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APR stands for “Annual Percentage Rate” and is the total cost of borrowing over 12 months. For example, if your APR is 20%, you will be charged 20p for every £1 borrowed over the course of 12 months. If you pay your balance in full and on time, you will not pay interest.

Some credit cards come with an annual fee, which you pay to use the card. This is separate from interest charges on balances. The fee is charged once a year and typically appears as a one-time fee on your credit card statement.

Withdrawing money from an ATM on a credit card is known as a cash advance, and it nearly always attracts a cash withdrawal fee, usually of around 3%. In addition, interest is charged on cash withdrawals from the day you take the money out, sacrificing your standard interest-free period.

Several other transactions - including buying stocks and shares, foreign currency and lottery tickets - are frequently treated as “cash-like” transactions by card providers and have the same rules and fees applied to them.

Your credit limit is the amount you can borrow on your credit card at any one time. If you exceed this amount, you can be charged a fee - typically £12 - and it can leave a mark on your credit report.

You won’t usually find out your credit limit until the end of an application process - although you can ask your provider to increase – or decrease – your credit limit at any time.

Credit limits are set based on your credit history and your earnings.

Once you've reached your credit limit, you need to make a payment to bring down your balance before you can use the card again. Find out more in our guide to credit limits.

Your credit score is calculated based on your credit history. Each credit reference agency has its own method of calculating this.

Your credit score will go up for things like making payments on time and down for things like being late or defaulting on a loan. Typically, the higher your score, the more likely you are to be offered a lower rate of interest or higher credit limit.

There is no absolute pass or fail mark attached to a credit score, with each lender making its own decision on what it considers acceptable.

A Direct Debit is when you give a company permission to take payments automatically from your bank account. It decides the amount, but you are free to cancel the arrangement. For example, you can set up a Direct Debit to pay off your credit card. This could be for the minimum amount due, a fixed sum, or the entire balance.

Minimum eligibility criteria define the attributes the provider expects customers to have before offering them a product. They’re designed to help customers understand if they should proceed with an application.

Meeting the minimum eligibility criteria is not a guarantee of approval. Eligibility criteria include factors such as age, salary and sometimes other details, depending on the product.

If you buy something abroad or from an overseas website, you are likely to be hit with a foreign transaction fee, which is often around 3% of the total payment.

Some credit cards charge no foreign transaction fees and are designed for use abroad. However, cash withdrawals tend to incur an additional cost, whether at home or abroad. The exchange will be based on Mastercard or Visa currency rates (depending on who issues your credit card).

Interest-free credit cards allow you to either transfer a balance, make purchases or transfer cash to a current account without paying any interest on your balance for a set period. However, you must keep making at least the minimum monthly repayment during this time.

Once the 0% deal is over, you will be charged interest on any remaining debt at your standard APR. With balance transfers and money transfers, you will usually have to pay a transfer fee. 

Credit card introductory offers include bonus reward points, extra cashback, 0% on balance transfers or 0% on purchases.

Introductory offers are used to attract new customers, but once they expire, they revert to the standard offer or rate. When this happens, you should check if you’re still getting the best deal or whether you need to switch to a different credit card.

It usually takes around 10 days for your card to arrive once you have applied. Here is how long it can take and how to speed up the process.

Yes, your credit record matters as it helps lenders decide whether to accept you as well as what APR and credit limit they will offer you.

The best way to repay your credit card is to set up a Direct Debit to pay off the full balance. This means you will never miss a payment or pay interest. Here are all the ways to repay.

Your provider will set a minimum amount you have to pay back each month. However, it’s best to pay off more than this if you can. If you don’t meet the minimum payment, you will be charged a fee of around £12, and the missed payment will be noted on your credit record.

No, you can't do a balance transfer unless it is to a combined balance transfer and purchases card. If you do this, you can transfer what you owe on a credit card to a new deal with a better interest rate.