May 3, 2006

By Peter Kenny

Our first poll posted on April 27th 2006 has been a great success. In order to find out more about our visitors and gain some knowledge into what exactly they were looking for we asked a very simple question, what is most important to you in a credit card?

First of all I would like to thank everyone who voted. Our first poll lasted for 1 week and ended with 150 votes. The results have actually come as a surprise.

We asked “what is most important to you in a credit card?” and the answers we had listed were:

1. 0% balance transfer deal
2. 0% on purchases deal
3. Cash back offer
4. Loyalty points
5. Low standard APR

We were certain that the “0% balance transfer deal” answer would come out on top, although, we did not reckon for it to be as dominant with nearly 70% of the vote at 104 votes.

What did take us by surprise was the answer that came in second, “Low standard APR”, attracting nearly 13% with 19 votes. When looked at more closely this result seems to reflect the recent news that there are over 2 million UK consumers who have a personal debt of over £10000. This debt does not include secured loans or mortgages.  Here is a link to the recent news story - Britons Satisfied With Personal Debt. UK consumers, who do not pay off their credit card balance every month and know they will pay interest on their outstanding balance, are looking for a credit card that can offer a long-term flat rate.

Perhaps some people do not realise that if they cannot pay off their existing credit card balance every month they could transfer their balance to a credit card that has a 0% balance transfer offer which could save them some interest. It could be that people do not want the hassle of changing their credit card every 6 – 9 months. Whatever the reason means that we will add a new section to our best buy tables to include “Best low APR”

I knew “Loyalty points” would come in last but not so far behind the rest with a measly 1.3% with only 2 votes. I have always suspected loyalty points to be vastly underused by consumers. Again there was some news about this a couple of weeks ago - Credit Card Holders Neglect Their Loyalty Points – and this has been reflected in the vote.

I would also like to point out that people who vote in our polls are very targetted. They are already motivated to look for a credit card or credit card news, they have not been chosen at random in the middle of a High Street. Visitors cannot vote more than once in our polls.