Best Credit Cards To Get Now

After a nearly apocalyptic pull-back in the credit card market, with credit lines slashed to the quick and new credit being denied, banks have decided to let a trickle flow out again. To entice the cream of the credit score crop, they’re dangling a new batch of incentives. Via the Richmond Times-Dispatch, here’s some of the best deals out there right now on credit cards:

FOR FLYERS
British Airways Visa Signature Card: 50,000 bonus miles after first purchase, +50,000 more if you spend $2,500 in the first three months, $95 annual fee

FOR THE CASH IS KING SET
Chase Freedom Visa: $150 bonus after $500 in purchases in the first three months

FOR AN ONGOING STREAM OF CASHBACKS
Bank of America’s Accelerated Cash Rewards American Express card: no annual fee, 1.25% back on all purchases

FOR BALANCE TRANSFERS
Citi Diamond Preferred Card and Platinum Select MasterCard: 0% APR on purchases and transfers for 21 months, 3% initial balance transfer fee

FOR THOSE TRYING TO BUILD CREDIT
Secured Card from HSBC Orchard Bank – $200 minimum initial deposit, 7.9% APR, $35 annual fee after first year, but it reports to all three big credit bureaus every month. Your credit limit is determined by how much you deposit. Pay it off on time and you’ll start working your credit history up.

I’m personally not a fan of rewards cards except for just basic cashback because otherwise it turns using a credit card into a game and encourages more spending (because otherwise would credit card companies do it??). So if you do go for one of these or any other card, make sure you read your terms and conditions carefully and know what you’re going into. Avoid charging more than what you can pay off in a month. That interest adding up could eat away or even surpass the rewards or savings that drew you to the card in the first place.

Credit card marketers sweetening the pot [Richmond Times-Dispatch via Lowcards]

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