UK Credit Cards – So many to choose from  The UK Credit Card market is in overdrive, special offers, incentives, fringe benefits, reward schemes and powerful marketing techniques all seem to lead to confusion when it comes to choosing the best UK Credit Card deal for yourself. In this section we hope to provide you with a brief overview of the offers currently available and hopefully give you an idea of what kind of UK Credit Card offer is best for you.
Reward Schemes
These schemes offer points which can be redeemed at a later stage for goods from specific retail outlets, airmiles or discounts at other retail outlets. Some cards offer automatic discounts when shopping with specific retailers. It is our opinion that to derive benefit from having a reward card that you would have to be spending a substantial amount of money on your card AND clearing your bill every month in order to reap the tangible benefit of a considerable reward for your custom. Ironically the customers who would most benefit from using this type of card would be affluent already and may see the reward as not much to work towards anyway. Other people likely to benefit from a reward scheme like this would be a company director/salesperson who operated with large expenses every month and cleared the balance EVERY month.
Cashback Credit Cards
Similar to reward schemes but offer cash in lieu of other rewards, 2% seems to be what is offered but with strict conditions applied. Payment terms must be adhered to and a minimum monthly spend is required. Again affluent high spenders will reap the rewards of this type of card.
0% Purchase Credit Cards
 Fairly straightforward this one, for a fixed period (usually six months) you can make purchases with your card and not be charged any interest until the ‘honeymoon’ period is over. You will still have to make minimum payments but will not accrue interest. It is worth finding out what interest rate you will be charged when your interest free period lapses. We would recommend this type of card to anyone who is looking to make a large purchase but wants to spread the cost interest free for six months.
0% balance transfers
 With this deal you can transfer your outstanding credit card balance to a new provider and for a fixed period (usually six to nine months) you will not be charged interest. However anything else you spend on the card will attract interest until you have cleared the transferred balance from your previous card. These balance transfer cards are particularly suited to anyone who has a large outstanding balance which they cannot afford to pay. Again it would be prudent to examine the interest rate you would be charged if and when it is applicable.
We hope that this brief overview of the UK Credit Card market will assist you in selecting the best deal for you.
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