Choosing Credit Cards: Where To Start

Lack of choices is definitely not a problem when looking for a credit card. The problem is actually the reverse. There are so many credit cards offered by so many different banks and credit card companies that choosing the one with the best tv ad or nicest freebie often ends up the deciding factor for people who just don’t want to bother having to compare the overwhelming number of choices.

When choosing a credit card, however, it stands to reason that you really do not have to compare all the credit cards available in the market. To make narrowing down the choices an easier task, instead of comparing each credit card, it is a good idea to start by comparing the banks and credit card companies offering the credit cards. The reason for this is that by narrowing down your choices to credit cards offered by a bank or two, you will have had slashed the number of cards to compare drastically. And since the quality of products and services that a bank offers will reflect on the cards they offer, then you can be pretty certain that, barring several great credit cards from other banks that are overlooked, you will have a good number and variety of top credit cards to choose from.

When choosing a bank or credit card company, it might be very tempting to automatically go with your existing bank; after all you already know their quality of service and trust them enough with your other banking needs. While this might be a good idea in some cases, you should also keep in mind that you are looking specifically for the banks that offer the best credit cards. This means that if your bank’s strength is in its great savings or investment products, its focus might not be on credit cards. So be sure to compare banks according to their reputation for credit card services.

Do not rely solely on advertisements. Remember, advertisements are there to entice you. Instead, ask around. Ask people who actually own credit cards from different banks. Ask them about their experience with the bank. Did they get charged with any surprise fees? Do fees and interest rates change drastically and frequently? Ask about the level of service. How easy is it to get hold of them on the phone? How friendly and knowledgeable are their customer service representatives? Have they ever filed a dispute and what happened? Do they have an international presence?

Find out the things that would really matter once you have the credit card in your hands. Only when you have narrowed down the banks should you take the next step, which is to compare each card according to the introductory rates, APR, and extra features such as security, online credit cards services, and rewards system.