If you are looking for good credit card deals in the market, then it is worth looking at the various offers being rolled out by various credit unions in the country. The Pew Safe Credit Cards Project which conducted a study of the various credit cards being offered by banks across the country also conducted a study of the credit card offers being made by credit unions. The report of this study has revealed that the offers from credit unions are better than those of banks in more ways than one. The credit cards being issued by credit unions have lower interest rates, fees and penalty charges. The rate of interest for cash advances are also significantly less as compared to the rates on the cards issued by various banks.
According to the study conducted by Pew the lowest APR on the credit union credit card was 9.99% as compared to 12.99% which was the lowest APR among all credit cards being offered by banks. Though the credit card lenders did increase the interest rates on their cards before the CARD Act came into being, the current study by Pew has countered predictions about long term rates increases and newer charges, said Nick Bourke, Pew’s Safe Credit Cards Project’s director. He also went on to say that the increases in interest rates noticed in the beginning of 2010 have not extended into 2011. The APR is now more or less stable and deceptive practices by financial institutions have now become a thing of the past.