Credit Cards : Looking Beyond The Best Buys

Most people now recognise that the days of cheap and easy credit are over, and finance is becoming ever harder to come by. While this is most obvious in the drying up of the mortgage market, all sectors of credit are under the cosh, including of course credit cards.

For now at least, credit card issuers are no longer falling over themselves to secure new customers at almost any price, and the criteria they use for approving applications is getting tighter and tighter. But how does this affect people applying for credit cards?

Increased Rejection Rates

Firstly, it can be dangerous to apply for cards you have little hope of getting, as too many rejections on your credit file can count against future applications. The best cards on the market are now only really available to applicants with pristine credit ratings, and anyone with such stains on their records as late payments may struggle to be approved.

This means that many of us have to lower our sights a little if we want a new card. While the best balance transfer deal may be up to 15 months, a less impressive period of 9 or even 6 months might be a more realistic option, especially if you've previously had card applications turned down by other lenders.

All-Rounder Credit Cards

Likewise, a card offering a winning combination of low APR, long balance transfer deal and valuable rewards scheme is going to be able to pick and choose its customers, and those with less than perfect credit histories may be better advised to pick a feature that's important to them, and apply for a card offering a solid if not outstanding offer.

The best buy tables have always been aimed at attracting new customers, but with card companies no longer so eager to rack up exposure to consumer debts, the cards featured in them are perhaps only realistically available to the financial elite in our society.