by Amber Hilton

Created on: January 06, 2010

Low interest rate balance transfer offers are one way to save money and eliminate credit card debt. However, balance transfer offers often have hidden fees or other deceiving terms, which makes proper research important before selecting a balance transfer offer. While financial experts generally recommend transferring balances to lower interest rate cards, they often warn that doing this too often can eventually negatively impact your credit. Outlined below are several ways to save money using balance transfer credit cards, without accumulating more debt or damaging your credit score.

* Look for the longest possible introductory period. Transferring a balance from a high interest rate card via a low introductory offer is one way to decrease the amount of interest that you are paying on your debt and ultimately pay your debt off faster. Introductory periods can last anywhere from a few months to over a year. The longer the introductory period, the more that you will be able to pay off without accumulating any interest.

* Look for the lowest rate. Many credit card companies offer 0% interest on balance transfers. Others may offer low rates, such as 3%-5%. While 0% is obviously generally your best bet, don’t forget to compare the length of the introductory period, the balance transfer fee, the regular APR, annual fees and any other applicable fees. A credit card that is offering 4% for one year with no annual fee may end up being a better option than one that offers 0% for only three or four months.

* Look for low balance transfer fees. One of the biggest downfalls of transferring a balance is the associated balance transfer fee. This fee is typically anywhere from 3%-5% of the balance being transferred and is designed to keep cardholders from switching to another credit card company. Before deciding to transfer a balance to save on interest payments, make sure that the offer is good enough to make up for the balance transfer fee. The longer the introductory period at a low rate, the more it will be worth paying the balance transfer fee.

* Watch for high regular APRs. Many credit card companies attract consumers with low introductory rate balance transfer offers, hoping that they won’t notice the high regular APR after the introductory period ends. Unless you are absolutely certain that you can pay off the remaining balance within the introductory period, don’t sign up for any card with an unreasonably high regular rate or you’ll be right back

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