Two year’s interest free credit on balance transfers from Barclay’s
There are many people that are keen to get a good deal on balance transfer credit cards these days, as many are eager to save money on interest. For those with debts on high interest credit cards a huge amount of their monthly repayment gets swallowed on paying interest and with many people trying to pay down their debts and reduce their outgoings this is something that they naturally want to avoid.
This is why more and more people have been looking for balance transfer credit cards that offer interest free credit for a generous period of time, giving the cardholder plenty of time within which to repay their transferred balances without having to pay any interest on the debt. It seems that Barclaycard, the credit card arm of High Street banking giant Barclay’s, may have come up with the perfect product in the form of a two year interest free balance transfer credit card.
The card not only offers two year’s worth of interest free credit, giving consumers a whopping twenty four months to repay their transferred balances before being hit with interest charges, but it also comes with a reduce balance transfer fee, which is normally a percentage of the amount being transferred and was previously 3.2 percent of the transferred balance. This has now been cut to 2.8 percent, resulting in even greater savings for consumers.
However, Barclaycard is being very strict with regards to its criteria for this credit card. It will only be available to those that earn at least £20,000 per annum, have an excellent credit history, and have at least four year’s worth of experience in handling debts such as credit card debt and loans.
Many Brits bridge the gap with credit cards
It has been revealed in a recent report that a rising number of Brits are bridging the gap between when they run out of money and when they next get paid by using their credit cards to fund their spending. A number of reports have recently highlighted the fact that more and more Brits are finding it impossible to make their budgets stretch far enough as a result of living costs, bills, food prices, and petrol prices soaring whilst wages have been frozen or have been cut in some cases.
It seems that the way in which millions of Brits have been coping with this problem is by turning to their credit cards once they run out of cash, which means that they are at risk of accruing spiralling credit card debts on top of rising living costs. For many Brits it is around twenty one days after they get paid that they run out of money, at which point they have to start using their credit cards to fund their spending.
However, the research also showed that in some cases people were running out of money even sooner than this. Around one tenth of those that had become reliant on credit cards to get them through the month financially said that they had to turn to their cards around fifteen days after getting paid.
One industry official said: “With most of the population feeling the pinch at the moment, it’s no surprise to see so many people reliant on credit so early in the month. However, unless you plan this properly and know you’re able to pay off your balance, this can be a dangerous trap to fall into. If you’re the type of person who doesn’t pay off their card every month, you need to look at the steps you can take to reduce monthly expenditure before turning to credit products. Budgeting is crucial at the moment and people will be amazed at how much cash they can free up each month by simply sitting down and going through their finances.”
Consumers failing to check interest rates on financial products
There is little doubt that in this current financial and economic climate there are huge numbers of people that are keen to try and save money and cut back on their outgoings. However, many people are failing to take some of the most basic steps that could allow them to do this with relative ease, such as checking how much interest they are paying or being paid on various financial products.
A recent survey has shown that huge numbers of people are failing to check on their financial product interest rates, which means that either by paying more interest or not being paid enough interest they could be losing out on money each year. The financial products that consumers should check interest rates on but often fail to do so include credit cards, current accounts, and savings accounts.
The recent data showed that around 62 percent of those with current accounts had either never checked the interest that they received or could not recall doing so. Shockingly around 24 percent of credit card holders had never checked the amount of interest that they were being charged on their borrowing whilst 13 percent had never checked how much interest they were receiving on their savings. The upshot is that many people are either paying too much interest or are not earning as much interest as they could.
One industry expert stated: “It’s important to keep looking for better deals as the market changes. The rate you received when you first got the card or account can change over time, and you won’t always be informed of the changes. In times when every penny helps, reducing the interest you pay on your credit card, and increasing the amount your savings earn can make a big difference to household budget. So if you haven’t checked your rates, do so now and look around for better deals – you might be surprised by the difference.”