Debt Consolidation Credit Cards

If you in over your head with debt, there is help out there. This site will give you pointers for credit card consolidation, tips on credit repair and information on paying down your debt.

Credit Card Companies can make it easy on you to consolidate your credit card debt. Very often you will see balance consolidation offers in the mail. The credit card industry tries to make even more money off of you by luring you into these offers.

Balances can be transferred from credit card to credit card. So if you had a £1000 balance on your Nat West Visa card, you could transfer it to your Abbey National Master Card and vice versa. The lower interest rate is usually just an introductory rate – it only lasts for about six months or so. Typically, the credit grantor will increase your interest rate after the introductory period is over and this is where they make their money. The credit card issuer ends up earning interest on the balance you already have with them AND the additional balance from another credit card issuer. For example, if you had a £4000 balance with Master card and transferred an additional £1000 from your Nat West Visa card, Master card would be earning interest on £5000. The initial £4000 will continue to be charged the interest rate that Master card was originally charging you, but the £1000 will receive the benefits of the introductory rate.

This could be beneficial for the consumer for two reasons:

A lower interest rate, be aware that this will increase after the introductory period.
You can transfer balances every time your introductory rate expires and just pay little or no interest until everything is paid off. The credit card industry would refer to you as a “Gamer”, and many of them have reaped the rewards of borrowing for free. However, it is not always free, make sure that there is a $0 balance transfer fee. In many cases, there is a fee; it will be your job to hunt for the 0% introductory rate as well as the £0 transfer fee.