In recent times, it has become comparatively more difficult to procure no annual fee credit cards than before. Credit card companies are now reluctant to issue these cards to people unless they have a quite satisfactory or sometimes, perfect credit. This is not to say that no annual fee credit cards are completely out of bounds for people with poor credit; but it must be acknowledged that there has been a noticeable decline in the number of such cards issued. Bankers or other credit card issuers have now become more cautious about providing credit to borrowers who may create problems for them as far as repayment is concerned.
Generally speaking, some credit card companies have offered no annual fee credit cards to customers on a regular basis. But they have mostly limited these offers to people with good credit history. People with poor credit scores usually were given credit cards with a fee. In addition to annual fees, such cards for poor-credit customers carried other fees such as activation fees as well. These cards with a fee often had just minimal credit lines that were often exhausted by the time you finished paying all your fees.
In view of the recent global economic meltdown, it is extremely difficult for a person to get a no annual fee credit card unless his or her credit score is of the highest order. The situation is such that people with reasonably high credit scores, say about 675, may not get a card that charges no annual fee. These numbers, however, are not fixed and often vary according to existing economic conditions and response of lenders to such conditions.
However, people today consider several aspects and do not go for a card just because it charges no annual fee. For example, in case a no annual fee credit card comes with higher interest, and one must have to maintain a minimum balance, a customer may opt for a card with a small annual fee so he doesn’t have to pay more interest.