Choosing A Credit Card

The UK credit card market has a wide variety of cards available so here are our tips on choosing a credit card to suit your needs.

If you do not pay off the full amount every month and wish to transfer a balance, then look for a new credit card with an introductory offer on balance transfers. There are a large number of balance transfer credit cards now available that offer 0% interest on balance transfers for 12, or up to 20 months. There will be a balance transfer fee to pay on any balance transferred, but the interest savings over the 12 months or more still make this worthwhile.

If you do not pay off the full amount every month and wish to make a large purchase, then look for a purchases credit card with an introductory offer on purchases. There are an increasing number of credit cards available that offer 0% interest on purchases for 12 to 15 months, allowing you to pay for a holiday etc over that period.

We do not recommend that you use the same credit card to transfer a balance and make purchases on at the same time, as the way the credit card companies allocate your repayments may not always be what you expect them to do and could cost you money.

If you do pay off the full amount every month then a rewards credit card which offers either cash back or points for every pound you spend using the card, will allow you to collect rewards from your use of the card.

You may also wish to consider an airline credit card offering airmiles or a bad credit credit card which is designed to rebuild the credit rating of people who have had credit problems in the past.