Applying for a new credit card shouldn't be done lightly. A savvy consumer should carefully shop around, and find a deal that locks in the lowest rate. One good place to comparison shop for credit cards is the World Wide Web.

Several useful websites sort through credit-card offers and provide credit-card use and responsibility information. Here are a few places:

Bankrate.com

bankrate.com/credit-cards.aspx

Covers several credit-card topics, including recent news, interest-rate trends and card calculators.

Better Business Bureau

bbb.org/us/article/tips-on-credit-cards-6099

Provides good overview of credit-card basics, pros and cons, and terms and definitions.

Credit Infocenter

creditinfocenter.com/cards/cardsetc.shtml

Offers everything you need to know about credit cards.

Federal Reserve

federalreserve.gov/creditcard

Features guide to the credit-card process, and interactive tools and features.

IndexCreditCards

indexcreditcards.com

Serves up credit-card information and indexes of cards types and rates.