by S. Graveson

Created on: August 30, 2010

So the credit markets are finally recovering and people are finally able to get credit once again with out too much of a battle. Although the recovery is a long way from being complete people are already looking for the best offers on credit cards. 0% APR offers are appearing to try and draw customers in but the wide ranging offers of cards in the UK means that it's easy to be confused as to which is the best available. Though which are the best and which cards actually suit what kind of customers the best?

For customers credit cards are generally used in 2 ways, balance transfers, to move an expensive balance from one card to a cheaper one or purchases. Depending on how you use the cards makes the decision on what sort of an offer your wanting vital. However some of the best offers actually cover both.

The Barclaycard Platinum Purchase and the Virgin 12/12 both offer identical introductory offers. 12 months interest free offers on both purchases and balance transfers. This makes them a great card if you have a high balance you need to transfer or you just want to have a card to spread the price of a purchase. Though the Barclaycard will need a better credit score for customers to be accept it does offer a lower typical APR (16.9% instead of 18.9%) and a slightly cheaper balance transfer fee (2.9% instead of 2.98%). Both these cards offer very unique rewards with the Barclaycard freedom scheme and discounts off Virgin products being available to customers. Obviously if you use Virgin for holidays the card could easily come into it's own just on that.

The two above are the best all round cards though the Tesco Clubcard Credit Card offers the best solely for purchases offering 13 months 0% interest on purchases as well as 9 months 0% interest on the balance transfers. This allows you to pay back your first purchases over the space of 13 months which can allow you more freedom then most other credit cards. The card also offers bonuses towards Tesco club card points which can be very beneficial to customers using the card.

Other cards that are although worth a look at are the AA card which offers 9 months interest free on balance transfer and 12 months on purchases allowing customers a decent amount of time but not the best. It also offers AA reward points which can be useful if your a heavy car user and are multiplied if you use the card regularly on car based products. Whilst the Halifax and Bank of Scotland “All in One” cards offer 10 months interest free on both transfer balances and purchases.

Other cards have other good offers that are worth looking at. Such as the Saga Platinum card for example only offers 9 months interest free on both purchases and transfer balances but has a low typical APR and is only available to customers over the age of 50.

Though with every card a customer must read their terms and conditions, often offers will be withdrawn if a customer misses a monthly payment so make sure you make all payments when they are due. Also the offers can be withdrawn in some cases if the customer goes over their limit so they should always keep an eye on their statements.

Learn more about this author, S. Graveson.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.