In order to attract customers with balances on their cards many credit card companies are offering special interest rates when customers transfer a balance from another credit card to theirs. Some companies are even offering 0% interest on transfers and if you use these deals carefully you can save hundreds of pounds. E.g. If you are paying £50 a month in interest and you get 6 months free credit it is worth approx £300.What to watch out for However, you need to be careful if you are planning to use this card as your main card to make purchases on. Some credit cards, and you need to check with them what their policy is, will always pay off any balance transfers before purchases. This means that when you make a payment you are clearing the interest free bit first. The problem with this is that if you are not paying the whole balance you will not then be clearing all of your purchases. As such you will be charged interest.

How to get the best out of these deals

Transfer as much of the balance as you can to the card. Do not use the card for making purchases (i.e. just keep it for the balance transfer) until the end of the interest free period. Make the minimum payment each month and then repay the balance in full (or transfer it) making sure that you give it plenty of time to arrive before the end of the free interest period.