Some of the other types of credit cards that can be compared are business credit cards, cashback rewards, airline miles, sports fans credit cards, charity credit cards, student credit cards, low credit score credit cards and long term balance transfer credit cards.

Once you find the type of credit card you want they will also tell you about the interest rate; if it is an introductory rate, when the introductory rate ends, what the APR will go up to and if there is an annual fee associated with the credit card. The sites can also explain the qualifications that have to be met to apply for the credit card. Another great service on some sites is the ability to know before you apply if you have a chance of being accepted.

For those Brits that have become X pats in Spain you can compare credit cards on such Spanish sites as Tarjetas De Credito.

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The rates are part of a broader policy of risk based pricing. This means that poorer people and the ones in debt will be facing higher interest rates on their credit cards. People that are more well to do will generally see a lower interest rate on their credit card purchases.

Statistics are showing that a poorer individual borrowing from £1000 to £3000 may have an interest rate of more than twenty per cent. A more well off person with a better income might only be paying a fifteen per cent interest rate on the same amount of money.

The higher interest rates on credit cards may do the very thing that the banks are afraid of: – push the credit card holders into default. The six month freeze on interest rates for certain bank’s customers ended in June and now the banks are raising the rates again.

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“Protecting consumers from costly credit card practices that drain their wallets should always be a priority,” said the Center for Responsible Lending President Michael Calhoun. “But with a weak economy is showing signs of improvement, the consumer should be able to continue the hard-earned money now and not a half years from now.”

The new credit card rules of the Federal Reserve Board, the Office to Monitor savings and credit of the National Union Administration will not take effect until July 1, 2010. And, while better than the status quo, the rules still allow credit card issuers capriciously imposing higher interest rates and hidden costs. Regulators and legislators should do more to curb these practices in the coming new year.

In a separate action, the Fed today also asked to comment on two alternative proposals that are intended to better protect consumers against abuse in the rates of unauthorized overdraft.

The best of the two alternatives that require banks to obtain permission from customers before charging the overdraft fees on some ATM and debit card transactions. While the broader protection would still be needed, but this alternative is beginning to give consumers a real choice about when and how they are accused of short-term loan. The other alternative would not change current practice.

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