Are you interested in a rewards program, but sometimes carry a balance? You probably think a low APR card can’t come with Rewards? Think again. NerdWallet has scoured the credit card market to find you credit cards that combine a low ongoing APR with a rewards program by credit score.
Average Credit:
Our Top Picks
The Classic from First Command Bank is in a league of its own, offering 10.25% APR, 1% ScoreCard Rewards, no annual fee and 0% balance transfer fee.
Miles by Discover® Card, has no annual fee, a 12.99% APR and 1% reward rate. Additional promotions include 0% APR and 0% balance transfer fee for 6 months, and 12,000 Discover Bonus Miles upon signing up.
Good Credit:
Our Top Pick
Our top choice for those with Good Credit is the Air Force Association card from Chase. This card features an ongoing APR of 9.24%-14.99% (based on credit quality), NO annual fee and 1% Chase Flexible Rewards Points. Promotional 0% balance transfer fee for the first 6 months.
Honorable mentions
Barclays offers a few solid choices, including the Rec, Coast to Coast and Good Sam Club cards. All feature 1% rewards with no annual fee and on-going APR from 9.49%. Particularly appealing about these cards is the promotional 12 month 0% balance transfer fee offer.
Important Considerations:
A few final thoughts to keep in-mind before opening a new credit card. 1) You’ll only receive rewards for the amount you pay off. If you carry a balance at the end of the month, you won’t receive all of your reward points. 2) If you’re working to pay-down debt and opening a new card to transfer an existing credit card balance to a lower interest card, be sure to know what the Balance Transfer Fee is for your card. The industry average is 3%, but some card companies offer 0% introductory offers for the first 6-12 months. See Balance Transfer for our rankings.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
hi, I carry a balance of about $4,000 at this point, and have pretty good credit. how do I calculate whether to apply for a good balance transfer card or to try for a 1% rewards card?
Hey Shawna, great question! I’m sure you’re not the only one facing that issue.
Two of the best cards for your situation are probably the Discover Escape and the Discover Miles. Both offer a 0% intro APR on balance transfers and purchases for the first six months, and both offer rewards. The Escape pays a higher reward rate but charges a $60 annual fee, while the Miles card pays a slightly lower reward but charges no annual fee.
Alternatively, if you would rather not go with the Discover network, your best bet is to get two separate cards. I can tell you that our most popular rewards card is the AmEx Blue Cash, and we’ve got a few of our favorite balance transfer cards listed above.
At the end of the day, it depends on your situation, so you should run some numbers on our Balance Transfer page and our main Rewards page to see which cards rank highest for you!