Web Site Offers Quick Card Comparison

A Web site is working with major credit card issuers to improve consumer understanding of the terms of card contracts and get the right card in the hands of those consumers.

CreditCardClients.com offers a free comparison site that offers consumers the opportunity to find the card that best fits their credit profile and borrowing needs. The idea is to give consumers some sugar with the medicine of learning the sometimes dreary and confusing facts buried in the fine print of credit card terms and conditions notices.

A consumer must enter certain financial information about themselves, including the card they use, its APR, the amount spent on the card monthly, their monthly payment, their credit score and whether they’ve declared bankruptcy.

The Web site’s Savings Agent program uses this information to determine the best card for this consumer and potential savings over two years if the consumer switches to the new card. Creditcardclients.com compares more than 200 cards to offer the consumer its three “Most Recommended” cards. The consumer can click through to the cards where he can do a more thorough review of the product.

Creditcardclients.com earns its revenues from issuers when consumers apply and are approved for cards, says Idan Geldourp, the chief technology officer at the Manhattan-based firm. “We receive a commission for each approved application. We work with a range of issuers,” says Geldourp.

The site offers links to issuers Advanta, American Express, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Discover, and HSBC along with the MasterCard and Visa network brands.

Site visitors can also search and compare cards under types such as rewards, cash back, business, and student and find Creditcardclients.com’s most recommended cards for those seven large issuers. There’s also a section for consumers with “bad credit” where a visitor can compare four cards.

In addition, visitors can review the site’s Learning Center and check out the basics of credit cards through a handy list of Top 10 questions covering such topics as “How to read the terms and conditions … ” “What is an introductory APR?” and “What are finance charges?”

The site was launched in 2005 after its founders saw a need for consumer education for credit cards despite their ubiquity in American wallets, says Geldourp.

“Consumers didn’t understand the meaning of the details in card offers,” says Geldourp. “We offer an interface into the complicated information and mixed information [consumers receive] from the credit card companies.” 

Geldourp declined to name investors in the site but notes they don’t include the card issuers that are displayed on the site or those in its most recommended lists.