The consumer Web site Bankrate. com has laid down some guidelines for people who wish to go in for a credit card, before industry reforms take a practical shape in February.

For the guiding principles that Bankrate. com released recently, it conducted a small review of the 20 platinum and rewards cards that are issued by 10 credit card companies, namely - American Express Co., Bank of America Corp., Capital One Financial Corp., JP Morgan Chase & Co., Citibank N. A., Discover Bank, First National Bank of Omaha, USAA Federal Savings Bank, U. S. Bank and Wells Fargo.

Evaluating the most basic terms and conditions of the issuers, Bankrate. com found that most credit cards had average late fee ranging from $20.70 to $38.50; a $32 average fee for exceeding limit; and a 3 percent average balance transfer fee.

While six out of ten cards charge 3 percent on cash advances; most issuers charge a fee from $10 to $15 for phone payments. In addition, seven out of ten issuers also charged $3-10 for a copy of the borrower's credit card statement; and most of them had 20-25 days' grace periods.

Based on the above analysis of the ten leading issuers of credit cards, said Ellen Cannon, managing editor at Bankrate. com, has come up with a 'practical rule,' for choosing a card, that is: "Look for the ones that charge the lowest fees!"