Applying for a Credit Card
Considering the variety of credit cards, rates and benefits
available at creditlendersonline.com, this page has information
that can help you determine which cards are right for you
and which banks and credit card companies are likely to
approve you.
We display credit card information from many major Banks
and issuers. You can choose between a variety of Visa, MasterCard,
American Express and Discover Cards.
When applying you should consider
the following:
Your credit level:
You may fall under the following 4 general categories:
- Excellent credit—you have no debt, or your debt is relatively small compared to your income (the higher the income the better of course) and you have no reports of late payments or missed payments on your credit reports.
- Good to average credit—your debt may be somewhat high compared to your income or you have 1 to several late payments but no failures to make payments.
The credit cards we recommend for above two categories (the better your credit rating the more likely you will get approved) are:
Chase Manhattan Bank Cards
Citibank
Bank One (FirstUSA)
American Express
Discover card
Bank of America
GM Card
Fifth Third Bank
Advanta (business card)
To find our how you are rated by the credit reporting agencies please visit the
credit reports page.
- Bad credit—credit reports include high dept, default on payments, and present or past bankruptcy.
There are banks which specialize in providing credit cards to people in this category.
Please visit our credit cards for people with poor credit to find the card that meets your needs.
- No Credit—no credit history, usually students and young people. There are credit cards which are geared for people in this
category. See the
student credit cards and
cards for people with poor or no credit category.
Your credit history, amount of debt you carry, and your
income is also important in determining the following:
- The type of card you get approved for (Platinum, Gold, Standard, Secured etc.)
- The credit limit you get approved for
- Ongoing Annual Percentage Rate (APR). Some cards have
a range of APR's and you'll qualify for an APR in that
range based on how you rate with them. Please read the
"terms and conditions" for each card to find out their
ongoing APR range. Some cards will offer one ongoing
APR only.
Best Credit Cards
We rate a credit card to be of top quality if it has the following:
- Low or 0% intro APR for 6 months, and ongoing APR below 14%.
- Low ongoing APR (below 10%)
- Attractive cashback or rewards program (including air miles and travel points) and ongoing APR below 14%
Additional considerations are:
- The card is issued by a major bank or credit card issuer which offers quality customer service 24 hours, 7 days a week.
- No annual fee
- Offers various consumer protection plans, free car insurance, travel insurance, shopping assurances and discount on merchandise.
- Offers extra benefits which are unique to the bank or issuer (American Express is an example)
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