A quarter of UK credit card holders have transferred their balances

December 20, 2006

A recent study shows that in the last year alone almost 25% of UK credit card holders have transferred a credit card balance onto another (often cheaper) card.

Research by Moneyexpert claims 8million people have transferred over £6.5billion from a card with high interest to one with a much lower rate or interest free offers on balance transfers.

It would appear the most common age group to do this type of transaction are those in the 30-50 age group. Within this age bracket 7% admit to transferring £5,000 or more, whereas only 2% of the 18-29 year olds or over 50’s did so.

Moneyexpert believes this is further evidence of a debt culture in Britain and while they commend card holders for sifting out better deals for themselves, they urge consumers to take the opportunity while moving providers to also grasp the chance of a fresh start and to tackle altering their spending habits and look to seriously cut their debts.

As ever, they warn customers to read all the fine print and weigh up all costs and figures between balance transfer deals and interest rates offered by a new provider. By doing so they will secure themselves a better deal in the future.