Even though we are a US-based company, we get a ton of visitors from the United Kingdom. They come to Credit Card Forum doing research about deals and offers, but unfortunately because we are geared towards the North American audience, we don’t have as many tools specifically geared towards them.

What’s the Difference?
Online credit card calculators for the US audience don’t work for our UK friends. What the difference between them? Well first of all, they use a different currency; British Pounds instead of Dollars. Secondly, cards over there don’t operate the same way they do over here. Things such as minimum payments, balance transfer fees, etc. are all calculated differently. Lastly, the cards offered here are usually not offered across the pond and vice-versa. So using an online calculator from a US site is pretty useless if you live there.

Calculators for UK Residents
Our friends over at the UK-based site CompareAndSave recently came out with some calculators. So if you live in the United Kingdom, these are for you. They have a balance transfer calculator which is used for – well obviously you guessed – comparing and figuring out balance transfer offers. This one is useful too if you want to find out whether a B.T. or a low rate card would be the better way to go. They also have a credit card payoff calculator which can help you figure out how long it will take you to pay off a card. *Please note that these tools won’t give accurate results for US residents.

Other Countries
Live somewhere other than the USA or Great Britain? Well I’m keeping my eye out for calculators for other countries, too. Ideally I would like to put together a resource on here someday that links to calculators for every country.

Although Credit Card Forum is based in the United States, we receive visitors from across the globe seeking help and advice. One of the regions we receive a large number of visitors from is the United Kingdom. While the USA is still the charge card capital of the world (after all, we did invent them!), on the other side of the pond they are also a big hit.  On our message boards, we are frequently asked by these visitors questions such as “What are the best UK credit cards?”

Well for starters… different financial institutions offer different cards country by country… so it’s not like comparing apples to apples when looking for that perfect card. While Bank of America, Citi, American Express, and Chase are some of the most popular card issuers in the US, over in the UK you will notice the major players are different: Barclaycard, Halifax, MBNA, Virgin Money, and Bank of Scotland are a few of the big names there.  However one of the few brands you will find that is popular in both areas is Capital One.

But brands aren’t the only difference. The laws, regulations, and financial operations are different between the countries. Because spenders in the United Kingdom are less likely to carry a balance, cards there have a typical APR that is higher. However, that’s not to say there aren’t deals… If you compare UK credit cards thoroughly, you will find that the Barclaycard Goldfish card currently offers an excellent interest rate for purchases – 9.9% as of May 10th.  But if you are looking for the longest 0% balance transfer offer, right now the Virgin Money card is the best deal – 0% APR for 16 months.