According to statistics in a recent survey, less than half of those who apply for a credit card shop around at all. They either accept the credit card offered by their bank or another organization, or they fall prey to a credit card advert that lands in their post box. Is that any way to find the best credit card deal?

The question is rhetorical, obviously - but what's not rhetorical is the need to do a bit of homework before you apply for a credit card. The wrong choice can cost you thousands of pounds over the course of a few years.

Some wrong choices jump right out at you. If you can qualify for a low interest credit card, you'd be a plumb fool to apply for one with an APR of 34%. Keeping your eye on the average typical interest rates can help you avoid applying for credit cards that offer outrageously high interest rates.

Other times, though, it's not so easy to recognize which credit cards to avoid. As often as not, it's a matter of using a perfectly good credit card for the wrong purpose. Low interest balance transfer cards are a good example. Most people are drawn to low interest balance transfer cards because of the low APR on transferred balances. They usually carry a higher rate of interest on new charges to your card. They also usually apply your payments to the balance transfer first. That means that until your transferred balance is paid off in full, any new purchases that you put on the card will sit and accumulate interest - on which you'll pay interest.