Worst Credit Cards Of 2012

Here are CardHub.com‘s choices for worst credit cards of the year:

Worst General-Consumer Credit Card for Rewards
• Visa Black Card – Despite the best efforts of Barclaycard US, you shouldn’t confuse this Black Card with the famed Centurion Card from American Express. While the latter is a status symbol and a pop culture staple, the former is just grossly overpriced, charging a $495 annual fee for a measly 1 point per $1 spent, airport lounge access, and the vague promise of luxury gifts.

Worst General-Consumer Credit Card for Big-Ticket New Purchases
• Arvest Bank Classic Credit Card – Offers a 4.9% introductory interest rate on new purchases for 6 months and has a 17.9% regular APR.

Worst General-Consumer Credit Card for Balance Transfers
• UBS Preferred Visa Signature Credit Card – Offers a 9.99% introductory balance transfer APR for 6 months and charges a 3% balance transfer fee as well as a $495 annual fee.

Worst Credit Card for Rebuilding Bad Credit
• First Premier Bank Gold Credit Card – In addition to a 36% interest rate, this card charges a $95.00 processing fee prior to account opening, a $75.00 annual fee during the first year, a $45 annual fee in each subsequent year, a $6.25 monthly fee beginning in the second year, and a 25% fee for any credit limit increase.

Worst Credit Card for Students
• U.S. Bank College Visa Credit Card – The U.S. Bank College Visa Credit Card doesn’t provide any rewards or low introductory rates and students may end up with a regular APR as high as 20.99% APR – the highest rate among student cards.

Worst Small Business Credit Card for Rewards
• U.S. Bank FlexPerks Select Rewards Visa Business Credit Card – This card only offers 0.5 points per $1 spent and a 5,000 point initial bonus (a $50 value). According to Card Hub’s latest Credit Card Landscape Report, the average rewards credit card offers a 9,470 point initial bonus and 1.08 points per $1 spent.

Worst Credit Card for Small Business Funding
• Most Small Business Credit Cards – The Credit CARD Act of 2009 doesn’t apply to business credit cards, which means they don’t benefit from the rule prohibiting issuers from increasing interest rates for existing balances unless a cardholder is at least 60 days delinquent. As such, most small business credit cards make poor funding vehicles given that the cost of debt can increase at any time.