Card Comparison: Best and Worst Credit Cards, according to BusinessWeek
Recently, BusinessWeek ran an interview with Greg Doherty, editor with Consumer Reports, a prominent consumer products rating agency. When asked about his pick of a credit card best for all situations, Greg pointed out the fact that there is virtually no such credit card which is best for every one under every circumstances. Greg also pointed out that even for a relatively good card, “it may not stay a good card forever“. The rankings of credit cards always are dynamic.
He broke down best credit cards to two categories that serve people with different needs best. For those who regularly run a balance/debt, they should consider low rate/low fee credit cards, for those who don’t run a balance/debt, best cash back rewards credit card makes more sense. As of now these are his picks of best low rate/low fee credit cards:
| Card Name | Regular APR and Credit Needed | Fee and Intro APR | |
 |
Capital One Platinum Prestige |
8.9%, requires excellent credit | No annual fee, 0% intro APR until Oct. 2009 |
 |
Capital One Platinum Prestige – Visa |
8.9%, requires excellent credit | No annual fee, 0% intro APR until Oct. 2009 |
 |
Clear from American Express |
as low as 10.99%, requires good credit | No fee of any kind, 0% intro APR for 12 mths |
 |
IberiaBank Visa® Platinum Rewards Card |
9 – 11% depends on creditworthiness, requires good credit | No annual fee, 0% intro APR for 6 mths, earn 1 bonus point for every $1 in qualifying net retail purchases |
As for best cash back credit cards, Greg picked these:
| Card Name | Reward on each $1 spent | Fee and Regular APR | |
 |
Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards |
2% on purchases at gas stations and major grocery and drug stores, 1% cash back on others. Requires good credit | No annual fee, 13.9% regular APR |
 |
Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards – Young Adults |
2% on purchases at gas stations and major grocery and drug stores, 1% cash back on others. Requires good credit | $29 annual fee, 16.9% regular APR |
 |
Chase Freedom Visa |
3% in Your Top 3 Everyday Spending Categories, 1% in others. Requires good credit | No annual fee, 14.99% regular APR |
 |
Discover® More Card |
5% Cashback Bonus® in categories like travel, home improvement stores, gas, groceries, restaurants, movies… 1% on others. Requires good credit | No annual fee, 10.99% regular APR |
And here are his picks of the “worst” credit cards, the reason I am listing them out is in case you are holding a contrarian view… 
| Card Name | Regular APR, Credit Needed and Fee | Grace period | |
 |
HSBC American Dream Card |
14.99% or 21.99%, requires fair credit, no annual fee | 20 days after the previous billing cycle provided you paid bal in full. |
 |
New Millennium Bank Secured Platinum Visa® |
19.5%, bad credit OK, $59 annual fee, $99 application fee | NO grace period |
 |
New Millennium Bank Secured Platinum MasterCard® |
19.5%, bad credit OK, $59 annual fee, $99 application fee | NO grace period |
Important Disclaimer: the credit cards information in this post were accurate as of the date of publishing, some or all of the card programs may be discontinued, their terms may be changed after wards.
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