Compare Credit Cards

Many people don't even bother to compare credit card rates before they decide to sign up for one. What about people who do but don't really take what they know into consideration?

Well, if you fall within one of these categories, you should ask yourself why you choose to go in that direction because, if you actually do the maths, you'll discover that you lose a whole lot of money just paying off your credit card interest.

So, why not do some research and compare credit card rates before you sign up?

Credit card rates vary from country to country, and also depend on banks. For example, if you live in places like the United States, you'd know that these rates range from 7 to 39%, depending on the bank.

On the other hand, there are a few other countries who also share a similar range of interest rates. More often than not, the choice of credit card depends on customers themselves; which leaves you with all the room to choose which one will work best for you.

So, for the purpose of this article, only credit card rates for banks in South Africa will be compared. You will get, first hand, a comprehensive summary of credit card rates before you decide which to sign up for.

In 2007, Virgin Money introduced its line of MasterCard credit cards which charged customers no annual fees, no transaction fees, and no fees to swipe or use their internet website. With Virgin Money's MasterCard, customers get: a credit balance that earns an interest at a rate of 9% per annum. What this means is, at the end of each month, customers have 25 days to settle their outstanding debt, after which they will be charged about 20% p.a. interest. These interest rates usually move with the South African Reserve Bank's repo rate.

On the other hand, as at time of writing, Nedcor dropped its interest rate on credit card debt from 32.5% to 31.5% a year. While First National Bank reduced its interest rate charged on credit card debt by 1% which leaves its gold card interest rate at 29.5% and the ordinary credit card at 31%. Furthermore, Barclaycard Visa Credit Card and Barclaycard Prime Visa Credit Card charge between 13.9 to 17.5% and 12.4 to 17.5% respectively per annum.

Also, with Barclaycard, customers get up to 57 days' interest-free credit, access to a budget facility that allows you to repay purchases in instalments of 6, 12, 18, 24, 36 or 48 months, ATM withdrawals, deposits, balance enquiries and mini statements, and many more.

Based on these figures, it can well be concluded that Barclaycard offers the best interest rate on credit cards for their customers but, there’s still the need to look for further options before deciding.