Finding the Best Credit Card For You

With all the options in today’s market, how can consumers tell what is the best credit card out there? Finding the best credit card can be a daunting task. Primary choices for credit cards include Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. How does someone know which is the best choice? Furthermore, almost every card has a variation whether it earns cash back, hotel points, theme park points, airline miles and more. When all the options and offers keep changing, how do you know who to choose?

A Dawn of Discover – Why Discover Set Out to be the Best Credit Card Available Back in 1986

Since it’s launch, there has been one card that has remained true to its philosophy of no annual fees and cash back – a first for credit card companies. The famous ad campaign “A Dawn of Discover” debuted during the 1986 Super Bowl with the famous slogan – “Very few things cost you nothing to get and pay you back every day. But now the Discover card does.” In an age with skyrocketing annual fees and no such thing as rewards, this was a revolution to the credit card industry.

Discover Today

Today, more and more merchants worldwide accept Discover Card. A staple in the current credit card market, Discover card usage increases every year. According the the website CreditCards.com, which compares statistics of the credit card industry, as of 2009 there were 54.4 million Discover cards in circulation in the United States. While that number is small in comparison to the 200+ million Visa or Mastercard credit cards in circulation, Discover card usage did surpass American Express (according the the same site) who included only 48.9 million cards in circulation within the same year.

In addition to operating Discover Card, Discover Financial also “offers personal and student loans, online savings accounts, certificates of deposit and money market accounts through its Discover Bank subsidiary. Its payment businesses consist of Discover Network, with millions of merchant and cash access locations; PULSE, one of the nation’s leading ATM/debit networks; and Diners Club International, a global payments network with acceptance in more than 185 countries and territories.” As one of the most recognizable names in the credit card industry, Discover Card is poised to continue to offer itself as one of the best credit card companies in the industry today. Its dedication to customer service, reliability and flexibility allow Discover Card to stand out from the rest and remain focused on its customers for growth and stability.

Discover Card – The Best Credit Card for Customer Service?

In the 2010 J.D. Power and Associates Credit Card Satisfaction Study Rankings, American Express was ranked number one in customer satisfaction. A long time contender with a reputation built on customer service, the number one ranking was no surprise to the industry. What was a surprise was relative newcomer Discover Card beating out well-known, and long-established companies like Wells Fargo and Chase Bank.

Reliability and Flexibility – Built in to the Discover Card

This year, Discover Card was named Bankrate.com’s™ highest rating for strength and stability. According to a press release from Discover Bank, “Discover Bank has been awarded the highest rating – five stars – by the most recent Bankrate.com(TM) Safe & Sound® Ratings Service of relative financial strength and stability in the financial services industry.”
Finding the Best Credit Card – Fees, Fees, Fees

The credit card industry is basically synonymous with the word fee. One of the most accurate ways to compare the various available credit cards is to compare its annual fee.

The website CreditCards.org recently (2011) compared the best credit card offers of 2011. Of their top 7 listed on the site, various Discover cards took 3 of the spots. One thing each of those Discover cards had in common – no annual fee – it has offered this since its debut in 1986. All of the featured cards boast low annual percentage rates (variable), one to five percent cash back bonuses and zero percent annual percentage rates for the first six to fifteen months (depending on card type).

Discover currently offers four types of cash back cards, two types of miles reward cards, two types of business cards and two types of student cards. Determined to be the best credit card available, Discover has attempted to streamline its product by not inundating the market with a multitude of confusing cards and rewards systems. Instead, it is focusing its product to its end user by tailoring its advantages to individual need.

The company debuted its product based on the goal of excellent customer service, no annual fee and membership rewards. Since its inception, it has remained faithful to its philosophy of becoming the best credit card available to consumers.


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