There are literally tens of thousands of credit cards available on the market with 100’s of credit card providers operating around the world. Choosing a credit card needn’t be a hassle but it does require that we pay attention to certain key characteristics and make sure we fully evaluate an offer before buying. Of course, generally, low interest credit cards are the best option but there is a lot more depth to what actually constitutes low interest and a good deal. With that in mind we decided to take a brief look at how to evaluate credit card offers.

The Basics of Credit Card Offers
There are 3 basic factors you’ll want to consider when looking at credit card offers – interest rates, annual fees and balance transfer fees. These basically determine the value of a card and how much it will realistically cost you to use. Interest rates will exclusively determine the charges you will accrue on money owed to the credit card company and are represented as a percentage figure. Be warned that some credit cards will use a variable interest rate meaning you can pay more or less than you expect; usually the former. A lower interest rate is therefore generally preferable but it is often offset by fees in other areas. This means that you cannot evaluate credit cards simply in terms of interest rates.

Annual fees are often used on cards and can offset low interest rates and low balance transfer charges. An annual fee is often simply added to your monthly bill so if you aren’t aware of it then you can find it accrues further interest charges. Generally speaking annual fees can be avoided but they are sometimes attractive thanks to the additional benefits they offer.

Balance transfer fees are the third most important factor to consider when evaluating credit cards as they can affect you considerably depending on how you use the card. If you will be using the card to transfer money into your back account or into other bank accounts (such as when paying a bill) then you may be subject to balance transfer fees. Sometimes these can be quite high so if you regularly intend to use your card for these kind of transactions then you’ll want a card with no balance transfer fees.

Credit Card Offer Fine Print
The fine print is the bane of many of our existences but with credit cards we particularly need to pay attention to it. There are lots of individual points to consider with the most important being – how and when you are charged, whether the issuer has the right to change your payment dates, whether your issuer has the right to change the payment terms, whether they can change the interest rates and whether the terms presented our introductory only; many companies offer very good introductory rates and offers that over time become less beneficial causing you too be penalised. When you are analysing a credit card offer you will want to pay attention to all of these points to ensure that you get the best deal possible and don’t find yourself inadvertently falling into debt.