top 10 credit cards uk

Discover the 16 best credit card deals that have been awarded Which? Best Buys by our UK money experts

Which? has analysed hundreds of credit cards to find the best credit card deals across cashback, travel, air mile, interest-free, 0% balance transfer and low-interest options.

To become a Which? Best Buy, a credit card has to meet a range of category-specific benchmarks set by our analysts. Read on to find out which credit cards made the grade and compare the best credit cards.

If you already have an idea of the credit cards you’re interested in, head over to our best credit card providers guide to help you decide which brand is worth switching to.

Please note that the information in this article is for information purposes only and does not constitute advice. Please refer to the particular terms & conditions of a credit card provider before committing to any financial products.

Best credit card for air miles

The best credit card for air miles allows you to collect points on your everyday spending and exchange them for holiday-related savings on flights (taxes apply), flight upgrades and hotel stays.

In our analysis, one deal stood out as a Best Buy, and it can be used to collect Virgin and Avios points. 

The American Express Rewards Credit Card has no annual fee and allows you to earn one American Express point per £1 spent.

Amex points can be converted into Virgin Points and Avios points at a ratio of 1:1. This is a better rate than the fee-free Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card which only offers 0.75 points per £1 spent (although you do get a better rate of 1.5 points per £1 spent when shopping with Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays).

Customers rate American Express highly. It achieved a customer score of 79%, coming 2nd out of 31 providers in our latest credit card provider customer satisfaction survey, and has been named a Which? Recommended Provider.

Grace Witherden, credit card expert, says: ‘Although the fee-free British Airways American Express Credit Card is a good pick for earning Avios, it didn’t hit our strict benchmarks to become a Which? Best Buy.

‘It got a customer score of 62% in our latest credit card provider customer satisfaction survey, but all Best Buy cards must achieve at least 65%.’

Find out more: to see how the Which? Best Buy air mile credit card compares to other market-leading offers check out our best air mile credit cards guide

Best 0% balance transfer credit cards

To find the best 0% balance transfer credit cards to help you clear expensive credit card debt we looked at credit cards that had no balance transfer fee with 0% periods over 12 months, and have awarded three Best Buys.

When it comes to a 0% balance transfer credit card you need enough time to clear your debt and to do it as cheaply as possible. 

The NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclaycard deals combine a decent 0% period with no extra fees for moving your balance and were the cheapest, longest-lasting deals that met our strict criteria.

Best cashback credit cards

A cashback credit card is a type of reward credit card that pays you a percentage of what you spend, and our analysts think these two are the best cashback credit cards on the market.

Both the American Express Platinum Cashback Credit Card and the free version – the American Express Platinum Everyday Cashback Credit Card – offer the highest rate of cashback on the market, and have attractive introductory offers.

Customers also rate the brand highly. American Express has been named a Which? Recommended Provider, coming 2nd out of 31 providers in our latest survey.

Best credit cards for holidays and traveling 

The best credit cards for holidays and traveling allow you to spend fee-free overseas. These three stood out in our analysis.

The Halifax Clarity, Barclaycard Rewards Visa and Bip credit card all have no foreign transaction or cash withdrawal fees, but we also like that they both come with below-average APRs. 

Best interest-free credit cards

To find the best interest-free credit cards you should look at the length of the 0% period.

A long-lasting deal can help you spread the cost of a big purchase, and at the moment there’s one card that stood our in our research.

This month, we have one new from Lloyds, offering a 20-month interest-free period on spending right now.

Sam Wilson, credit card market analyst, says: ‘At the start of the year we didn’t see many competitive deals, however the market is beginning to bounce back. 

‘As a result we have three Best Buys from MBNA, Barclaycard and Lloyds in our latest analysis, with two offering 21-months interest free.’

Best low-interest credit cards

To find the best low-interest credit cards you need to look at the APR a card charges.

A low-interest credit card does what it says on the tin – it offers a cheap rate of borrowing for as long as you have the card. So if you struggle to keep up with time-limited offers, this type of deal might suit you. But offers can vary.

We’ve named four low-rate credit cards Which? Best Buys.

These four deals are the most competitive low-rate cards on the market with each offering 10.9% APR compared to a market average of 35.1%.

Customers also rate the brands highly with Tesco Bank meeting our strict criteria to become a Which? Recommended Provider.

What about credit-builder credit and money transfer?

A 0% money transfer credit card lets you shift money from your card to your current account to spend as cash, interest-free for a set period. This could be helpful if you need to clear overdraft debt or pay for services that don’t accept credit cards.

This month we have no money transfer credit cards that matched our criteria to become a Which? Best Buy. If you want take a money-transfer credit card, take a look at our best 0% money transfer credit cards guide for the market-leading deals.

Credit-builder credit cards are excluded from our Best Buy analysis, as personal circumstances play a bigger role in determining which card is best for you. You can check out the market-leading deals to research in our guide to the best credit cards for bad credit.

Is a credit card right for you?

Chosen and used wisely, a credit card can be a cheap way to borrow or build rewards, but there are other options you could explore.

Before applying for a credit card, check if your current account has a fee-free overdraft that will meet your spending needs.

You could also check the rates on offer from a credit union. As a non-profit financial organisation, they usually offer loans that are cheaper than other providers.

If you need over £5,000, an unsecured personal loan might be a cheaper option and you will have a fixed monthly payment until the loan is paid off.

How we find Best Buy credit cards

A Best Buy credit card must have been one of the top five cards in its category and must also satisfy specific criteria for the type of card such as the size of balance transfer fee or length of 0% period.

A provider must have also achieved a provider customer score of over 65% in our latest credit card satisfaction survey. Each year, we ask thousands of customers to rate their providers and calculate a provider customer score based on their responses, to find the best credit card providers.

We also update our analysis regularly, which means we will withdraw Best Buys if providers make adverse changes to APRs, 0% periods or fees.

How we find Which? Recommended Providers for credit cards

As well as crunching the numbers to reveal the best credit cards on the market right now we also survey customers to find the best credit card providers.

Each year we ask thousands of credit card customers to rate brands on customer service, mobile banking and more – so you can get an idea of the quality of service you might receive before you sign up. 

Our provider customer scores are based on an online survey of 3,775 members of the public, conducted in October 2023. Customer scores are worked out using a combination of overall satisfaction and the likelihood of recommending the provider to a friend.

To become a Which? Recommended Providers a lender must have:

• a provider customer score of at least 75%
• at least one top-10 card in one of the seven main categories available on the market
• have a product analysis score that’s average or above
• and not have a representative APR of more than 33% on any of its mainstream cards at the time of the analysis.