As you probably know, interest rates are at all time low right 
now and if you aren’t getting the best deal from your credit 
card company then they owe it to you to either lower your rate, 
or you owe it to yourself to find a better deal. You see, credit 
card companies need your business in order to succeed and if you 
refuse to pay a penny more than you have to then you’ll be doing 
yourself and others a big favour indeed.  By doing this, you’ll 
avoid paying more than you should and the companies will stop 
treating its clients inappropriately.

Now that this is clear, we will talk about the essentials of 
balance transfers, how they work and how you can ensure that 
you get the absolute best possible deal.


1. First and foremost, understand what a balance transfer 
   http://www.the-credit-card-centre.co.uk/balance-transfers.html 
   is. A balance transfer is when you transfer the balance from 
   one card to another in order to get a better interest rate 
   than the one that you are currently getting.


2. Second, to find the absolute best deals, look to transfer 
   balances on cards where the initial interest rate is 0% and 
   the amount after that is lower than the one you have now. 
   For instance, if you’re a cardholder that has an interest 
   rate of 27.4% on a £1000 balance and you only pay £150 a 
   month for 6 months, you will not pay off the balance in 6 
   months. Instead you will pay £247 worth of interest and your 
   balance after 6 months will be £346. In contrast, if you had 
   a 0% card and make the same monthly payment then your balance 
   will be reduced to £100 at the end of the 6 month period, a 
   tremendous saving!


3. Third, don’t throw those offers that you receive in the mail 
   away. If you have great credit then you’ll likely have credit 
   card companies vying for your attention. Just use this power 
   to your advantage and find the very best 0% deal for you.


4. If no good deals seem apparent, then you have to find your 
   own deals. You can do this by conducting a thorough search 
   on the internet to see if you can find a 0% card offer. 


5. Once you’ve done this, request information and then review 
   it carefully. Pay close attention to the rate after the 
   initial introductory period is over. For instance, if you 
   have two choices of cards with 0% interest rates 
   http://www.the-credit-card-centre.co.uk/0%-credit-cards.html 
   for 6 months and one charges an interest rate of 15.00% after 
   the initial period and one that charges 11.00% after the 
   initial period then by all means choose the second one 
   because it is by far the better deal overall.


6. Read and then reread the credit cardholder agreement a couple 
   of times. Make sure that you understand all of the jargon and 
   if you don’t, find someone that does before you sign it. 
   Review it closely to make sure that you are getting the best 
   deal possible. For instance, when evaluating deals, you 
   should ask yourself these questions:

   1. How long does the introductory rate last?
   2. What will be the rate after the teaser expires?
   3. What are the cards annual fees? Can they be waived?
   4. Are there any transfer fees that you should be aware of?
   5. Are there any perks that are offered?  (Ex. frequent 
      flier miles, free gifts, etc).


7. Once you’ve decided on an offer, fill out your application 
   fully and get it in the mail as soon as you can. 


8. Once you get the offer, make sure that it is a 0% teaser rate 
   and if it isn’t, then contact the company right away. If they 
   aren’t open to doing so then tell them that you’re cancelling 
   the card and look for another company that delivers what they 
   promise. Your primary goal is avoid the old “bait and switch” 
   while simultaneously saving money on interest.


9. While waiting for your new card, make sure that you continue 
   to pay on your old card to avoid glitches in your credit 
   report and once you receive notification that the transfer 
   has been made, make sure you contact the old company and 
   make sure that they received the payoff amount. 


10. After the teaser rate is up, don’t be afraid to jump from 
   one credit card to another after the teaser expires. You see, 
   there is absolutely nothing wrong with surfing cards and 
   taking advantage of 0% offers whenever you possibly can.  
   Just keep finding and researching great deals.


That’s it my friend. Credit card transfers don’t have to be so 
confusing and daunting. If you follow the above mentioned steps 
then you can and will win the balance transfer rate and stop 
throwing your hard earned money down the drain.