CREDIT CARDS

This is the longest ever introductory 0% period offered by a credit card provider, making it the current market-leading card for purchases. Cardholders pay no interest on their spending for the first 18 months. After that the card has a representative annual percentage rate (APR) of 17.9%, so you will need to make sure you have repaid what you owe in full before the introductory period ends. The card also comes with other perks. You get 2,500 YourPoints if your application is successful. That’s enough points every year for a £10 shopping voucher to spend at M&S, Boots or amazon.co.uk, with 500 points left over to put towards your next reward. You’ll get a further 2,500 points on the anniversary of you getting the card every year after, plus you’ll earn 1 YourPoint for every £1 spent on the card. You must be a UK resident, aged 18 or over and have a minimum income of £10,000 to apply for the card.

This is the longest ever introductory 0% period offered by a credit card provider, making it the current market-leading card for purchases. Cardholders pay no interest on their spending for the first 18 months. After that the card has a representative annual percentage rate (APR) of 17.9%, so you will need to make sure you have repaid what you owe in full before the introductory period ends. The card also comes with other perks. You get 2,500 YourPoints if your application is successful. That’s enough points every year for a £10 shopping voucher to spend at M&S, Boots or amazon.co.uk, with 500 points left over to put towards your next reward. You’ll get a further 2,500 points on the anniversary of you getting the card every year after, plus you’ll earn 1 YourPoint for every £1 spent on the card. You must be a UK resident, aged 18 or over and have a minimum income of £10,000 to apply for the card.

The AA is offering 0% on purchases for 10 months, while those looking to transfer their existing credit card balances will pay 0% for the first 12 months. There is a 3% handling fee for balance transfers. Try to clear any debts within the interest-free period, as the APR after this is 18.9%. You earn rewards when you spend using the card, and, as you earn double points on motoring-related purchases, those who drive a lot might find it particularly useful. The scheme gives you one point per £2 spent regardless of where you shop, but you earn one point per £1 spent on motoring such as servicing or fuel. Points can be redeemed by choosing from a huge range of items including high street shopping vouchers, cash back and AA products. Points will be shown on your monthly statement, or you can check how many you have online. Rewards example: spend £50 on fuel and £100 on supermarket and other shopping a week = 5,200 points a year = over £50 in high street shopping vouchers or over £25 cash back.

This card offers 15 months interest-free introductory period on purchases, making it a great choice for anyone looking for a cheap deal on new borrowing. After 15 months, the card charges a typical representative annual percentage rate (APR) of 15.9% variable, so you should make sure you clear your debt within the interest-free period to avoid paying interest. As well as offering a lengthy interest-free period on purchases, you also collect points whenever you spend using the card. You earn one point for every £1 spent at M&S, and one point for every £2 spent elsewhere. Once you have 100 M&S points, you’ll get a £1 reward voucher to spend in store. Points are converted into vouchers four times a year and are valid for 15 months. The card also entitles you to buy M&S Travel Money with no cash advance or foreign exchange fees and you can access your account 24 hours a day online or by phone. To apply for an M&S Credit Card you must be a UK resident aged 18 or over and you cannot apply for a card if you have held a credit card with M&S Money within the past 12 months.

One account, two cards, more Flying Club miles. Now you can convert your Tesco Clubcard points into Flying Club miles, which you can use for flights, Premium Economy upgrades and more. This reward card suits regular Virgin Atlantic flyers, as it offers Flying Club miles every time you spend. You will be charged 17.9% APR on purchases when you use the card, so you should try and clear your balance every month to avoid paying interest. The card charges no interest on balance and money transfers for the first six months, and after that has an APR of 17.9% on both. There is a 2% handling fee if you move a balance across or make a money transfer, with a minimum charge of £3. The card, which doesn’t have an annual fee, gives you 3,000 bonus Flying Club miles on your first card purchase, providing you use it within 90 days of opening the account. When you apply for the Virgin Atlantic White card you get two cards under one account. You get an American Express card where you earn one Flying Club mile for every full £1 you spend, or two Flying Club miles for every full £1 spent direct with Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays. You will also get a Visa card where you earn one Flying Club mile for every £2 you spend, or 1 Flying Club miles for every £1 spent direct with Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays. You’ll also receive a Premium Economy reward upgrade on an Economy booking if you spend £10,000 on your American Express card in a year. If you spend £15,000 on your American Express card in a year, you get a complimentary companion reward flight, so you can bring a friend with you free of charge.

