Three Tips For Receiving the Best Credit Card
One of the true facts of our times is that all credit cards are not created equal. The fees and interest rates and terms for credit cards vary so widely that comparing companies and cards can be a real feat. But you have to do it to get the best credit card for you.
Tip Number 1 – Start With Your Credit Report
Often the interest rates and terms for credit cards will be dependent on your credit rating. Getting the credit card is definitely dependent on your rating and the information on your credit report. So the first step in shopping for a credit card should be making sure that your credit report is as clean as you can make it.
Go to one of the services that allow you to pull your three credit reports for free and take a look. Try https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp. This is a central site where you can request your free credit report, once every twelve months. You will get information from all three of the consumer credit reporting companies. These three nationwide companies are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. This site will also allow you to submit almost all of the changes or discrepancies online.
It isn’t unusual to have erroneous information on the credit report and often you can send in the discrepancies through an online process. It will take about ten minutes online to get the reports, a few minutes to an hour or so to scan the reports and verify information, and up to thirty days for the incorrect information to come off.
Tip Number 2 – Compare and Contrast
Start with the basics. Is there an annual fee, and how much is it? What is the interest rate? If you are comparing introductory offers for credit cards, make sure and take that next step and compare how long the introductory offer is for, and what the terms and conditions are once the introductory term expires.
As you are comparing the basics, take a minute and consider how you will be using the card. For instance, if you travel a lot, does the card provide flight insurance or car insurance on rental cars? If you travel overseas, what are the fees to convert charged purchases from the currency of the country you are in, back into US currency? This fee can vary from 0% (Citibank Visa) to 3% and over.
Tip Number 3 – All Visas Are Not Alike
Nor are all MasterCards. These cards are offered by different banks, credit unions, etc and each offering is going to be different. For instance, my credit union Visa has a 9.9% interest rate that hasn’t varied in over five years. The bank down the street has a 13.9% interest rate, and an offer I received in the mail today for a new Visa Card…17%.
What does stay the same is American Express. They have different types of cards, but they all come from the one company and the interest rates and fees are set by product and your credit rating. The same with Discover Card. You get the Discover Brand Credit Cards from Discover, not a plethora of banks and other financial institutions.
So you can pretty much go to Discovercard.com and AmericanExpress.com and look at all their offerings and compare their cards features, rates and terms side by side. But to compare Visa’s and MasterCards you need to make a spread sheet and include where the Visa or MasterCard is coming from. There are online card comparisons that you can utilize for this. Do a search on the internet for credit card comparisons and see what you come up with.
Just a hint, these comparisons usually don’t include your local banks or credit unions. So don’t forget to go to their websites or call them for the information to compare services.
With all the new rules and regulations, it might pay you to compare any credit cards you already have to what is available now. And keep up. Do a comparison once a year to make sure you are still getting the best deal, best service and have the credit cards that work for you.
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