A GuiIMAG1069de for Credit Cards

Reestablishing your credit can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be! Believe it or not, one of the most effective—and efficient—ways to rebuild your credit is to reenter the credit world. Although you may be thinking, “Credit cards are what got me into this mess in the first place,” opening up a new credit card can also pull you out of it, and put you on the right path to developing a positive credit history.

The question that remains, then, is, “Which credit card should I choose?” The best options are the credit cards that offer the most benefits/rewards, with no annual fee, and a low annual percentage rate (APR). We did some research for you, and we’ve provided a breakdown of our top-choices in the list below.

Cash Back

Cards that offer cash back rewards usually do so by contributing a set percentage of cash back on all purchases, or purchases made at specific places such as, a gas station or restaurant.  If you’re interested in opening up a card for this purpose then some good choices would be:

  • Citi Double Cash Card: This card has no annual fee and a 0% APR on purchases and balances transfers for up to 15 months. Not only does it offer 2% on all purchases, but it also gives you your credit score on each statement which is a good way to ensure you stay on track and don’t start falling behind!
  • Discover It: This card has no annual fee and a 0% APR on purchases and transfers for up to 12 months. It offers 5% back in cash on certain interchanging categories and 1% back on all other purchases (if you’re big on online shopping this would probably be a great choice for you).

Balance Transfers

If you’ve found yourself carrying a balance on a credit card that you know you won’t be able to pay off any time soon then you of course would want to try avoiding getting charged interest each month. A way to prevent this could be to transfer over your balance to a different card; this is essentially to help you get caught up and completely clear your balance(s). When opening a card with the intent to transfer over a balance you would want to try your best to avoid any balance transfer fees; some credit cards that offer this are:

  • Chase Slate: This card doesn’t charge anything to transfer over a balance as long as it’s done within the first two months from initial sign up. There is also no annual fee and it allows up to 15 months to pay off your balance with a 0% APR.
  • Digital Credit Union Visa Platinum: This card has a $0 balance transfer fee and no annual fee. It offers a borrowing rate of 8.5%, which is less than half of what the average borrowing rate usually is. However, when signing up you will be required to open a savings account with a minimum of a $5 deposit and you’ll need to become a member of an associated nonprofit organization.

Travel

If you think of yourself to be a frequent traveler then you would want a card that offers rewards you could make the most of. For instance, some cards offer mile rewards based on how much you spend while others may offer hotel rewards that could get you discounted prices for things such as, nightly stays, parking, dinner(s) etc. Some cards we feel that offer several traveler rewards perks would be:

  • Barclaycard Arrival World: The APR on this card ranges between 16%-24%. One of the biggest perks is this card has no annual fee (usually travel cards require an annual fee after the first year of enrollment). The Barclaycard offers two miles for every $1 spent on travel and dining and one mile for every $1 spent on anything else. There’s also a 5% bonus when you redeem miles for travel spending.
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred: This card has a 16% APR and a $95 annual fee after the first year. When signing up you get the opportunity to earn 40,000 points if you spend up to $4,000 in the first three months. Every $1 spent on travel and dining earns you two points and each $1 spent on anything else earns you one point. This card also offers 20% off travel when you redeem your points for things such as, air fair or car rentals.

Students

Many parents of college students are usually nervous when it comes to their child entering into the credit world; it holds a lot of responsibility and sometimes students don’t understand how something as simple as one missed payment can have a vast impact on their credit. Luckily, however, there are credit cards out there that can help students, or anyone for that matter, manage their cards responsibility.

  • Northwest FCU FirstCard: This card has an APR of 10%, no annual fee, and no balance transfer fee. The good thing about this card is its $1,000 credit limit; this can help individuals avoid getting themselves into any major debt trouble.
  • Discover It Chrome for Students: This card has a 0% APR for the first six months and afterwards it ranges between 13-22%. There is a 2% cash back reward on up to $1,000 spent at certain places and a 1% cash back reward on everything else. There is also a $20 cash back reward at the end of each school year if you receive a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Although it may seem that credit cards offer nothing but stress and financial struggles, they do offer a helping hand when it comes to reestablishing your credit. As seen, there are cards that offer plenty of benefits and rewards, unfortunately though, these tend to go overlooked. It’s time to find the card best suited for you and utilize all that it offers; if they’ve already taken from you then why not at least obtain from them what you’re entitled to!

Although it may seem that credit cards offer nothing but stress and financial struggles, they do offer a helping hand when it comes to reestablishing your credit. We’re always happy to discuss your credit card debt, and/or how to effectively rebuild your credit through the use of credit cards, and other efficient methods, either over the phone or in our office during a free consultation!