If you’re like many people, you make a list of New Year’s resolutions or goals you hope to accomplish sometime after the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31st. This doesn’t mean you’ll check off every one of them over the course of the following year. It’s more about measuring where you’re at in life right now, then figuring out steps you should take in the new year to get where you want to be.
New Year’s resolutions typically center around health and finances, whether people want to lose weight, lift weights to build muscle, pay down debt or begin saving money for a home or a much-needed getaway somewhere tropical and warm. In the finance realm, there are quite a few New Year’s goals that can be accomplished with a credit card as well. Some of the most common include building credit for the future, saving up travel rewards for a big trip or paying down debt with a credit card that comes with 0% APR for a limited time.
If you’re hoping to pursue any number of financial goals with a credit card in the new year, it can help to think over the type of card you want and how it might help. Here’s a rundown of steps to take before you start browsing the best credit card offers of 2025.
Check your credit score
Knowing whether your credit is considered poor, fair, good or excellent can help you determine which types of credit cards you’re actually eligible for. If your credit is fair or poor, for example, you might decide on a new year’s goal of improving your credit score over the next 12 months. If you have a good credit score, on the other hand, you can decide to focus on other aspects of credit instead — things like earning rewards or paying down debt with a balance transfer card.
Regardless, taking the time to check your credit score for free with a platform like Chase Credit Journey or Capital One CreditWise can help you figure out your next steps.
Determine your credit-related goals
After you know where your credit score falls on the spectrum, you should think over what you hope to accomplish with a credit card in the new year. This could include increasing your credit score so you can qualify for a lower mortgage rate once you’re ready to buy a home, accessing a lengthy 0% APR offer for new purchases, earning rewards for spending or all of the above.
Whatever you want to do with credit, you’ll find that narrowing down your goals can lead you toward the best new credit cards that can help you reach them.
Research cards and offers that fit the bill
Once you settle on a specific type of credit card you’re after, you can compare the best options in that niche. This is true whether you’re after a new airline credit card, flexible travel credit card, cash back credit card or a card that comes with 0% APR.
Some of the main factors to research and compare include:
- Cardholder benefits: Make sure cards you’re considering offer the perks and features you want the most, whether that includes early boarding and free checked bags with airlines, automatic elite status with travel brands or general travel benefits like a fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck membership.
- Consumer protections: Also compare cards based on the consumer protections they offer, whether you want to have built-in travel insurance, cell phone protection or extended warranties.
- Fees: Make sure you’re comfortable with annual fees you’re asked to pay for a credit card, and that you’re getting enough in benefits to justify paying one. Also compare fees like balance transfer fees and cash advance fees, and check whether cards charge foreign transaction fees on purchases made abroad.
- Interest rates: Make sure you understand variable interest rates charged by cards on your list. If cards you’re considering come with 0% APR for a limited time, understand the length of the offer and the variable interest rate that applies when it ends.
- Rewards rates: If you’re signing up for a new credit card offer for the purpose of earning rewards, make sure you pick a card that offers rewards rates that make sense with the categories you spend the most in.
- Rewards programs: Also make sure you’re earning the type of rewards you want, whether that’s cash back, travel points or flexible rewards that can be redeemed in more than one way.
- Welcome offers: Finally, compare sign-up bonuses on new credit card offers if you’re pursuing a card with rewards. Make sure you can easily meet the minimum spending threshold required within the set timeline, and go for the biggest bonus you can get.
The bottom line
The best credit card of 2025 depends on a wide range of factors, and it also varies from person to person. Where some people need a credit card to build credit for the future, others want a card that helps them pay down debt or earn rewards they can redeem for a big splurge down the line.
That’s why you should follow the steps outlined in this guide before you click the button to apply for one of the best new credit card bonus offers available right now. Check your credit score, decide what your goals are, research cards and offers based on the most important factors, and the best credit cards to apply for should be relatively easy to find.
