The content is accurate at the time of publication and is subject to change.

You have a mountain of debt in your credit card. To put it in terms of numbers, let us say, you owe the credit card company 1500 dollars at the end of the month, when you are due for payment. Your credit limit is 2000 dollars, so you can still do some shopping, but meanwhile you will be charged an interest on the 1500 dollars that is already due.

As you make your monthly payments subsequently, without clearing the entire debt plus the interest getting added every month, you are actually paying quite a lot more than what you are spending. There are two ways of avoiding this. The first option which is the more difficult one is to stop spending until you clear the debt. The second option is to look for a card that offers balance transfer. Credit card companies in a fierce fight with each other offer many incentives including low to 0% interest rate on balance transfers for a fixed period.

All is not great with the balance transfer credit card. If you do not read the fine print well enough, you may find yourself in the soup yet again. First, check out the terms of the credit card. If the credit card offers you a balance transfer initial interest rate of 0% it can be considered. But the next thing to look at is for how long and what is the interest rate after that period. If it says up to 12 months and you have a bad credit history, you might not get the complete period. You may only get the 0% interest for a few months and accidentally end up paying more interest for the remaining time.

Often a 0% for 6 months might not be as good as some credit cards which offer some percentage say 1 -3 % for 18 months. This also depends on how much credit you have, because that will decide how long you will need the low interest rate. Some credit cards have a balance transfer fee, which you need to look at carefully. If you are getting 0% for only a few months and you have to pay a fee of 5%, it might not be such an attractive offer at all and not worth risking your credit history. Again, choosing a card which offers a lower interest rate for a longer time period on balance transfers as well as purchases can be better.

Disclaimer: This editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer(s). Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of the credit card issuer(s), and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer(s). Reasonable efforts are made to present accurate information, however all information is presented without warranty. Consult a card's issuing bank for the terms & conditions.
All rates and fees, and other terms and conditions of the products mentioned in this article/post are actual as of the last update date but are subject to change. See the current products' Terms & Conditions on the issuing banks' websites.