Credit Information

How To Choose Your Credit Card Application


The articles and tips provided on this site are intended to help you access credit card offers that suit your lifestyle. By providing you with some basic information, we are confident that you will be able to easily identify which are the best credit cards for you. There are literally thousands of offers online which make deciding on what cards apply to your needs very challenging.

The best place to start when shopping around for credit cards is knowing your credit score - you are now entitled to a free credit report annually - order your 3-in-1 report to have a complete picture of how a credit card bank might view you. How your credit report looks will determine which credit cards you quality for.

Excellent Credit Reports Qualify For:

If you are among the elite few who have managed your credit cards and other loans responsibly the bank will reward you with added perks such as airline points cards or low interest credit cards. There are many card offers that will reward your good financial habits with low or no annual fees, some great reward points as well as introductory rates of 0% APR with ongoing low interest rates. Typically the interest free period is 6 months but in some cases will be awarded to you for a full year. Since your credit is in excellent standing the interest free period might not be of concern to you as you are probably the type that pays your credit card balance in full every month. If this is the case you should make your credit card comparisons based upon the rewards and extra perks offered by the bank - if you are paying your balance in full a 0% APR is really of no value to you.

Good Credit Reports Qualify For:

The good credit range is where the majority of people are with their personal finances. You will still qualify for a card offer that provides some great perks such as airline or gas rewards. You may also qualify for credit applications that have an attractive introductory rate, with some credit cards you may get a 0% APR for a few months however the ongoing rate will be a bit higher than what you could get with an excellent credit rating.

Before you select which credit card applications to review for yourself you, need to be honest with your spending and bill payment habits in order to make the best choice. If you know that you are likely to carry a rotating credit card balance, you should select your card based upon the ongoing APR. Having a low interest credit card is much more important than seeking a rewards program as the interest charges will likely offset the rewards. Another cost you need to take into account is the annual fee. Several banks will try to lure you into applying for a card that offers rewards and lower rates but they will charge a hefty annual fee.

Poor/Fair Credit Reports Qualify For:

If your credit is in bad shape, I recommend staying away from credit cards completely. It is likely that you need to learn how to manage your spending first and come up with strategies to get yourself back on track. The last thing your personal financial future needs is another credit card.

If you do legitimately need a Visa or MasterCard I highly recommend only prepaid credit cards. Why? Again, get your finances and money management in order otherwise you may end up in a worse situation than you already are in.

Another thing you should do is order a free credit report online to review the items reported by the bureaus. One way to get your credit report for free is to ask a company that has denied you credit to see the report they are using. It is your right to see this information. There is a chance that they could be viewing inaccurate information. Keep in mind that there are 3 credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) and the information may vary from bureau to bureau for a number of reasons including human error.

Colin McDougall is the editor of http://www.only-the-best-credit-cards-online.com - A website dedicated to helping consumers choose credit card applications online


MORE RESOURCES:

New York Times

Credit default swaps - no central exchange, no regulator and no ...
The Age, Australia - 18 hours ago
The Big Four banks are all exposed to the default of Lehman Brothers via credit default swaps (CDS) - a noxious bull-market derivative that threatens more ...
Lehman CDS auction fears allayed Independent
guarantee lifts confidence NEWS.com.au
Stormy Weather In The Credit Default Swap Market Resource Investor
The Market Oracle - Wall Street Journal
all 270 news articles


Seattle Post Intelligencer

Credit card market tightens
Tampabay.com, FL - 7 hours ago
By James Thorner, Times staff writer Will credit cards land the next punch to the gut of our bruised financial system? As home values fall and unemployment ...
Is the era of easy credit over for the long haul? The Associated Press
Are Credit Cards The Next Credit Crunch? Consumer Affairs
CreditCardCity.com Launches Credit Card Blog to Keep Consumers ... PR Web (press release)
BusinessWeek - PR Web (press release)
all 206 news articles


Companies Thaw Credit Freeze With PrimeRevenue Supply Chain ...
MarketWatch - 1 hour ago
Through Supply Chain Finance, Suppliers of all sizes can access financing based on the credit risk profile of the large Buyer. This serves to both increase ...


Vancouver Sun

FOREX-Dollar, yen fall as credit markets ease; euro rises
Reuters - 11 hours ago
"The whole idea that the dollar is benefiting from frozen credit markets is now starting to dissipate," said Brian Dolan, chief FX strategist, at Forex.com ...
New global crisis plans should thaw credit markets Reuters
FOREX-Euro, sterling rally as Europe pledges to rescue banks Reuters
all 29 news articles


Maxim: AmTech Upgrades, Credit Suisse Downgrades
Barron's Blogs - 16 hours ago
On the other hand, there’s Credit Suisse’s John Pitzer cut his rating on the stock to Neutral from Outperform. “While we had previously expected MXIM to ...
Downgrading Maxim Integrated Products to Neutral; lowering price ... RTT News
Maxim shares jump with rest of Wall Street Forbes
Maxim Integrated Products Expects Q1, Q2 Revenue Below Consensus ... RTT News
all 32 news articles


Taxi drivers not happy accepting credit cards
Chicago Tribune, United States - 34 minutes ago
AP The reason is that for starters, cab drivers pay up to a 5 percent fee to credit card companies for each transaction, which they can't pass on to ...


Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union Gets Approved for $500000 in ...
MarketWatch - 11 hours ago
Dale Schumacher, CEO of TBFCU said, "With headlines focused on the $700 billion bailout plan, we are one of the few credit unions in our community that was ...


SAFE Credit Union customers to test Intuit online program
Bizjournals.com, NC - 10 hours ago
SAFE Credit Union in Sacramento is being tapped as a test institution for a new online program by Intuit Inc. called FinanceWorks that allows the credit ...


Utility Shares Bounce, Impact From Credit Freeze Muted
CNNMoney.com - 7 hours ago
The state of the credit markets remained unclear, however, as many markets were closed for the Columbus Day holiday. The credit market freeze has led at ...


Boston Globe

Regulators to outline credit market rescue plan
Reuters - 8 hours ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - US banking regulators will outline on Tuesday a sweeping government response to the global credit crisis that will aim to "restore ...
Will Paulson's Bank Plan Finally Unfreeze Credit? TIME
Credit Crunch Videos Sky News
Paulson OKs Bank Stock Purchase Plan NPR
New York Times - BusinessWeek
all 2,543 news articles

Credit - Google News

Good Credit Loans | home | site map | School Bus Clothing | Florida Pool Heating
© 2006