All About Debts

There has been a rapid growth in the availability of zero per cent rates in the credit card industry. These have been caused by the combination of very low national interest rates, and the injection of fierce competition from American lenders such as Capital One. The UK credit card industry is now recognised as one of the most sophisticated and competitive credit card markets in the world.

Debt Help One of the most popular innovations in the past number of years has been the introduction of the zero per cent balance transfer. This has revolutionised the finances for many indebted customers. How it works is if you have very high interest charges on one of you're out standing credit card balances, then you can transfer it to a new credit card. In exchange for getting your business in this way, the new credit card provider will give you a zero per cent interest rate on the sum transferred for a period of usually, six to nine months.

With many providers charging over 15% APR you will be paying 50 per annum in interest on 000 debt. Pick of the zero per cent bunch include Lloyds TSB's Advance Card, offering 0% on balance transfers for 12 months. Or Sainsbury's Visa Card offers a rate of 5.90% for the life of the balance transferred. The potential saving here on a debt of 000 could be as much as 50 in the first year.

Counseling Debt While taking advantage of these zero per cent offers is highly advisable, as it can save you literally hundreds on interest charges, there are still precautions that you should take if you wish to avoid some costly mistakes. The first thing to realise is that there are different types of zero percent. What you will most likely come into contact with is zero per cent on balance transfers or zero per cent on purchases. You must not confuse the two.

If youa ve got several credit card debts, it makes much more sense to transfer your balance onto one low interest card. Interest rates tend to be lower on balance transfers, so youa ll be saving money and making repayments easier to manage. Make sure you cut up your old cards once you transfer your balance.

Consolidation Consumer Debt If you have zero per cent on balance transfers then that will not mean you have zero per cent on purchases, so any purchases you make during your zero per cent period will not be at zero per cent but at your standard rate. This can be very important if we look at the situation using an example.

The need for care when transferring credit card balances . . Customers should be careful when transferring credit balances from one card to another to... Now is the time to slash your credit card debts . . Credit card debt in Britain has now reached astronomical proportions with current levels of...

Debt Settlement Supposing you have five thousand pounds on a credit card a 15%. If you transfer this to a card that gives you 0% on balance transfers for nine months you will save hundreds on interest. However, supposing the new card has a standard rate of 15% also. Now, if you have your five thousand on it safely at 0%, but suppose you make one hundred pounds worth of purchases. And then you pay back one hundred pounds; the one hundred you pay back will be applied to the first one hundred of the five thousand-balance transfers. This will leave you with 4,900 left at zero per cent on the balance transfer, and 100 as a purchase that attracts the standard 15%.

Yes, free period. If the balance transfer is, say, for 12 months and the purchase period is for 6 months, then I would absolutely say only use it for a balance transfer. If you carry out purchases on that card, you will start accruing interest on those purchases after 6 months, and the way that payments are allocated means that you will be paying off the cheapest debt first, which is the 0% balance transfer.

Debt Free In this way you can quickly see how a zero per cent balance transfer can become a 15% purchases balance.

It's straightforward. You apply for the new credit card and, if your application is accepted, you can transfer your existing balance by giving your new card issuer the details of your old card. You may need to transfer your money as soon as you get your new card to be eligible for the introductory offer. Many credit card companies have online banking so you can do the balance transfer yourself. You can also transfer existing debts from store cards.

Consolidation Debt Service
Peter Kenny is a writer for creditcards-gb
For additional articles and an extensive resource for everything about credit cards, please visit us at http://www.creditcards-gb.co.uk and http://www.creditcards2go4.com

Company Consolidation Debt Peter Kenny has been writing financial articles for the last five years and offers great advice on credit cards and loans. More information can be found at creditcards-gb and moneywize

[ Comment, Edit or Article Submission ]