Best credit card for installments 2026

If you don't always pay off your credit card balance in full, the effective interest rate is by far the most important factor – it decides what paying in installments ultimately costs you. Here we sort only real credit cards with installment repayment by their true APR. Our editorial team consistently warns against cards above 20 % interest.

What matters for installment payment

  • Low effective interest – the only factor that really counts for installments. Under 20 % is good, under 15 % very good.
  • No hidden costs – low base and foreign currency fees on top of the interest.
  • Transparent terms – the provider states the APR clearly (we mark down concealment).
  • Beware the interest trap: many advertised “fee-free” cards carry 24–25 % APR – expensive on every installment.

At a glance

  • Cards compared: 12
  • Issuers: 9
  • Card types: 12 credit cards with revolving option
  • Networks: Visa (8), Mastercard (4)
  • No annual fee: 9 of 12; otherwise €24 to €118.80 per year
  • No foreign transaction fee: 12 of 12
  • With revolving credit option: 12 of 12; APR 16.72% to 25.09%
  • With travel insurance: 6 of 12
  • No SCHUFA check: 0 of 12

Calculated automatically from the current card data in this comparison.

The best cards compared

Only real credit cards with installment repayment, sorted by lowest APR:

  1. Hanseatic Bank GenialCard – Popular fee-free credit card with free cash withdrawals abroad. Credit score: 7.4/10
  2. Easybank Credit Card – Flexible credit card with no account requirement — successor to the Barclays Visa. Credit score: 7.3/10
  3. Deutschland-Kreditkarte Classic – Well-known free Visa credit card with no account requirement, recommended by Stiftung Warentest. Credit score: 7.3/10
  4. Bank Norwegian Visa – The all-round fee-free travel credit card with no extra checking account. Credit score: 7.2/10
  5. awa7 Visa – Sustainable free credit card — a tree is planted for every payment. Credit score: 7.2/10
  6. TF Bank Mastercard Gold – Free travel credit card with included travel insurance and a long payment period. Credit score: 7.2/10
  7. GMX WEB.Cent Credit Card (Mastercard Gold) – Free gold credit card with travel insurance and free worldwide withdrawals. Credit score: 7.1/10
  8. Advanzia Gebührenfrei Mastercard Gold – Permanently free genuine credit card with travel insurance — ideal when repaid in full each month. Credit score: 7.1/10
  9. Openbank BestCard Smart – Shopping credit card from Openbank (formerly Santander) – no foreign currency fee, with purchase protection and 4 free withdrawals per month. Credit score: 7.1/10
  10. Openbank BestCard Extra – Credit card with insurance package and 6 free withdrawals abroad per month. Credit score: 6.8/10
  11. Consors Finanz Mastercard – Free Mastercard with no foreign currency fee and flexible repayment: now, later or in instalments. Credit score: 6.7/10
  12. Openbank BestCard Premium – Premium card with extensive insurance and 8 free withdrawals worldwide per month. Credit score: 6.4/10

How we rate

Every card gets a transparent overall score from real conditions, plus a statistically smoothed community signal and an interest safeguard against expensive interest traps . Our independent editorial team rates by fixed criteria, not by provider instructions. For this page we additionally tuned the weighting to the specific usage context. See our methodology page for exactly how the score is calculated, step by step. All information is provided without guarantee; the respective provider's conditions prevail.

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