Guide to Choosing the Best Credit Card

Recently Consumer Reports posted a guide to the best credit card offers. This was based on an extensive survey conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center and covered 36,298 readers' experiences with 61,944 credit cards. The survey points out the most important features of the credit cards that were most highly rated. Those looking for credit cards can be divided into two catagories: Those who pay their credit card balance off at the end of each month and those who intend to carry a balance from month to month. The most important thing to look for if you carry a balance from month to month is low interest rates and low fees. The fees to consider are annual fees, balance transfer fees and penalty fees. The best low interest credit cards do not charge for balance transfers and do not charge an annual fee or charge a very low annual fee. In addition the best low interest rate credit cards also charge liberal penalty fees for late payments. The best low interest credit cards selected by Consumer Reports readers were: Capital One Platinum Prestige Iberiabank Visa Classic Clear from American Express Some of these credit cards also offered 0% interest for up to one year as well as a very low "life of the balance" balance transfer interest rate. If you pay your credit card balance off at the end of each month interest rates may not be as important for you. In which case, it may be beneficial to choose a rewards credit card. Consumers chose the following Cash Back Rewards Credit Cards: Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards Chase Freedom Visa Discover More Blue Cash from American Express The following Gas Rewards Credit Cards were selected: Discover Open Road Chase PerfectCard MasterCard These are undoubtedly some of the best credit card options on the market, though the interest rates are not the lowest. These rewards credit card have moderate interest rates with low fees and outstanding rewards programs. Review, Compare and Apply for a Credit