A credit card in United Kingdom is revolving credit. You can spend, repay and spend again. The cheap path is to clear the statement every month. The expensive path is to revolve a balance at the full purchase APR.
Three numbers that actually matter
- Annual fee — what you pay for the card even if you never revolve.
- Purchase APR — what you pay if a balance sits past the due date.
- Cash-advance and foreign-use costs — often much higher than purchases.
Rewards only beat a fee if you use the rewards and you do not revolve. An introductory period ends; price the card on the rate that follows.
When a loan wins
If the balance will take more than a few months to clear, an instalment on personal loans is often cheaper than revolving. Use the loan calculator, then compare cards or match. Issuers here are licensed in United Kingdom under the FCA and the PRA.
Written for readers in United Kingdom. Bankmatch is paid by providers and never by readers; that does not change what we write.