What's happening to the comparison sites?
| Created: 03/01/2009 |
When looking at the leading financial and comparison websites, the user could be forgiven for thinking that the credit crunch has led to the demise of the interest free credit card, but nothing could be further from the truth.
A recent survey of leading financial comparison websites reveals that each site shows between two and six 0% balance transfer credit card offers on its credit card page: significantly fewer than before the credit crunch. Does this mean that there are only a few credit card offers available today? It would be easy to assume that this was the case, but according to our 0% cards table this isn't so.
There are currently over fifty 0% balance transfer cards on the market, but they can be hard to find if the consumer doesn't know where to look. Most comparison websites initially show a very restricted list, which they typically call 'best buy' cards. What consumers may not realise is that these lists show the cards which earn the best fees for the website and are not always the 'best buys' from the consumer's perspective. The declining number of cards on these tables has more to do with the reduced marketing budgets of the credit card companies, than any significant reduction in the number of available offers.
So how does the consumer get to see a more comprehensive view of the available offers? There are two ways this can be done. One way is to look beyond the best buy tables and to do your own search on the comparison websites, specifying your own search and comparison criteria. The second and simpler way is to use our tables which list all credit card offers, ranked by criteria that will benefit the user and not the website.
As well as independent and unbiased credit card tables, makesenseofcards.com has many useful guides, articles and financial calculators to help the consumer choose the most appropriate card for their circumstances and to manage their finances well.
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