If you are looking for a new credit card, or changing from an existing card, you will be most interested in the card with the lowest APRs. It is the aim of most people searching for a card to find the lowest APR possible as this is going to provide you with the greatest savings.
The government has made it a legal requirement for all financial companies to provide the APR of any loans, mortgages and, of course, credit cards that they offer. It was made a legal requirement so that consumer cannot be mislead by financial companies who chose to hide fees in order to make their cards seem better than they actual are. The APR is the actual yearly rate you will be charged and is generally considered the single most important consideration when looking for a card.
Due to the competitive nature of the financial services market there are companies offering extremely low APRs and many that are offering 0% APR on balance transfers and new purchases for a limited period. After this introductory period is over the card's APR will then revert to a standard rate, usually between 15 and 20%. When finding credit cards with low APR, and faced with one offering 0% APR for their introductory offers, you will need to look carefully at the small print and work out whether it makes sense financially in the long-term as well as the short-term.
Other companies offer APRs in the range of 8 to 10%, which is way below the average of around 15%. The good thing about these cards is that the APR is valid for the life of the card and not just for an offer period. However, whether an application for one of these cards is successful or not will depend entirely on your credit rating. If you have a perfect credit rating and an above average income you should have no problem being accepted for one of these cards. Unfortunately if this isn't the case you are unlikely to be accepted. The majority of companies will accept your application (after all they still desire your custom) but will usually offer you a higher APR deal with one of their standard products. In some cases it is possible that there will be some room for negotiation.
To find credit cards with low APR you can look in the national newspapers, especially the weekend editions. National newspapers usually have a 'Best Buy' section providing table showing the best financial services on the market. Once again these lists include credit cards with the best deals listed at the top of the page. Remember you are looking for APRs and not any other figure. Unfortunately these tables may be biased in favour of a financial service companies with whom the newspaper itself has a relationship. If you wanted you could buy more than one paper to get a more even picture.
The best way to compare credit cards and to find credit cards with low APRs has to be online. There are literally hundreds of financial comparison sites out there with more appearing every day. It is a good idea to go for one by a published financial consultant as these often have professional looking website with sound, up-to-date advice. If the site is connected to one of the major media companies there can be some bias but you will be able to view 5 or 6 sites quite rapidly thus negating any favouritism.
Stephanie Hamilton, a writer for Money-Now.co.uk, has published several articles on the subject of personal finance and enjoys breaking down the jargon about low APR credit cards. If you're looking for further impartial advice about credit cards why not visit Money Made Clear.
Please Rate this Article
Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Credit Articles Via RSS!
