Credit Cards: Balance Transfer Credit Cards
A balance transfer credit card is quite possibly the card that most of us are aware of and is an ideal choice if you have built up some debts that are costing you a lot in interest repayments each month.
With a balance transfer credit card you typically get anything from 9-16 months interest free on balance transfers. There are a couple of catches however that you need to be aware of.
Firstly, most balance transfer credit cards charge you between 2-3% as a transfer fee so you'll end up paying something upfront which will be added to your debt. Therefore you need to weigh up the benefit of the interest free period to see if it makes financial sense for you to go ahead with a balance transfer.
Secondly, if you take out this type of card, under no circumstances should you spend on it as any repayments you make will automatically go off your cheaper debt, meaning that there will be interest building up on your spending. Instead consider having a separate credit card for general use.
You should also be careful you don't end up building up new debts on your second card. Pay your second credit card off in full each month if at all possible and even consider paying by direct debt to guarantee you don't miss any payments. You should also consider paying your interest free credit card by direct debit because if you do miss a payment, either accidentally or because you can't afford it, your interest free period will be cancelled and you'll have ended up with a very expensive credit card when you take into account the initial fees you have paid for the privilige of such a card!
Other credit cards to consider include:
Low Interest Rate Credit Cards
Frequent Flyer Miles Credit Cards
More Credit Card Articles
Getting Out of Credit Card Debt
How to Improve your Credit Score
More Credit Card articles coming soon!
