NOW CLOSED Win a £500 Amazon voucher by trying out comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service

[TheOtherHelenMumsnet]

comparethemarket.com, one of the UK's biggest price comparison sites, has just launched a new credit card comparison service and they want to find out what you think of it. Here's what comparethemarket.com says about it: "Using our experience in the insurance comparison market, we aim to give customers a quicker, easier and more intuitive way of finding the right credit card for them - we'd like you to put our new service to the test and look forward to hearing what you think."

They want as many of you as possible to put the new service to the test and add your feedback to this thread. This is open to all UK MNers aged 18 and over. Please note that you don't have to sign up to any of the credit cards offered on the website to take part in this - it's purely for research purposes.

Some of you may have already taken part in testing this service if you are on the Mumsnet Research Panel but please feel free to add your comments about the service to this thread too.

If you'd like to take part then here's what you need to do:

1. Visit www.comparethemarket.com/credit-cards, have a look around and compare some of the credit cards on offer, then
2. Come back to this thread and add your feedback on what you think of the service - there are some feedback questions below to start you off but please feel free to add any other comments too.

This thread will be open until Weds 8th Feb - everyone who takes part and adds their comments below by the closing date will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will get £500 of Amazon vouchers. Please note that your comments may be used (anonymously) by comparethemarket.com for marketing purposes.

Questions:
Q1. How easy or difficult did you find the credit card comparison service to use? Did you find it easy to understand all of the information provided or not?

Q2. Did you find the credit card comparison service useful? If so why? If not, why not?

Q3. What did you think of the display showing your overall savings for each credit card? Did you use the slider tools at the top of the comparison pages for balance transfers, purchase or combination cards? If so, how did you find them to use?

Q4. Did you find a credit card that suited your needs? If not, what would you have liked to see offered that wasn't?

Q5 Do you think you'd use comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service again in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!
MNHQ

Questions:

Q1. I found it easy enough as I knew what I would be interested in and not

Q2. Yes I found it useful as it summarised everything in a snazzy way

Q3. it looks a lot smoother than the normal ctm.com website

Q4. I looked for my credit card on there (MBNA cashback Amex) which has better deals than most of them, and was a bit disappointed not to see it

Q5 Yes although I will use other websites as well as it does not cover everything but what it does cover it does well .

Thanks.

Q1. How easy or difficult did you find the credit card comparison service to use? Did you find it easy to understand all of the information provided or not?

Think it is fairly easy to use, pretty straight forward and sliders make it quite easy to change.

Q2. Did you find the credit card comparison service useful? If so why? If not, why not?

Personally didn't find it that useful as don't need a new credit card but can see that it would be useful for others who are looking for a new one.

Q3. What did you think of the display showing your overall savings for each credit card? Did you use the slider tools at the top of the comparison pages for balance transfers, purchase or combination cards? If so, how did you find them to use?

It is quite good to show the savings for people who are in debt and needing to transfer balances. Bit of a hypothetical saving for those who pay off each month though.
Would be good to show possible gains from using a cashback card - if you could put in how much you spend a month and it worked out the %ages.

Q4. Did you find a credit card that suited your needs? If not, what would you have liked to see offered that wasn't?

Already have best card for my needs.

Q5 Do you think you'd use comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service again in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?

I may use it to just check the latest offers on cards, not necessarily to compare but just to see what's about at the time - nice to see them all in one place.

Q1. How easy or difficult did you find the credit card comparison service to use? Did you find it easy to understand all of the information provided or not?
Fairly easy to use. Easy to understand but hard to compare on the kind of card I wanted (cashback)

Q2. Did you find the credit card comparison service useful? If so why? If not, why not?
It was ok but not for the kind of cards I wanted to compare - cashback. There was no sliding scale for that type

Q3. What did you think of the display showing your overall savings for each credit card? Did you use the slider tools at the top of the comparison pages for balance transfers, purchase or combination cards? If so, how did you find them to use?
No as this was not the kind of card I wanted

Q4. Did you find a credit card that suited your needs? If not, what would you have liked to see offered that wasn't?
Yes, but no easier than using other sites

Q5 Do you think you'd use comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service again in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?
I would if they did an easy comparison for cashback cards - for example, enter the amount you will spend in a year and it will tell you what cashback you would get

Q1. How easy or difficult did you find the credit card comparison service to use? Did you find it easy to understand all of the information provided or not?
Very easy to use, information all well laid out
Q2. Did you find the credit card comparison service useful? If so why? If not, why not?
Yes, its good to see all the options in front of you
Q3. What did you think of the display showing your overall savings for each credit card? Did you use the slider tools at the top of the comparison pages for balance transfers, purchase or combination cards? If so, how did you find them to use?
Sliders easy to use. Display clear and good to see different options for cards depending on what you wanted to use them for.
Q4. Did you find a credit card that suited your needs? If not, what would you have liked to see offered that wasn't?
No but if I was looking for a new card I don't think there would be any difficulty in finding something.
Q5 Do you think you'd use comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service again in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?
I would certainly use it if I was looking for a new card.

