10/24/2022
In this information age, taking the plunge and applying for a credit card without comparing other options reveals poor financial judgment. However, this behavior should not surprise us because many people prefer to jump the gun before doing their research.
Since we at Busconómico want to help you make an informed decision, we will give you our suggestions for evaluating different credit cards.
What should you consider when choosing a credit card?
Before getting into the subject, we invite you to better evaluate the reasons why you want to compare between several credit cards. Depending on your score, it is possible to access 500 or more credit card offers in the United States.
- Annuity: $ 0
- Credit limit: $ 150
- APR: 17.49%
- Annuity: $ 0
- Credit limit: Ask
- APR: 19.49%
- Annuity: $ 0
- Credit limit: Ask
- APR: 22.49%
- Annuity: Ask
- Credit limit: Ask
- APR: 20.24%
- Annuity: Ask
- Credit limit: Ask
With this in mind, you need to prioritize what exactly you need a credit card for based on your current financial situation. While motivations vary from person to person, the most common categories are:
- Shopping. The mother of all reasons is to have financing to spend. Although you have to know how to handle a credit card intelligently because of its high interest rates, the possibility of getting more things on credit is what seduces people the most.
- Rewards. There is something for everyone, from VIP services when traveling, points to obtain cash and gifts, miles for each purchase, to welcome bonuses. They are popular for building store loyalty, receiving discounts on gasoline and getting a percentage of cashback.
- Balance transfer. These are usually 0% APR for 12-18 months that you can use to consolidate debts from other credit cards that you pay at a higher interest rate. You can get banks that do or do not charge you to do this procedure.
Tools to compare different credit cards
Once you have established your reasons for getting a new credit card, you can move on to the must-have aspects of your evaluation. If you have a roadmap of what should prevail in your search, it will be easier to establish a list of your 5 most attractive options.
When it comes to comparison, you have several tools at your disposal:
Schumer Box
This sort of table, named after the senator who promoted its application, is used to evaluate the interest rates of the cards available on the market.
It is a table that banks and credit card issuers are required by law to publish so that consumers know the basics about the product they are looking for or are interested in contracting.
All credit cards must have a section or link to their respective Schumer Box. You can usually find it on the product description page or on the designated online application site.
It may be a link or a box indicating: "Terms and Conditions", "Rates and Fees", "Pricing and Terms" or other similar descriptions.
What you will find in this summary box looks like this:
- Annual fee.
- Annual Percentage Rate (APR) for purchases.
- APR for transfers.
- APR for cash advances.
- Penalty APR for late payment.
- APR charged if balance is maintained.
- Time of APR percentage 0 for balance transfer or purchases (if applicable).
- Other fees and charges, such as late payment, foreign transfer, cash advance and more.
In the United States, you can get cards whose APR ranges from 9% to 25%, depending on the nature of the product.
The highest interest rates are reserved for secured credit cards and for those with poor or fair credit scores. When your score is not the best, banks will charge you more for the risk they assume.
Online Comparators
One of the reasons you can't justify claiming that you don't have enough information or that these investigations take too long is the resources on the Internet.
Financial search engines and comparators such as Busconómico have become the standard for having up-to-date data on a wide variety of banking products, including credit cards, at your fingertips in seconds.
The usefulness of these tools makes it easy for you to consult the financial institutions that interest you the most. In addition to giving you specific reviews on their most valued instruments, you can visit official pages if you want more information, like Capital One or Discover cards.
This way you can have a detailed record of each credit card, review expert comparisons and draw your own conclusions.
Final recommendation
When it comes to comparing various credit cards, you can't miss the purpose of having one, to know how your credit score is and the options that best fit your profile. These keys will give you a clear direction on which banking products are best for you and how to make an objective choice.
Whether you want a credit card for emergencies, benefits or insurance, you need to understand which one can help you the most with your personal finances. And if you still have doubts, you can always consult our experts who will be happy to advise you.
Español: Cómo comparar entre tarjetas de crédito