-back upon, purchases made with the card.
On the other hand, you might be the kind of card user who welcomes the opportunity of ongoing credit and are prepared to pay monthly interest charges on it. In that case, of course, the rate of interest will affect the card you choose. Competition is as keen as ever among the many providers, so credit cards offering the most competitive rates of interest will be the ones to suit you best. Naturally, you will still want to avoid adding to the cost of holding such credit cards by paying a registration or administration fee and it will be necessary to examine carefully whether any offers of rewards or cash-back come only with a higher rate of interest.
For credit card users who have already accumulated a significant balance of credit debt, it is still possible to take advantage of the 0% interest free deals on balance transfers. Once again, this demonstrates providers’ eagerness to attract new customers by offering to take on existing debit balances on which no interest is charged for an introductory period of up to a year or so. Clearly, this represents an attractive option and an opportunity during which the outstanding debt can be tackled without the continuing accumulation of interest. There are a number of things to take into account when considering such a transfer, however, and the first will be the cost of any balance transfer fee itself. It will also be important to make a careful note of the expiry date of the interest-free period and the rate of interest that will apply once this has passed. If it reverts to a less than attractive rate, of course, it might be necessary to start the whole process all over again and seek out a further balance transfer – at the prevailing transfer fee at that time.
Some credit cards will offer not only a zero rate of interest on balance transfers but also on any purchases made during the initial introductory period. These will be attractive to both existing and new card holders alike, though once again, it will be important to keep a careful eye on the expiry date of the offer, when the provider’s standard rate of interest will start to apply.
