Best card deals out there at the moment?

[Rachelle]

I'm trying to find (again) a decent card to transfer my outstanding balance to. How many options do I have? In other words, when am I going to run out of places to try? Who are the main companies. I want to find this out before I apply for a new card and get refused as I'm worried that will reflect on my overall credit rating.

[Henry]

Which cards do you already hold / have held recently and how long ago were they closed?

There are a lot of credit cards and issuing bank groups to list.

Virgin Money is the best at the moment and one of the easier ones to get / highest credit limit likely Virgin Money Credit Card

[Rachelle]

I haven't closed any of them - oh dear is that what you're meant to do? I have egg, virgin, natwest, jlp and, I think that's it. Is that really really bad? Is there anyone left I can go for?

[Henry]

You don't have to close them - although when you apply for another credit card they will take into account your current available credit amount and if you can afford to borrow more based on your current income.

Virgin is definitely a good one to hold onto because they often offer existing customer balance transfer deals.

Other credit cards available that you don't have or have as part of a banking group include Halifax (HBOS) with 0% for 9 months, Post Office (Bank of Ireland) 0% for 12 months, Barclaycard with 0% for 15 months, Abbey with 0% for 15 months.

There are a lot available - but you need to check if you meet the minimum requirements.

[Rachelle]

Hey thanks Henry - that's really helpful. I probably won't meet the requirements although virgin were happy to give me a card so you never know. Right, I shall get on to finding the next one to transfer to tomorrow. Wish me luck and thanks!

[Rachelle]

Hmmm - not having much luck but I'll keep my fingers crossed. I really want to try and make sure I stay on 0% otherwise I might be in trouble.

[Henry]

Be careful not to apply for too many credit cards at once as this will start to affect future applications if you apply for more than 2 every 6 months.

There are plenty of 0% deals out there from various issuers. Have you thought about a life of balance deal - as this would give you a low rate until you paid the balance off in full so you wouldn't have to worry about switching every year or so.

It's worth using a comparison site, like Credit Card Comparison Online for example, so you can see all the different deals in one place.

Good luck!