Q1. How easy or difficult did you find the credit card comparison service to use? Did you find it easy to understand all of the information provided or not?
It was easy enough to use and the information was clear.

Q2. Did you find the credit card comparison service useful? If so why? If not, why not?
Not really. I'm not actually looking for a credit card right now, but when I am the factors that sway me are perks and benefits, which the site did not seem to compare well. I don't carry debt on my credit cards so the other categories aren't useful to me, though I can see they would be easier to present.

Q3. What did you think of the display showing your overall savings for each credit card? Did you use the slider tools at the top of the comparison pages for balance transfers, purchase or combination cards? If so, how did you find them to use?
I only used it to check it out since I'm not interested in carrying a balance they don't really apply. They seemed easy to use but it wasn't clear to me what the savings calculation was based on.

Q4. Did you find a credit card that suited your needs? If not, what would you have liked to see offered that wasn't?
No.

Q5 Do you think you'd use comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service again in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?
Possibly if my circumstances change. But I'm more likely to go for a card linked to a personal interest since the APR etc. is less relevent to me but a targeted get lots of [something I love] might be quite attractive.

Q1. How easy or difficult did you find the credit card comparison service to use? Did you find it easy to understand all of the information provided or not?
Easy.

Q2. Did you find the credit card comparison service useful? If so why? If not, why not?
yes, it was clear and concise.

Q3. What did you think of the display showing your overall savings for each credit card? Did you use the slider tools at the top of the comparison pages for balance transfers, purchase or combination cards? If so, how did you find them to use?
a good facility for overall savings. Slider was useful for comparrisons

Q4. Did you find a credit card that suited your needs? If not, what would you have liked to see offered that wasn't?
I am not currently looking for a credit card but would use the site if i needed one

Q5 Do you think you'd use comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service again in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?
probably, although possibly in combination with other information. this site does seem to provide all the information in one place.

Q1. How easy or difficult did you find the credit card comparison service to use? Did you find it easy to understand all of the information provided or not?

I found this website user friendly and found it easy to find all the information I needed.

Q2. Did you find the credit card comparison service useful? If so why? If not, why not? > If I plan to change in the future I would certainly use it.

Q3. What did you think of the display showing your overall savings for each credit card? Did you use the slider tools at the top of the comparison pages for balance transfers, purchase or combination cards? If so, how did you find them to use? > It was easy to use the sliders and gave you a good idea as to which card suited you the best.

Q4. Did you find a credit card that suited your needs? If not, what would you have liked to see offered that wasn't? > Had I been wanting to change cards I would have considered one of the cards on offer.

Q5 Do you think you'd use comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service again in the future? If so, why? If not, why not? > Yes, the website was easy to understand and made it easy to compare the variety of cards available.

Q1. How easy or difficult did you find the credit card comparison service to use? Did you find it easy to understand all of the information provided or not?

I found it easy to use and the information given was clear to understand.

Q2. Did you find the credit card comparison service useful? If so why? If not, why not?

If I was looking to change, then it would be very useful to use. I certainly go to that site.

Q3. What did you think of the display showing your overall savings for each credit card? Did you use the slider tools at the top of the comparison pages for balance transfers, purchase or combination cards? If so, how did you find them to use?

Nice and easy to use, good to be able to see the savings. I'm also with Pinot and the charity cards.... more please!

Q4. Did you find a credit card that suited your needs? If not, what would you have liked to see offered that wasn't?

Yes I did.

Q5 Do you think you'd use comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service again in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes, I'd use it again in the future and I'd also recommend it to friends and family too. It's simple and saves time which I NEVER have enough of.

I know very little about credit cards as we've never had one BUT i did find the site easy to use and I had a look at all the different types of cards available.I did think it could have given a little bit more explanation as to what is involved in each kind of card or what type of card would be better for certain circumstances. If I do want a credit card in the future I guess I would look there. One thing I do think though is that comparethemrket should also should be encouraging customres to consider whether they actually can afford or need a credit card. They could also have links to alternatves...

