When you are ready to shop for a new credit card, there are a lot of factors you need to consider. Among these factors is are the credit card terms including annual percentage rate (APR) of interest and grace period annual membership or participation fee, transaction fee among others. You need to choose the plan terms that best fit and suit your particular financial needs.

There are may types of credit cards and each type focuses on different benefits to the credit card holder. For example, there are credit cards that offer airline frequent flyer miles for purchases, there are cards that allow you to transfer balances from other credit cards over to your new card with zero or very low interest charged on the transferred amount for some designated period of time.

Then there are case rebate cards that return some small percent of the charge back to you in the form of a rebate. There are even credit cards specifically for people with bad credit.

Years ago almost all credit cards had an annual fee, but most fees have gone by the wayside. Nevertheless, it is good to check because a few credit cards still require an annual fee.

Hotel sponsored credit cards will provide points for each dollar charged that can be applied towards free nights at hotels within their hotel chain.

And the list goes on and on. So depending upon your lifestyle, different cards will appeal or be useful to you so be sure to shop around and compare the credit card benefits.

It's very important that you understand each of the credit card plan terms before you accept the card to avoid putting yourself in financial bondage. For example if your issuing company does not give a free grace period and you are unable to pay on time, your account will be charged and it will end up increasing your debt.

There have been numerous cases of card theft recently and the trend is continuing to increase so it's advisable that you keep your card very well secured to avoid unauthorized use. Also don't give away your card information anywhere you don't feed secure.

Another way to avoid lost or unauthorized use of your card is to only carry the card you think you will use. And in case you lose your card you need to call the issuer and inform them of the lost quickly. So keeping separate records of each of your account numbers, expiration date and card issuer contact information.

It's very important that you reconcile your credit card account when you get your statement of account each month from your card issuer. In order to reconcile your account successfully, you need to keep a record of your receipts where possible or a personal note where you don't have receipt. In this way you will discover errors which could have been added to your statement without you noticing it.

You can apply online for a credit card easily and conveniently. There are a number of websites where you can review and compare different credit cards at one location and then select the card that is best of you. Once you have made your decision, you can apply online for a credit card by simply clicking a link and filling out an online form for your chosen card. This makes shopping for a new credit card simple, easy, and fast.