What is a good APR for a first credit card?

One of the best introductory credit cards is the Capital One Platinum Credit Card because it has a $0 annual fee and reports account info monthly to the 3 major credit bureaus. Generally, introductory credit cards are meant for beginners, offering good approval odds to people with limited or no credit history.… read full answer

There are several types of introductory credit cards, including secured credit cards, student credit cards, and other unsecured credit cards for people with limited credit. Student cards tend to have the best terms, while secured cards give the best approval odds.

Best introductory credit cards:

The best introductory credit cards can provide low fees, rewards, and a clear path to a higher credit score. But they’re far from the best credit card offers on the market. If you use an introductory credit card responsibly, making sure to always pay your monthly bill by the due date, you can build the credit standing needed to qualify for the market’s best overall credit cards before too long.

A good interest rate on a credit card is anything below 14%. That is roughly the average regular interest rate on credit cards for people with excellent credit. Even a relatively good interest rate on credit cards for people with lower scores is not all that low. For example, credit card users with good or fair credit could pay interest at an annual rate of 20%+ and still have a below-average APR. Better-than-average for a credit card overall isn’t much below 20%, either. That’s why the best interest rate on a credit card is 0%.… read full answer

How to Get a Good Interest Rate on a Credit Card

There are three ways to get the best possible credit card interest rate.

For starters, lots of credit cards offer 0% APR periods as introductory perks for new customers. They can be a great help to people looking to finance a large purchase or transfer a debt to pay it off faster. But those intro periods are always temporary. Most (but not all) 0% APR credit cards require good credit or better, too.

The second way to avoid credit card interest altogether is to pay your full statement balance by the due date every billing period. Setting up automatic monthly bill payments from a bank account can be a big help with that. You can also try the “Island Approach”, which is a method of using multiple credit cards for different expenses. For example, you could use your lowest-rate card—maybe even a card with a 0% APR period—for things you’ll need to pay off over a period of time, and a rewards card for everyday purchases that you pay off every month. That way, you wouldn’t pay interest at all, no matter what rate you have on the rewards card.

Ultimately, there is also a number of things you can do to raise your credit score and, in turn, get a better shot at a good interest rate on your next credit card. Because if a low credit card APR is your objective, it truly pays to have an “excellent” credit score of 750 or higher.