Balance transfer deals dwindling

Posted 2008-02-29

Customers hoping to secure a low interest balance transfer deal on their credit card may struggle to find suitable products, according to a new study.

Research carried out by Fool found that there are just nine genuine zero per cent balance transfer credit cards left, compared to some 200 deals available this time last year.

The finance site measured the credit card products available on the basis that a zero per cent deal that charges a fee is genuine if the zero per cent interest applies for ten months or more.

When credit cards that are connected under the same card are taking out of the equation, as a customer might not be able to transfer a balance from one of these cards to another, there are just nine cards left.

“Consumers who intend to use zero per cent balance transfer cards need to be aware that while there may be a plethora of cards, there are effectively only nine genuine cards that will do what they say on the tin,” said David Kuo from Fool.

“As always there are no free lunches in finance and what appear to be free lunches normally come with strings attached.”

A recent report from Sainsburys Bank revealed that 4.3 million people plan to transfer credit card balances to another card by July of this year.

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