Best Credit Cards of January 2021

How Do Credit Cards Work?

Credit cards allow you to make purchases without having to immediately pay for them with cash or money from your checking account. Essentially, you’re using the credit card company’s money, and then you pay it back. 

The credit card company (also called a credit card issuer) will send you a bill about once a month telling you how much you owe and when to send your payment by. If you can’t cover the whole bill, the issuer adds interest charges to your account. Those are the basics, but this explainer on how credit cards work will help you understand everything you need to know about the cost of carrying a credit card balance.

How Do You Choose the Best Credit Card?

Choosing a credit card requires you to take an honest look at your habits and needs, and see how those line up with the products out there. To get started, here are six tips for matching your needs to the right type of credit card. 

• Building credit? Look at secured credit cards.
• Travelers: Consider travel reward cards or cards with no foreign transaction fee. 
• Thrifty shoppers can save big with cash-back cards.
• Need to buy something big? Look at cards with low introductory interest rates.
• Pay off card debt with a balance transfer card.
• Plan for emergencies with a low-APR credit card.

To help you further understand the credit card selection process, we put together this guide to picking a credit card and an overview specifically for first-time card applicants. Here's another summary of our top credit card picks:

Is a Credit Card Right for You?

Before you can make a decision about opening any credit card, you need to understand the value and drawbacks of credit cards as a whole.

For a more detailed explanation, check out our guide to the pros and cons of credit cards.

What Credit Score Do You Need?

The better your credit score, the more credit card options you have. And if you want a credit card with the highest rewards earning rate and best perks, you’ll likely need to have a very good credit score. Many of our credit card reviews tell you what kind of credit score (fair, good, very good, etc.) you need to qualify for that card. 

If you don’t know your credit score, read our article on how to check your credit score. These days, there are many options that will cost you nothing. Once you know your score, you can figure out what category it tends to fall into. There are a couple of different credit score models (FICO and VantageScore) and each has its own range. This is all explained in detail in our guide to credit scores. But for a quick overview, here are the ranges of scores for the two different scoring models: 

While credit card companies don’t clearly state what you need to do to get approved, you’ll improve your chances by having a job, a reliable source of income, and a bank account. We describe these best practices in detail in this article on how to qualify for a credit card.

Can You Get a Credit Card With Bad Credit?

You often can get a credit card with bad credit. Secured credit cards are usually available for people with poor credit because you have to put down a deposit that’s typically equal to your credit limit. If you use the card responsibly, over time you’ll build your credit and can apply for a better card.

How Do Credit Card Rewards Work?

Most credit card rewards programs follow the same basic structure: For every dollar you spend on your credit card, you earn a percentage of that purchase in cash back, points, or miles. You can then redeem cash, points, or miles for a variety of things. 

Every credit card rewards program is different, so it’s best to read individual credit card reviews to understand their programs. This overview of rewards cards basics will help you learn about the different rewards programs out there and, most important, whether or not it’s worth signing up for a rewards card.

What Are Some Common Credit Card Benefits?

You know all that fine print you see when you go to a credit card’s website? It includes a lot of details about card benefits you might not realize you have access to. We have a full rundown of credit card perks you should know about, but here’s a quick list of common benefits.

Common Perks on Many Kinds of Credit Cards

• Car rental insurance
• Zero fraud liability
• Roadside assistance hotline

Common Rewards Card Perks

• Insurance for stolen or damaged purchases
• Lowest advertised price match
• Extended warranties on purchases
• Refund when merchant won’t accept returned item

Common Travel Rewards Card Perks

• Insurance coverage for lost or delayed luggage
• Insurance coverage for trip cancellation, interruption, or delay
• Travel accident insurance

How Do You Apply For a Credit Card?

Follow these steps to apply for a credit card:

• Check your credit score.
• Choose which kind of card you want to apply for.
• Research a few different cards from different companies.
• Decide on one to apply for.
• Visit the card application webpage.
• Enter your personal information, including your Social Security number and annual income. 
• Be patient. It can take a couple of weeks to receive a final decision. 

This guide will walk you through all the steps of getting ready and actually applying for a credit card.

Methodology

We collect data on hundreds of cards and score more than 55 features that affect your finances. We do this because it's our mission to give you unbiased, comprehensive credit card reviews.

About This List

We reviewed more than 200 credit cards to identify the one with the best combination of low fees, good rewards, and relatively low interest rates—that's what people say is most important to them when choosing a new credit card.

The top card on this list is the outright winner, based on the dozens of card attributes we evaluate in our scoring process. The other cards on this list have the top scores in specific categories, and each category has its own methodology.

What We Score

The most important components of a credit card's overall score are the fees, rewards, and interest rates.

Fees

We look at the average cost of a card's annual fee over three years, to account for credit cards that waive the annual fee the first year. The lower the average annual fee, the better the score it receives. The total number of fees a card has also has a significant bearing on a credit card's score, including whether or not the card has foreign transaction fees or waives the first late-payment fee.

Rewards

First, we look at the value of a card's rewards. We determine reward value by researching options for redeeming a credit card's rewards, as well as Americans' travel and spending habits.

Next, we evaluate the rate at which you can earn rewards. If a card has multiple rewards-earning rates (aka tiers), we determine the score based on the highest rate. But we also look at how many rewards tiers the card has, and a card with fewer tiers receives a higher score. We also look at if there are limits on rewards earning, how many options you have for redeeming rewards, whether there's a minimum amount of rewards you must have to redeem them, and if rewards expire. Rewards-earning limits, few redemption options, minimum redemption thresholds, and rewards expiration lead to low scores.

Interest

People don't often start using a credit card with the intention of going into debt, but it happens. That's why it's important to consider a card's annual percentage rate (APR), not only on all purchases but also for balance transfers and cash advances. (The higher the APR, the lower the score.) And if a card offers 0% APR periods on purchases or balance transfers, we consider that a good thing.

Other Things We Consider

While fees, rewards, and interest rates make up the vast majority of our scores, we also consider the overall experience of using a card. Our scoring model favors features like a mobile app, a free credit score, and 24/7 customer service, to name a few. For more information about how The Balance evaluates credit cards, see our full credit card review methodology.