Q1. How easy or difficult did you find the credit card comparison service to use? Did you find it easy to understand all of the information provided or not?

Easy enough. Not sure that there was necessarily enough information given (see below)

Q2. Did you find the credit card comparison service useful? If so why? If not, why not?

No because I am not looking for a new credit card

Q3. What did you think of the display showing your overall savings for each credit card? Did you use the slider tools at the top of the comparison pages for balance transfers, purchase or combination cards? If so, how did you find them to use?

Slider is useful (or would be if I wanted a credit card)

Q4. Did you find a credit card that suited your needs? If not, what would you have liked to see offered that wasn't?

No - not looking for one.

Q5 Do you think you'd use comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service again in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?

Maybe if I had a balance I wanted to transfer.

I think site needs a "back" button when you are comparing a particular set of cards, so you can go back to the cards overview.

I'd like to be able to exclude all cards with fees.

For balance transfer fees I'd like to know if the fee is added onto my debt (and therefore included in the 0%) or if it has to be paid upfront to avoid paying interest.

I'd also like to know how much my minimum repayment each month would be with the chosen level of spending/balance.

Q1. How easy or difficult did you find the credit card comparison service to use? Did you find it easy to understand all of the information provided or not?

Really easy site to use, though would have liked an 'all cards' or 'everything' option instead of having to choose 0% or cashback etc

Q2. Did you find the credit card comparison service useful? If so why? If not, why not?

I can see how it would be useful, but right now I'm happy with the card I have. Which isn't on the comparison site at all!

Q3. What did you think of the display showing your overall savings for each credit card? Did you use the slider tools at the top of the comparison pages for balance transfers, purchase or combination cards? If so, how did you find them to use?

For those of us who try and keep spending under tight control and never/rarely spend in a month more than we can pay off, the comparisons are meaningless.

I would have liked to have been able to sort the cards by different things than the APR. Like how much cashback you get per £100 spent. The cashback section seems to be dominated by avios points - perhaps they need to be separated.

Q4. Did you find a credit card that suited your needs? If not, what would you have liked to see offered that wasn't?

None that would be better than the one I already have.

Q5 Do you think you'd use comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service again in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?

It doesn't yet seem to have all the available cards on it. eg all supermarket cards. So no, I wouldn't use it again. Least not until its database is bigger.

Q1. How easy or difficult did you find the credit card comparison service to use? Did you find it easy to understand all of the information provided or not?

Simply laid out with all the key points.

Q2. Did you find the credit card comparison service useful? If so why? If not, why not?

Not really but then I'm not a credit card person, I only use it when I need extra protection or to defer paying something by a month. I always pay it off in full each month so don't really care about interest rates etc.

Q3. What did you think of the display showing your overall savings for each credit card? Did you use the slider tools at the top of the comparison pages for balance transfers, purchase or combination cards? If so, how did you find them to use?

Easy to use though always based on you paying the minimum on your card so not always entirely accurate picture of how much you would save long term.

Q4. Did you find a credit card that suited your needs? If not, what would you have liked to see offered that wasn't?

As I said before when I use a card I pay it off in full each month, I don't spend money I don't have so any card will do me! Looked at the rewards cards but to be honest the little I spend on a card I wouldn't get enough return.

Q5 Do you think you'd use comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service again in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?

No, because I have no need to change my current card.

Q1. How easy or difficult did you find the credit card comparison service to use? Did you find it easy to understand all of the information provided or not?

All the information is very clear, and I really liked that it was divided in categories which means you can go straight to the section you are interested in.

Q2. Did you find the credit card comparison service useful? If so why? If not, why not?

It is useful because there is so much around on the internet that it is not always easy to find the best information/deal possible

Q3. What did you think of the display showing your overall savings for each credit card? Did you use the slider tools at the top of the comparison pages for balance transfers, purchase or combination cards? If so, how did you find them to use?

Once again it is very clear the information is written black on white so no misunderstanding is possible, I didn't use the slider tools as I do not have enough time sorry

Q4. Did you find a credit card that suited your needs? If not, what would you have liked to see offered that wasn't?

I am trying to avoid credit cards as much as possible so I didn't find one that suited my needs

Q5 Do you think you'd use comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service again in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes definitely, I will also recommend it to friends and family as it is clear and precise

thank you for the opportunity to discover a new service from compare the market

Q1. How easy or difficult did you find the credit card comparison service to use? Did you find it easy to understand all of the information provided or not?

