What cards will and won't do for customers today is significantly different than it was even a year or two ago. Finding a card that offers the best of the recent changes without the costs isn't easy. Many of the drawbacks are buried in the fine print (yes, there's still lots of that). SmartFinanceTips and a team of experts dug through the cards to find the best new ones that might be worth a place in your wallet.

First, some good news: consumers have less credit card debt to wrangle. The average household owes $7,490 – 9% less than at the recession's onset in 2008, according to Synovate Mail Monitor. Spending cutbacks have helped, but so have CARD Act provisions that allocate payments of more than the minimum toward high-interest rate debt first and forbid issuers from raising rates on existing balances in good standing. Of course, higher interest rates overall and rising minimum payment requirements can cancel out those friendlier practices, making carrying a balance just as expensive, if not more so. And balance transfer fees now range as high as 5%, up from 3% a few years ago.

Managing debt in a post-CARD Act world requires at least two different cards: one with a good balance transfer offer and another with a low ongoing rate on purchases, just in case you can't always pay off your monthly balance. Right now, the most generous balance transfer deals for consumers offer at least 18 months at 0%, and charge no more than a 3% fee. With 21-month offers and 3% fees, both Citi Diamond Preferred and Citi Platinum Select fit the bill. (The 0% rate applies to purchases made during the first 21 months, too.) Discover More offers more time -- up to 24 months -- with a higher 5% transfer fee. But for those who need more time to pay down their debt and don't plan to make any new purchases on the card, it could be the better deal.

For the occasional balance-carrier, the best bet is typically the card with the lowest rate available. The Simmons First Platinum Visa currently offers a 7.25% APR, but only for people with excellent credit.

For those with average credit, there are cards with average rates that cut interest rates for on-time payments and offer rewards for months you pay in full. Citi Forward cardholders see their rate drop 0.25% every three months that they pay on time and stay within their credit limit, for up to a 2% total reduction. After 0% for 12 months on purchases, the APR ranges from 12.99% to 19.99%. Cardholders also earn rewards points for good behavior, as well as five points per dollar spent on restaurants, books, movies and music, and a point per dollar spent on everything else.

The higher interest rate and short introductory offers aren't the best deal if you're carrying a big balance. But the rewards, including 6,000 points for making $250 in purchases within three months and 2,500 for paperless billing (combined, worth $50 in cash or $60 in gift cards), can work out better for cardholders who only occasionally don't pay off their balance in full.