subject: What To Look For When Shopping Around For The Best Credit Card [print this page] With dozens of comparison sites online, searching for the best credit card has never been easier. All you are left to do is to pick up the right one. As a customer you need to know all the options you have in order to find one that best suits your needs before you apply for it online. After all you don't want to find out when it's too late that you jumped for the wrong one.
There are many advantages of applying for a credit card online. The first is the ease of finding all the information out there on the various credit cards available. Your search results or charts will list what each card offers you, whether it is introductory APR, cash advances, balance transfers and fees or award programs or something else entirely. Be sure to select cards that meet a need you have so don't go for a free airline miles reward card if you only fly sporadically.
You can't underestimate the importance of your card's interest rate. You should take a careful look at it, particularly when you consider taking a card with an introductory low interest offer. Quite often, the rise in the interest rate after the first few months is quite steep and you could end up paying more than if you went for a card with a steady interest rate. However, the short-term benefits of such a card can be advantageous for those who plan to switch to a different issuer upon the termination of the offer.
By now, you should be familiar with what is known as Annual Percentage Rate, often abbreviated to APR. It is generally accepted way of calculating the interest charges for loans. It is a simple formula designed to tell you how much of the loan you would pay back in interest over the year, along with the loan repayments. Without going into many details, you can say that APR is the true cost of a loan, meaning: APR is always the rate of interest applied to the total of the original amount borrowed.
Last but not least, read any fine print of the conditions binding your application and the subsequent use of the card before finalising your online credit application. The best credit cards are those which don't cost you a lot of money in penalties and late repayment charges.
Knowing all the necessary information is the only way to stay protected against bad decisions when deciding what credit card to apply for. Work out what you need and then compare the offers that will meet your needs. By doing so, you should be able to get the best deal you can.
What To Look For When Shopping Around For The Best Credit Card
