At one time there was little to distinguish between one credit card and another. About the only difference was the provider's name, and how much credit they were willing to extend to you.

Nowadays all that has changed, of course. Fierce competition means that credit card issuers are falling over one another to offer you rewards and incentives, in a bid to get you to sign up with them rather than one of their rivals.

In this article I'll be looking at the wide range of incentives on offer from credit card providers, and offering some advice on how best to choose between them. But before we get on to that, I must sound a note of caution.

If you are likely to leave a balance outstanding on your credit card, rewards should NOT be your first priority when deciding what card to apply for.

There are two main reasons for this. Most important, if you are paying interest on an outstanding balance, the cost of this will almost certainly outweigh the benefit of any rewards. And secondly, some card issuers only offer incentives if you clear your balance every month. If you are going to be leaving a balance on which interest is charged, therefore, your first priority should be to pick a card with a low APR (annual percentage rate) and/or a long interest-free introductory period.

If you are confident that you will be able to pay off your balance every month, you should certainly shop around for a card offering the rewards and incentives you want. Here are just a few examples of the kind of offers currently available...

Cashback - This is a very popular incentive. For every dollar you spend on your card, the card issuer will give you back some money, usually once a year. The amounts vary, but typically range from 0.5 to 2 per cent of total spending. There is often a cap on the total amount you can get back in a year.

Gas Discounts - With the price of gas seemingly going up every day, any way of getting a discount has to be worth considering. One card offering this type of reward is the Discover