This card enables you to collect Avios every time you spend, but it comes with a high representative APR of 19.9%. There is no interest-free introductory rate on purchases, so you should pay off any debts on the card as quickly as possible to avoid racking up steep interest charges. The card is best suited to those who fly frequently with BA and want to collect Avios using the card's reward scheme, and who clear their balance every month. Earn 1,000 Avios when you spend £500 in the first 3 months. The points can then be put towards BA flights. If you spend £20,000 on the card in a year and redeem your Avios on a BA flight, you'll receive another ticket for a companion for the same flight and cabin. However, you cannot collect Avios on cash advances. The card has no annual fee and also comes with Travel Accident Insurance up to £75,000. You should avoid using the card to make cash withdrawals, as these will be charged interest at a steep 27.9%.

This card is a great choice if you're looking for cashback, as it pays an impressive 5% for the first three months. There is no annual fee with this card. The most cashback you can claim during the introductory period is £100, so if you spend £2,000 on the card in the first three months, you will have reached the maximum. After this, if you spend £5,999.99 or less, you will earn 0.5% cashback, rising to 1% if you spend between £6,000 and £9,999. Anyone spending over £10,000 will earn 1.25% on anything they spend above that threshold. These rates are applicable until you reach the anniversary of your account opening when you will begin earning cash back at 0.5% until you pass each purchase threshold again. Be careful, however, as the card has a steep representative APR of 19.9%. This means that if you aren't in a position to clear your debts, then the interest charges could wipe out the benefit of the cashback. In order to qualify for this card you must be a UK resident with a good credit record, a bank account registered to your home address and no previous credit defaults. You must not already have a Capital One credit card and must not have applied for one in the last 6 months.

This credit card gives you Nectar points every time you use it. You get two points for every full £1 spent on the card at Nectar partners and one point for almost every full £1 spent on the card everywhere else. Nectar partners include Sainsbury’s, BP, Homebase and Expedia. If you spend £500 on the card within the first three months, you will pick up 5,000 bonus Nectar points. After the first three months, for every £500 spent on your card, in any calendar month, you will collect 500 extra Nectar points, known as ‘MorePoints’. You can either use the points you earn through the reward scheme to get back money-off vouchers on your Sainsbury’s shopping, or you can redeem them against a wide range of treats, gifts or days out. The card has a high representative annual percentage rate (APR) of 19.9% on purchases and does not offer any 0% introductory rates. You should therefore try to be disciplined and ensure you pay off the full balance each month to avoid having to pay interest charges. If you don’t intend to repay your debt in full each month then you should avoid reward cards and opt for a card with a lower interest rate instead. Do not use the card for cash withdrawals, as interest is charged at a steep 27.9% and you don’t earn Nectar points on these either. You must have an annual household income of at least £30,000 to qualify for the card and no County Court Judgements for non-payment of debt.

The American Express Platinum Cashback card pays an introductory rate of 5% cashback on your first £2,000 spend for the first three months. Once the introductory rate ends, you’ll earn the standard rate of cashback which is 1.25%. Customers also receive double cashback, 2.5%, every year during their anniversary month (the month they first took the card out in) as long as they’ve spent £10,001 or more on their card over the previous 12 months. If you don’t pay your balance off in full each month you’ll be charged interest at 14%. There is, however, an annual fee of £25 on the card. As a result of the fee, the representative APR on the card is higher than the purchase rate at 18.5% (variable). If you are a very high spender then this card is still a good deal as the cost of the fee will be offset by the generous cashback rate. You must have a household income of at least £20,000 a year to qualify for this card and you will also need to have an excellent credit history.

The Lloyds TSB Duo Avios Credit Card enables its cardholders to collect Avios every time they spend. When you apply for the Duo credit card you get two credit cards, a MasterCard which gives one Avios for every £5 spent, and a second American Express card which gives one Avios for almost every £1 spent. You get two cards so that on the occasions where your Amex card is not accepted you can use your MasterCard to continue to collect miles. There is a 0% period on balance transfers for 6 months so it is worth doing if you can pay the balance off within this period. Also ensure that you pay any spending off each month as purchases will incur an interest rate of 15.94%.