Low APR Credit Card UK - Can I Get One

Finding a low apr credit card UK would be impossible without using the net. In fact most of the best deals are sourced online and it is not uncommon for savvy borrowers to find a competitive rate and call their existing credit card company to get a better rate!

The fact is most people don't know how to squeeze competitive rates from their card companies. Essentially to do this you should remember that your bank or credit card company does not want to lose your business so rather than lose it they will often come up with a more competitive rate.

If you go down this route the banks or credit card companies will usually provide you with a new card with a balance transfer facility - thus effectively lowering your apr.


What if my credit rating is bad?

Well, if that's the case it gets a little bit more complicated if your credit rating is bad. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, the lower the credit rating the higher the risk to the lending company and therefore the higher the cost of the money i.e. the apr. If you have defaulted on payments of a credit card or you have had CCJs you will be very hard pressed to get a credit card company that will either give you a low or even 0% apr.

If your credit rating is bad there are several options to improve your credit standing. A fairly recent introduction into the uk is the 'prepaid' credit card. Having this card means that your spending is 'capped' but gives you the benefit of having an internationally recognised credit card that carries the Visa or MasterCard symbol. The problem with this type of solution is that it's quite expensive - more so than a 'normal' card.

What you have to be aware of is that a poor credit history in the U.K. will be reflected in your credit record for 6 years - so the moral is in the U.K. that it is best not to get a bad credit record in the first place!


My Credit is good - What Now?

The lowest apr you can get is 0% apr. You will find that there are plenty of deals to be had. You don't have to look far to see all the offers on TV or the junk mail that comes through offering all these 'teaser' deals (i.e. 0% apr for x months for balance transfers). The teasers are often promising low to ) 0% apr for a limited period but if you look at the fine print you will see that most charge a balance transfer fee of anywhere between 1% and 3% of the transfer amount. It doesn't seem much of a low apr to me!!


Low apr and current market conditions!

You may wonder what this has to do with getting a low apr credit card. Well, in the current credit squeeze conditions a lot of card applicants with a good credit record are being refused. It seems that the credit card companies are now 're-pricing' debtor risk which means that these low apr offers are 'drying up' or are only being processed when the potential borrower does not have an existing high level of credit card debt. So, just because you have a good credit record doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to be able to get a low apr credit card UK.
There are many benefits to be received by getting as much unbiased information as you can on credit cards.

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