Marcus Richards
(Translation for kredittkort: credit card)
Applicants have a vast array of credit cards to select from nowadays, whether your credit is in excellent shape, or you have a less-than-favorable score. Cards are available for every individual in any scenario. Still, the choices being so broad makes the decision overwhelming.
Plus, it’s essential to know what you’re looking for with an idea of which merchant you want to apply to, so you don’t make too many applications damaging your credit.
Will the annual fee be worth the savings you receive in interest, and will you get perks when your credit is on the low end of the spectrum? When researching a kredittkort or credit card that will be most suitable for your financial circumstance, these are questions you need to pose.
It is possible to prequalify with a company for only a soft credit pull, but when you make a formal application, that will result in hard pulls. That means you want to be relatively sure you have what it takes to get approval before taking that step.
How can you do that? Let’s look at a few steps meant to help you determine which card will be ideal for your objectives.
Steps To Find A Credit Card Suited For Your Objectives
A credit card is an essential financial tool for running an efficient lifestyle. It’s the primary resource for building a credit profile. Credit defines us through virtually every life circumstance, whether presenting to a landlord, mortgage broker, educational institution, auto lender, insurance carrier, employer, and on.
Many people have the common misperception that by avoiding credit card debt, they present a better risk in these varied situations.
Instead, lenders, landlords, and even employers have nothing to base their trust on where a credit history of paying with credit cards on time and consistently will show a timeline of responsibility.
Whether you have stellar credit with offers from premium card issuers for products with top-of-the-line rewards, discounts, and perks or no offers with a need to search for available options for someone with below-average credit, there are cards on the market for everyone.
How can you navigate the volumes to find the one that will work according to your spending habits and meet your financial objectives? These steps will get you on the right path.
- Pull your credit to get your score
The premium credit cards with the top rewards will require, at minimum good credit. Cards are available for individuals with average or below and even for people without a history. The first step is to pull your credit to see where your credit stands.
The last thing you want to do is simply start applying to see if you can get approvals for any cards. Every time you apply for a card, your credit report will take a hard hit, dropping the score a few points and staying on the history for roughly two years.
When there are much hard credit pulls within a brief period, you’ll likely have difficulty getting approval for loans or credit for a while.
What you can do if you see a poor score is to pay down your debt and work to get the rating boosted by paying bills on time and regularly for some time before applying for a card. It will take some time to appear responsible, roughly six months, but that will then lead you to better cards.
If you don’t have a history or have a very limited one, you will probably need to try for a secured card at first. These issuers take deposits from clients that will serve as the credit limit.
You can borrow up to that amount. The goal, however, is to keep your balance small and pay it off each month to build a positive credit history.
- What are your financial objectives
Once you know the sort of cards you can apply for, you can become selective in that group. The goal will be to determine how the card needs to function for you. Perhaps you need to establish credit, a score. Or you may want to transfer and pay off higher-interest debt.
In these scenarios, you would either want a secured card (again) or need a balance transfer card.
1. The secured credit card
As mentioned, with a secured credit card, the goal is to build a credit score. These are for individuals who have no credit or a very limited history. You want to start slowly with a secured card by making low-balance purchases the first few months and quickly pay them off to get used to the premise.
Usually, these credit limits are relatively small, roughly 300, and deposited by the cardholder as security to the issuer that repayments will be made. Even after the first few months of relatively tiny purchases, you’ll want to keep balances reasonable and manageable to fit with standard monthly expenditures.
You don’t want to carry balances and incur interest. The credit card company is paying attention to whether you can maintain the balance. After probably a year or so of good financial habits, the cardholder will likely offer either a higher credit limit or possibly an unsecured card. Go to https://www.investopedia.com/applying-for-a-credit-card-your-odds-of-being-approved-4684901/ for details on the odds of loan approval.
2. The balance transfer card
When your goal is to pay off debt, the balance transfer card is offered usually with a 0 percent introductory period of roughly 12 months. These are typically reserved for applicants with good to excellent credit.
They will transfer the balances on their high-interest credit cards to this promotional card in an effort to get the balance paid in full with no interest by the introductory deadline. After that deadline, standard interest will accrue.
While you might not have the credit score to get the no-interest option, there are lower-interest options to get rid of the high-interest balances and then sort of work at the balance bit by bit until it’s paid.
Final Thought
When looking for the premium rewards, perks, and discounts among the top cards on the market, it requires careful consideration in balancing where the annual fee might detract from a lower interest rate or if a zero annual fee is being accounted for in either a higher interest rate or other fees and charges.
Once you decide what’s most important in your financial situation and what features could help you meet personal objectives, the decision will be relatively straightforward.
