4 Credit Card Tools That’ll Help You More Than Just Choose a Credit Card

Looking for a credit card? Here are 4 sites that will help you do handle that…and much more.

As if using credit cards aren’t confusing enough, slogging through hundreds of websites featuring credit card recommendations isn’t going to help. Come on, who has time to read over each description, see if it fits your needs?

On top of that, there’s rewards points, cash back options and even annual fees you need to take into consideration. That’s not to say those sites aren’t useful, but if you get easily overwhelmed, you may want to look for another option.

Here are four online tools that help you sort out credit card choices, pick the best ones for you and generally make your life easier. That’s pretty much a win-win

Credit Card Tune Up

If you’re interested in getting a rewards credit card, you’ve come to the right place. There are so many options and this online tool literally helps you sort through them all (well, at least most of them).

All you have to do is head over to the website and choose the types of rewards you’re looking for (e.g. cashback, points, frequent flier miles) and enter in approximately how much you spend on a monthly basis. You even get the choice to choose your credit card situation (limited to personal, business or college students) and your country of residence (sorry, it’s only limited to North Americans at this point).

Once you hit the “recalculate” button, you’ll then see a list of cards in order by the expected value of rewards you get in your first year as a cardholder minus any applicable annual fees. Keep in mind all the rewards are converted into a dollar amount so you can make an easier comparison between cards. You can then hover over each credit card link to read an overview of the card. If you like what you see, then you can head over the official link for more details.

It’s as easy as that.

SelfScore

As if it’s not hard enough moving from a foreign country to live in the US, getting access to fair credit is even harder. SelfScore aims to help international students by giving them access to credit whereas most financial institutions may not.

There are more than one million international students, many whom will most likely pursue careers in the US long after graduation. SelfScore wants to help those by enabling international students to establish credit while in school so they can get a head start once they graduate.

To determine their creditworthiness, they use data such as their education major, how much their schooling costs, their ability to repay, and trends in their career industry.

Once approved, students get a Mastercard. There is no annual fee and they receive 1% cashback on all purchases.

The company hopes to expand to other underserved communities where those people may not have access to traditional credit.

Debitize

If you’re scared of credit cards or have had a little trouble in the past with paying them off, then this tool might be the perfect solution for you. Debitize works like a hybrid between a debit and a credit card, helping you ensure that you have funds in your bank account before you use your credit card.

What happens is that once you sign up for the service and link your checking account and credit cards, Debitize will take money out of your checking account. It’ll only do this as you’re making purchases with your credit card. In other words, it works much like a debit card. At the end of each month, the service then takes the money it pulled out of your bank account and pays your credit card bill for you.

Money is taken out via ACH, meaning that those deductions may take a couple of days to go through, so it’s not taken out in real-time like a debit card would. If you’re concerned, Debitize does have measures in place to keep your money safe. Debitize also won’t overdraw your account. You just set a minimum balance and Debitize won’t take any money out if it falls below that.

Cards Mix

Cards Mix is much like Credit Card Tune Up in that the website aims to help you narrow down your choices when it comes to choosing the right credit card. Their website is laid out a bit differently however, and you can sort cards by the type you want and by your credit history. It’ll then help you narrow down your options to a few and you can read reviews of the card and apply for them right on the site.

Not only that, but they help their readers by giving up to date information, and customer reviews. They also have an “Ask the Experts” section, where your credit card questions are answered by their group of finance experts. You can sort questions and answers by topics or even submit your own if you can’t what you’re looking for. The aim of this section isn’t to persuade you one way or another, it’s simply to give you more education on what might be the best choice for you.

The website was designed to be intuitive and easy to use, meaning you should be able to find what you’re looking for in minutes. It’s also mobile friendly, helping you find answers fast.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully these four credit card tools will help you get you on your way. No longer do you have to stress about credit card usage or finding the right one for you. You can spend your time that you would have researching or paying bills to pursue more fun activities.

Photo credit: InvestmentZen Images

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *