It may be very tempting to think that in order to get the best UK credit card you need to look for the cheapest card available. Tempting as it may be, it would also be wrong. In order to know whether or not you have the best on offer, you need to make sure that the card meets most, if not all, of your needs. And to that, you need to look at what the card offers:

Fees

In order to be considered among the best deals lists of cards on offer, a number of providers advertise low annual percentage rates of interest, but counter for this by charging their cardholders fees for being members. These fees can include transaction fees and annual membership fees. If you find that your UK credit card company is charging you fees, but a lower APR than other companies are, you may find that adding the amount you pay in fees to the APR you are being charged makes the amount you pay at the end of the day more than if you had selected a card provider who offered a slightly higher APR, but with no fees.

Interest free credit days

These days not all providers offer the same number of interest free credit days in which to make payment following a purchase on your card. Indeed, the number of interest free credit days can be as varied as 36 54 days. So, what's better, to have a UK credit card provider that offers a lower rate of interest but for 36 days, or a UK card issuer that has a slightly higher rate of interest but gives you 54 days of interest free grace before charging you interest on the balance?

Loyalty programs

It is possible, with loyalty programs, to make your credit card work for you. Consider: what if you had a UK credit card company that offered you cash-back rewards with every purchase you made but at a marginally higher APR against a card company that offered you no reward program with a slightly lower APR. Which would be better for you? Well, obviously this would depending on your habit, but is you were the type of card user that paid off your balance at the end of each month, then most certainly the card issuer that offered you the cash-back reward program would be better for you!

Insurance

Under the law, UK credit card companies must offer you insurance on the product that you purchase, i.e. within a select number of days you can return the gift if it is faulty. But, does this apply to overseas purchases? Does it apply to items you break yourself? Indeed, will your card provider offer you additional insurances, like medical insurance when you travel or holiday cancellation insurance when you buy your holiday with your credit card? If not, you may need to purchase these separately and the additional cost may end up costing you more than additional cost of your slightly more expensive credit card.

Determining whether or not you are getting the best UK credit card deal depends very much on what you intend to use the credit card for. One thing it will most probably not depend on, however, is whether the card is the cheapest card available on the market.