Redirecting Your Focus When You Compare Credit Cards

If you are interested in learning about interest rates, finance charges, balance computations, credit statements or anything about credit cards so that you can compare credit cards to judge which will be the best one to get for your needs, you may be going about it the wrong way.
By law, credit card providers have to be transparent and need to disclose any and all information about their lending policies, but this information is not always encroached in terms that an ordinary person will understand. In fact most credit card holders probably would not be able to explain how interest is computed, and most credit card companies will explain this in ways that will leave more questions than it answered.
When you compare credit cards, most companies will tell you about giving you the best interest rates, bit it will most likely be in very technical terms that are rarely very helpful to the average Joe. While you are assured that the credit card provider will not do anything illegal, it does not mean that they will not do everything they can to take advantage of you within the legal limits. Besides, interest rates are only applicable if a borrower is unable to pay-off the entire amount due from the latest statement's payment due date, and in most cases this can be avoided by learning those what those terms mean and a few others. So, instead of spending all that time to compare credit cards providers and offers, take time to learn these first:
1. The Cut-off Date: a credit card will usually give you 30 days to make purchases and cash advances, and what will appear in your card statement as the "amount due" will be these purchases and advances within that period. If you want to buy something and not pay it for at least another month, make the purchase on the date nearest after the cut-off date. (If the cut off is on the 15th, make a purchase on the 16th or near that date.)
2. Payment Due Date- if you pay on or before this date the full "amount due", your debt will not earn interest. This usually falls 20 to 28 days after your cut-off date. (If it falls on the 15th of June, the due date may be anywhere from August 5 to august 14.) There are also some credit card companies that set a different due date for the minimum payment, and the payment of the full amount due.
3. Minimum Payment - the least amount that you could pay, which is often 1 or 2 % of the principal (the total amount due), and finance charges. Just because this is the lowest you can pay, really doesn't mean that this is all you should pay.
In the end, when you compare credit cards, the best offer that you could get would be from a provider that has the least amount of fine print that you need to read, and the one that can explain the terms and conditions of the credit they have extended to you in ways that even a five year old will understand.