Advertiser Disclosure
Many or all of the credit card, banking, and other offers on this site are from companies that pay us. For example, we may be paid when you click a link, are approved for a product, or open an account. Compensation may influence which products we cover and how, where, and in what order they appear. It doesn’t influence our editorial evaluations, ratings, or opinions, which are ours alone. We don’t include every bank, credit card company, or offer available in the marketplace.
Rewards, sign-up bonuses, balance transfers, fees, protections, and card reviews. Pick the right card and collect more from it than it costs you.
Open the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card if you have fair credit, want no security deposit, and will charge more than $2,600 a year, the point where its 1.5% cash back covers the $39 annual fee. If you’ll spend less, the no-fee Capital One Platinum is the cheaper card for building credit.
Get the Disney® Inspire Visa® Card if Disney+, Hulu, or ESPN bills you $10 or more a month directly and you spend $200 a year on Disney park tickets or $2,000 on Disney resort stays. Its credits for that spending then exceed the $149 fee. For streaming alone, American Express’s no-fee Blue Cash Everyday leaves you more.
Get the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card if you’re moving a credit card balance you’ll need well over a year to repay. Transfers completed in your first four months get 0% for 21 months from account opening, for a 3% fee, so move yours as soon as you’re approved. Purchases get only 0% for 12 months.
Get the Navy Federal Platinum Credit Card if you’re a member who carries a balance or wants to move one. It’s the credit union’s lowest-rate card, with a variable rate of 10.49% to 18.00% and no transfer fee. If you pay in full every month, pick a Navy Federal cash back card, since this one earns no rewards.
Get the USAA Rate Advantage Credit Card if you’re a USAA member who carries a balance from month to month. Its variable interest rate of 10.65% to 24.65% is USAA’s lowest, with no annual fee. If you pay in full every month, pick one of USAA’s rewards cards, since this one earns none.
Get the Citi Simplicity® Card if you’re moving a balance from another bank’s card or spreading out a big purchase and want 18 months at 0% interest on both. Paying late costs no fee and won’t raise your rate. If you’ll need more than 18 months to clear a transfer, choose a card with a longer 0% period.
Get the no-annual-fee U.S. Bank Shield® Visa® Card if you’ll pay off a big purchase or a balance transfer before its 0% interest period ends. Purchases get 0% for 21 billing cycles, as do balances you move in the first 60 days. If you pay in full every month, pick a card that pays cash back on everyday spending.
Get the BankAmericard® Credit Card if you want 0% for 21 billing cycles to pay off a big purchase or another bank’s card balance. It has no annual fee, and paying late won’t trigger a penalty rate. If you pay in full every month, pick a no-annual-fee cash back card instead, since this one earns nothing.
Get the Wells Fargo Reflect® Card if you need more than a year to pay off a large purchase or a balance moved from another card. Its interest rate on both is 0% for 21 months, and each transfer costs a 5% fee. Skip it if you pay in full every month, because it has no rewards program.
Pay a large tax bill with a new card whose sign-up bonus your payment earns, such as the Capital One Venture, since that bonus is worth far more than the card processing fee. A no-fee 2% card beats the cheaper IRS processor’s 1.75% fee by only $25 per $10,000, so save it for payments after the bonus.
You've reached the end.
You've reached the end.
Subscribe and we'll send you 101 Essential Money Tips to get you started.
The 101 money moves that matter most, from the foundations to protecting what you’ve built.
