Offers for good deals are starting to return in the credit cards market following a widespread contraction in credit terms since October 2007. Some cheap rates with good APRs are available from a number of the major credit card providers now so it is well worth checking out the latest offers.

The major credit card companies have suffered heavy credit card receivables write-downs on their balance sheets since October 2007 which has made them generally very cautious about new lending, especially given cheapest credit card rates lending is unsecured. Furthermore, it is important to note that as unemployment grows (a major risk to credit card payment defaults), further write-downs are inevitable.

It is therefore crucial for banks to manage their credit card exposures and hence have until recently had very strict limits and criteria before issuing new cards and forwarding money.

The latest cheapest credit card offers focus on the APR which represents an annualised rate of lending. You will no doubt have compared the rates advertised by credit card companies and those offered by mortgage lenders, and perhaps wondered why the annualised credit card rates are sometime in excess of 800% of the mortgage rates.

The key difference of course being the security of the lending from the perspective of the bank. But as you may have also noticed, lending for mortgages has also been (and continues to be) extremely tight with large percentage deposits required. This again is related to the collateral/security. The downturn in the property market reduced the quality of underlying collateral and has therefore caused lenders to demand better terms.

Cheap credit cards offers remain subject to the same level of scrutiny as they have done at any time during the credit crunch, although it is important to note that individuals have appeared to become more prudent since the excesses of the key note 1 trillion pound credit card debt figures published at the height of the pre-October 2007 exhuberance. Consequently, offers are starting to return as the balance sheets of individuals have effectively improved in the personal borrowing sense.

That said, the future course of credit card debt is in the balance. We are now awaiting the publication of the new coalition governments emergency budget which will effectively set the course for tax policy and hence individuals personal balance sheets. As noted before, employment will be key on the agenda; of course everyone is hoping the new government have the capability to best navigate the country through the remaining tought times.