Choosing the right credit card for you can be an extremely dull process. For many of us, the technical side of things can be too much to try and process. More often than not, we will settle for first seen, first ordered and interest rate be damned. But there is more to choosing a credit card than what interest rate you are repaying back at.

Most definitely, the number one thing to consider is your needs as opposed to wants. What do you really need the card for in the first place? And you can stop spending the “leftovers” already! You need to plan wisely to choose the card that will best suit your purpose. For example if you were heading overseas, think about what you would be spending the money on. Is it for emergencies only? Have you saved spending money to use already? All of these things will help you make the best decision.

You need to be aware of other important factors such as any monthly interest-free repayment deadlines or “grace periods.” This can mean the difference between just repaying what you bought the item for, or paying that plus the extra in interest. Depending on what you buy and how much it costs, this could be a little bit of interest, or a lot.

Enough of the technical details, there are upsides to choosing a credit card. Most credit card companies offer rewards or incentives schemes to attract and retain their customers. Once again, depending on your intended use of the card, you can pick and choose the rewards that will suit you best – points towards air travel, discounts at shopping partners, redeemable vouchers to spend, and so much more. These may even be worth paying a higher interest rate or having no grace period in your mind.

Have a good look around, there are only a few major credit card companies, but a lot of banks and smaller financial institutions produce their own version. If a credit card is not for you or unavailable to you, there are debit based versions which use your own money, but can also be used worldwide and over the Internet to make purchases.

Because at the end of the day we want to spend as little money as possible repaying interest, try and get one when a promotion is on. Just make sure you remember to check what happens to the account fees after the promotion has ended. Don’t tie yourself to a high interest credit card account when all it takes is a simple phone call to the card provider to find out.