How to be a credit card rate tart

Become a rate tart and never pay interest on your credit card balance. If you’re financially savvy and dedicated to saving, you could take advantage of the introductory 0% interest rates and pay no interest for years. Or, at least until banks get tired of rate tarts and stop the great introductory offers.

Transfer your balance, and then do it again

Many providers offer introductory 0% interest rates on balance transfers. This means you can move your credit card debt to a new card and pay no interest for up to 12 months.

But, if you’re serious about becoming a credit card rate tart, play the system. Transfer your balance to a 0% card and then when the time’s up, transfer it to another. It means you will never pay interest. Ever.

It’s a sweet deal and means you can avoid paying interest on your borrowing. If you don’t play the game right, you could end up in the red.

Playing the 0% game

The trick is to find a credit card with a long 0% period. The longer, the better. How can you find the best one? Use buy.co.uk to compare cards and find out which cards offer the longest 0% on balance transfers, or on purchases, if you don’t have a balance to transfer.

Don’t get stung

It sounds great in theory, but you have to be on the ball. If you forget to transfer your balance in time you could have to pay interest on the entire debt.

Check that you make your repayments on time too, or you could be hit with a hefty penalty.

Banks are frustrated by rate tarts and have been cracking down. Many have introduced fees to transfer your balance. You might have to pay, for example, a charge equivalent to 2% of your balance. It’s normally capped at about £50. Despite this, rate tarts normally still come out trumps.

In fact, rate tarts are costing the UK banking industry about £1 billion a year, according to Capital One. It’s little wonder they aren’t happy.

Worried about your reputation?

Watch out. If you find yourself signing away for card after card you may be unwittingly authorising providers to search your credit history.

If a lender sees that a large number of providers have checked your credit history, they may question why you have applied for so much credit.

So make sure you only allow credit searches when you have found the right card. And as long as you make your repayments on time you should have no problem switching your card every six or twelve months.

Ready to become a tart?

If you want to transfer your balance, use our free and impartial calculator to compare the best cards for your needs.