Quite easy to use and I understood most of it without any problems.

Q2. Did you find the credit card comparison service useful? If so why? If not, why not?

Yes, I liked that you could search based on different requirements, e.g. top rewards for spending, top 0% deals etc. However I would probably not rely on this alone as it doesn't cover all cards so there might be a better or more relevant (to me) offer available somewhere else.

Q3. What did you think of the display showing your overall savings for each credit card? Did you use the slider tools at the top of the comparison pages for balance transfers, purchase or combination cards? If so, how did you find them to use?
Looked but didn't use these as not relevant to me (we always repay in full).

Q4. Did you find a credit card that suited your needs? If not, what would you have liked to see offered that wasn't?
Yes, though the one I recently took out was not shown so I wouldn't have been able to get that one if I hadn't already.

Q5 Do you think you'd use comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service again in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?
Probably yes, as it means you can do a quick check of (some of) the options available without wasting much time on it. But I would check other sites such as MSE as well.

Q1. How easy or difficult did you find the credit card comparison service to use? Did you find it easy to understand all of the information provided or not?
Yes, nicely laid out, clear and easy to navigate about. I found it easy to understand.

Q2. Did you find the credit card comparison service useful? If so why? If not, why not?
Useful if you want/need a new credit card, but we don't. I am the type to only use my credit card when it's going to be paid off in full the next month. And I am happy with my current card and the rewards I get. If we need to do some financial juggling in the future, I would use the site though, yes.

Q3. What did you think of the display showing your overall savings for each credit card? Did you use the slider tools at the top of the comparison pages for balance transfers, purchase or combination cards? If so, how did you find them to use?
Display nice and easy to understand.
I used the slider tools and they were easy to use and understand as well.

Q4. Did you find a credit card that suited your needs? If not, what would you have liked to see offered that wasn't?
Lots, yes! Assuming I had different needs, it was easy to see which I would go for in different circumstances.

Q5. Do you think you'd use comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service again in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?
Yes. Nice to have so much clear information in one useful place. And I like the meerkats! :)

This is not my usual comfort zone, hate thinking about our debt, but I did find the website very easy and straightforward to use. I did find the info useful, and surprised at how the credit cards really vary. I found all the sub headings clear and easy to follow, and liked the bold colours. I didn't use the slider tools. The savings display was simple too and I was again surprised at the differences in savings. I found a couple of possibile cards to suit us though our debt is complicated and not my sole decision. Overall I would definately use this site again, even just as a way to start my research.

Q1. How easy or difficult did you find the credit card comparison service to use? Did you find it easy to understand all of the information provided or not?

Very eye-catching, easy to navigate and I liked the colours used as it made it all look simplified.

Q2. Did you find the credit card comparison service useful? If so why? If not, why not?

If I was looking for a new credit card, I would find the credit card comparison service useful and would definitely use it.

Q3. What did you think of the display showing your overall savings for each credit card? Did you use the slider tools at the top of the comparison pages for balance transfers, purchase or combination cards? If so, how did you find them to use?

The display was good and I liked the slider tools as they make looking even easier.

Q4. Did you find a credit card that suited your needs? If not, what would you have liked to see offered that wasn't?

Yes, there were lots that suited my needs and it was good to be able to compare them all together.

Q5 Do you think you'd use comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service again in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?

I would definitely use the comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison and obviously it is a website with a jingle that is now stuck in everybody's mind - so easy to remember the name!

Q1
Very easy to use and understand. Includes all information you would want when considering a new cc.
Q2
We need to make a balance transfer as our free period is coming to an end, so it was very useful to us.
Q3
Very simple and straightforward.
Q4
Yes, we did. We didn't make the decision on practical financial info alone though, but I doubt that you would be able to include information about ethical investments etc of each bank.
Q5
Probably we will.

(Even though I loathe the adverts and want to kill the person who ruined meerkats for me, and I had sworn to myself never to visit the site! It is a good site.)

Q1. How easy or difficult did you find the credit card comparison service to use? Did you find it easy to understand all of the information provided or not?

I didn't find it very easy at all. I found it difficult to understand the information provided and what the numbers actually meant to me.I like the information at the bottom of the screen and found that helpful.

Q2. Did you find the credit card comparison service useful? If so why? If not, why not?

