Where can I find some reputable credit card companies?

If you’re looking for reputable credit card companies, the good news is that they are out there. You just have to be willing to look around and comparison shop in the same way you would for auto insurance, life insurance, or any number of other products that you buy.

Our credit card chaser is a great tool to help you find reputable credit card companies now!

The credit card industry is such that a good number of Americans don’t have a favorable view of credit card companies. We have been led to believe that they are all greedy and willing to stick it to customers if it means a couple of extra dollars in their pockets. While it’s true that there are bad apples in every industry, you must remember that credit is a business, which poses a great risk of financial loss to the company that issues the credit card. They must protect themselves because loss is inevitable with some customers.

How much loss do credit card companies have to contend with?

According to a November 2011 report by Fitch, losses due to charge-offs for the first three quarters of the year amounted to approximately 4.53% for seven of the country’s biggest general credit card issuers. In case you’re unaware, a charge-off is a condition in which a credit card company counts the money you owe as a loss because it doesn’t suspect it’ll ever be able to collect from you. That doesn’t mean they stop collection efforts, it simply means they assume they’ll never be paid.

At more than 4.5% of the total amount owed, that’s a significant amount of money. Then add to that the total amount of money that might be forgiven through credit card debt restructuring or the simple reality of default. That adds significantly more to the total losses credit card companies face.

Even if we use a conservative number like 5%, that means for every $100 owed, the credit card company loses five dollars every three months. How many of us would stand by and accept that sort of loss from our own bank accounts?

How do I know if a credit card offer is a good one?

When we talk about reputable credit card companies, we’re really referring to the offers they present. It’s not really a matter of one being more dishonest than another is, simply because they are tightly regulated in terms of their disclosures and business practices.

For the purposes of finding the best credit card deal available and a company that will treat you properly, reviewing the offer is everything. What you find written in the literature goes a long way in determining whether a credit card company is one you should do business with.

The Federal Reserve is a great resource for learning all about credit cards including how to carefully examine the credit card offer. Very few credit card companies go out of their way to make their disclosures easy-to-read and understand. However, they are required by law to provide specific types of information including annual interest rates, fees and penalties, and other pertinent information consumers need to know.

Reading and comparing disclosures is your best weapon in finding credit card companies and offers you can live with. If you don’t understand what you’re reading don’t simply settle for the credit card with the lowest interest rate. Take several offers to a friend or relative who understands such things and ask for advice.

What should I do with unsolicited offers?

Some credit card experts encourage consumers to be very wary of unsolicited credit card offers in the mail. Their reasoning lies in the fact that the general concept of mass mailing is to hit as many households as possible in the hope of getting a return between 5% and 10%. But when you stop and think about, using mass mailing for credit card offers dictates that the companies are not being choosy about whom to send their offers to.

If this is true, it makes sense that the best offers of the ones you search for on your own. You can look for such offers using online resources such as the website you’re visiting right now. You can also check with the owners of the largest brands such as Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.

Use our credit card chaser to find the best deals and compare credit cards from the best companies!