A credit card can give you the financial flexibility that you require, and offers greater convenience when purchasing goods or services. Most businesses and shops accept credit cards for payment, allowing you to pay for goods over the counter, by phone and even over the internet.

The major benefit of a credit card over a debit card or cash is that you do not pay for the goods or service straight away, with a credit card the supplier is paid by the credit card company and you then pay back the card company at a later date. Typically, if you pay off the balance within a calendar month you will not pay any interest, if you decide to leave the amount outstanding and pay off in instalments then you will be charged interest on the balance.

Credit cards are becoming more popular every year, with over 30 million of us carry one, and spending over £100 billion a year on the plastic. Obviously this is big business for the credit card companies, and they are all competing for your custom leading to ever more competitive interest rates. We have compiled a list of the top ten credit card companies for you to take a look at to get you off to a good start.

In order to tempt you away from your current credit card (as most people already have one), the credit card companies offer very low interest rates on balance transfers - often zero percent. They do this to get people to move their outstanding balance on their current credit card (which will be charging them interest) to the card they offer, and while they won’t earn any money on the balance transfer they will have your custom and earn on the interest charged on new purchases. When comparing credit cards you need to look carefully at these rates, and see how long the rate is fixed for on balance transfers – some offer only a short introductory term while others will fix the interest rate for the life of the balance.

As well as the interest rates on balance transfers, you will also need to look at the standard rate the credit card company charges on new purchases, obviously the lower the amount the better. Be sure that you are looking at the standard rate, and not an introductory offer that is time limited only to revert to a high interest rate once the period has expired.

A credit card not only offers convenience and flexibility, but it also affords the consumer extra protection on purchases between £100 and £35,000 because they are covered by the consumer credit act. This states in section 75 that the credit card company is liable for goods that fall in this price range that are faulty – this means that if you cannot resolve the issue with the supplier then you will be able to get a refund from your credit card company.

With a large number of credit card companies offering a wide range of credit cards, finding the best deal can be difficult – we have compiled a list of the top credit cards to help you find the best possible deal.