Best credit card providers 2024

How to find the best credit card provider

Looking for a new credit card? You'll want to start by shopping around for the best credit card deals — but it's also important to know if the company behind the offer is going to provide an easy-to-use mobile app and decent customer service if anything goes wrong. But how do you find all that out, without first signing up?

That's where Which? can help. We've surveyed thousands of credit card customers to find out how satisfied they were with the service of 31 credit card brands and asked them to rate the companies on a range of categories, from the application process right through to the ease of managing their credit card online. 

We take the insights customers provide and combine this with our expert analysis of a firm's products to determine which providers are the cream of the crop — to save you time when shopping around. Read on to find out how the brand you're thinking of switching to performed in our latest survey.

Best credit card companies

The table reveals how customers rated 31 credit card providers and which firms have been named Which? Recommended Providers (WRPs) for 2024.

Only credit card providers that combine high levels of customer satisfaction with products that meet the standards of our market analysts can become a WRP. This year, three brands have hit the mark – American Express, Tesco Bank and Virgin Money.

Use the table to find out a brand's customer score, and scroll to the right to find out how customers rated their service across five categories. Clicking on a brand link will take you to a review page.

Who are the Which? Recommended Providers?

Here's why Tesco Bank, American Express and Virgin Money have been crowned WRPs in our latest survey.

Tesco Bank review

• Provider customer score: 80% 
• Product score: 73% 
• Best categories: clarity of statement, ability to manage account online or via an app

What do customers like? Tesco Bank achieved the top provider customer score of 80% in our latest survey. Customers gave the brand five stars for its online and app account management and clarity of statements. Its customer service, application process and transparency of charges also impressed, with customers rating them four out of five. 

What products are on offer? Tesco Bank got 73% in our product analysis. It offers a broad selection of credit cards, suitable for a range of borrowers, including competitive 0% balance transfer, credit builder and low-interest cards – all of which offer Tesco Clubcard points on spending. 

• Find out more: read our expert Tesco Bank review

American Express review

• Provider customer score: 79%
• Product score: 72% 
• Best categories: clarity of statement, ability to manage account online or via an app

What do customers like? American Express received a provider customer score of 79% — the second highest after Tesco Bank. Customers were pretty satisfied across the board, giving the brand four stars or more over the five categories we asked about. Like Tesco Bank, it stood out on its online and app account management and the clarity of its statements and got four stars for its customer service, application process, and transparency of charges.

What products are on offer? American Express offers a range of market-leading cashback and reward credit cards. 

• Find out more: read our expert American Express (Amex) review

Virgin Money review

• Provider customer score: 75%
• Product score: 70%
• Best categories: ability to manage account online or via an app

What do customers like? Virgin Money received a provider customer score of 75% — coming joint fourth in our survey. Customers were most impressed with the ability to manage their accounts online or via an app, giving the brand five stars. It also received four stars for its clarity of statement and application process and three stars for its transparency of charges and customer service.

What products are on offer? Virgin Money offers a range of credit cards, including competitive 0% balance transfer, 0% money transfer, interest-free purchases, and all-rounder cards. 

• Find out more: read our expert Virgin Money review

Which credit card providers should you avoid? 

Grace Witherden, credit cards expert, says:

'This year, there were 16 providers that performed below average in our survey, including 118 118 Money, Aqua, Asda Money, British Airways, Co-operative Bank, First Direct, Lloyds, Marbles, MBNA, Metro Bank, Post Office, Royal Bank of Scotland, TSB, Vanquis Bank and Zopa. 

'Some of these brands offer market-leading cards, so it's worth using our table to check which customer satisfaction areas they're lagging on compared to rivals. For example, dig deeper and our results show 10 of the 16 lowest-scoring providers achieved only two stars for transparency of charges, and there were seven that only mustered two stars for customer service.

'There's no need to write off the lower half of the table entirely, as all the below-average brands achieved a respectable three stars or more for account management and the clarity of their statements. If there's not much in it, the product score might help you size up how a brand's products compare at a broad level. For example, while four brands got a score of 66% in our survey their product score varied from 40% to 82%.'

What are the best credit card deals?

As well as discovering the best credit card providers, Which? has analysed hundreds of credit cards to find the best travel, interest-free, 0% balance transfer, 0% money transfer and low-interest deals.

To become a Which? Best Buy, a 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. 

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

• Find out more:best credit card deals 

How we analyse credit card providers

Sam Wilson, credit cards market analyst, says: 'At Which? we go the extra mile to help you in your research on credit cards.  

'We score providers based on customer feedback and in-house market analysts, like me, do extensive analysis to determine how firms stack up, to find the ones that stand out from the crowd.

'We only award Which? Recommended Provider status to the companies that meet our benchmarks on customer service and product offering.'

Here's some more information about our research and the terms we use in our tables.

Customer scores

Our provider customer scores for credit card companies are based on an online survey of 3,775 members of the public, conducted in October 2023. 

Provider scores are worked out using a combination of overall satisfaction and the likelihood of recommending the provider to a friend.

We also ask these credit card customers to rate brands on five categories including customer service, mobile banking and more — so you can get an idea of the quality of service you might receive before you sign up.

Which? Recommended Providers

To be a Which? Recommended Provider for credit cards a credit card company must:

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

We only award Which? Recommended Providers to the lenders that meet our benchmarks on customer service and product offering. 

• Find out more:  Which? symbols, logos and ratings explained

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