Credit cards

Credit cards are a form of borrowing that can be either short term or long term. In the long term they can be extremely expensive as the cards generally charge higher rates than personal loans. In the short term, however, they can be extremely useful and provide a cheap form of borrowing if the balance is paid off in full on a monthly basis. Several credit card companies are currently offering interest free introductory promotional periods at the moment.

When looking for a new credit card you should consider:

• the annual fee. The majority of cards these days offer no annual fee as standard but others will charge you for just having the card therefore look for a card that offers you no annual fee
• if you intend to pay your bill in full each month you should look a card that offers the longest interest free period and/or perks that suit you
• if you do not pay off your debt in full then you should look for the card which charges the lowest rate of interest
• if you use your card to obtain foreign currency and to make purchases abroad then make sure the card you choose has these features and has a low exchange rate.

If you are looking to borrow money over the longer term do not use a credit card unless you intend to move the money between cards using the various interest free introductory terms offered instead it is wiser to take out a loan.

There are several competitive credit card companies who each change their introductory offers ona regular basis but one consistently good credit card is Cahoot