Not for me personally as I am not intending to get a credit card.

Q3. What did you think of the display showing your overall savings for each credit card? Did you use the slider tools at the top of the comparison pages for balance transfers, purchase or combination cards? If so, how did you find them to use?

I found these very difficult to stop accurately and I found the made the whole page run very slowly.

Q4. Did you find a credit card that suited your needs? If not, what would you have liked to see offered that wasn't?

Not personally as I am not looking to get one. I did learn more about how many types oif credit cards you can get though!

Q5 Do you think you'd use comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service again in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?

For other comparing services I would and have done previously. For credit cards, possibly but probably wouldn't be a top choice due to the above mentioned issues.

Q1. Very easy to navigate - clear instructions & user friendly.
Q2. I would definitely use this if I was looking for a new card.
Q3. Sliders a good tool & helpful way of displaying the information.
Q4. Yes, a few options & good to have the comparisons in one place.
Q5. Yes, would definitely use in future as clear, easy to use and saves valuable time!

Q1 - didn't find it all that easy to use with the iPad. If I was looking for a card I would definitely have to get the laptop out. I didn't think there was really enough info to make a decision, so I would look elsewhere as well before choosing anything.

Q2 - we don't use credit cards, but I might consider using the service if we had a specific purchase it would make sense to get a 0% interest card to buy.

Q3 - didn't find the slider tool helpful as it didn't work well on the iPad. I also wouldn't be considering anything that wasn't 0%, so not really relevant.

Q5 - might do if I was ever looking for a card.

Q1. How easy or difficult did you find the credit card comparison service to use? Did you find it easy to understand all of the information provided or not?

I thought it was really simple to use. Very clear and easy to understand.

Q2. Did you find the credit card comparison service useful? If so why? If not, why not?

Very useful - it showed how my current card compared to others.

Q3. What did you think of the display showing your overall savings for each credit card? Did you use the slider tools at the top of the comparison pages for balance transfers, purchase or combination cards? If so, how did you find them to use?

I thought it was very useful and particularly good when used to show what you might save by transferring a credit card balance.

Q4. Did you find a credit card that suited your needs? If not, what would you have liked to see offered that wasn't?

I wasn't looking for a new card particularly but it seemed to have everything that I would be looking for.

Q5 Do you think you'd use comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service again in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?

Definitely.

Q1: Easy to navigate, user friendly. No problems.
Q2: Useful, although I tend to trust money saving websites rather than comparison. Worth a check though, maybe I shouldn't be so trusting.
Q3: Pretty handy, although I switched recently so no vast savings to be made.
Q4: I wasn't looking to change at the moment, signed up to new bank account and cards last month.
Q5: Definitely would use. It could be there's a better deal than the ones highlighted on other sites, pays to have up to date information.

Will endeavour to answer below...

Q1. How easy or difficult did you find the credit card comparison service to use? Did you find it easy to understand all of the information provided or not?
I found the site easy to navigate and the way they split the credit cards into groups was helpful, it meant you could quickly compare similar cards and deals.

Q2. Did you find the credit card comparison service useful? If so why? If not, why not?
Yes, it easier to see which deal is best.

Q3. What did you think of the display showing your overall savings for each credit card? Did you use the slider tools at the top of the comparison pages for balance transfers, purchase or combination cards? If so, how did you find them to use?
I loved the overall savings bit, very clever to show that and could be influential when people make a choice.

Q4. Did you find a credit card that suited your needs? If not, what would you have liked to see offered that wasn't?
Not at this point, but I would definitely use in the future.

Q5 Do you think you'd use comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service again in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?
Yes, found it very user friendly and quick/ easy to make comparisons.

Q1. How easy or difficult did you find the credit card comparison service to use? Did you find it easy to understand all of the information provided or not?

I found it really easy to use and the info was clear.

Q2. Did you find the credit card comparison service useful? If so why? If not, why not?

Very useful as looking to transfer balance to a 0% card.

Q3. What did you think of the display showing your overall savings for each credit card? Did you use the slider tools at the top of the comparison pages for balance transfers, purchase or combination cards? If so, how did you find them to use?

Liked the idea of seeing possible savings to be made and found the sliders easy to use with only a slight pause for recalculations.

Q4. Did you find a credit card that suited your needs? If not, what would you have liked to see offered that wasn't?

Yes

Q5 Do you think you'd use comparethemarket.com's credit card comparison service again in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes, each time I need to transfer to a 0% balance to pay off my current card.