U Switch

Use Uswitch to search for a new credit card or to transfer the balance on your existing plastic to another credit card.

Finding a New Card

Perform a search for all cards or filter by 0% on new purchases, no annual fees, loyalty or cashback. Conduct a full search or use the Top Buys tables on the home page of the credit card division.

You can search for Top Buys by longest 0% rate on balance transfers or new purchases, lowest typical APR or highest cashback. Each table shows the top five cards by criterion.

The full search begins with a short questionnaire covering your spending and repayment habits and your credit history. The results table can be customised by provider, card details, interest/charges, cashback, introductory rate on balance transfers, introductory rate on new purchases, typical APR and online signup. The card details customisation gives you access to customer satisfaction reviews and scores based on a minimum of 200 submissions.

The fine print is accessed by clicking on the card details that appear in the column after the provider's name. You can compare selected credit cards across 21 potential benefits including foreign usage, payment protection, air miles and travel discounts.

Switching Cards

Select your existing card from a list, the balance to be transferred, credit history and your monthly spending and repayment habits. The results table is the same for a new card switch except that it calculates the savings over 6 months to 3 years.

Verdict

A credit card search engine with some interesting innovations, notably the ability to compare selected cards over a wide range of features and the customer reviews and scoring. I also liked the ability to customise your search to personal spending/repayment habits and credit history. Top Buys are largely consistent with full search results and differences are partly attributable to screening criteria.

On the downside, the card details did not mention the interest rate surcharge for using the card abroad. The site is easy to get around but the results tables are not very athletic and customisation proceeds at a leisurely pace.