Transferring credit card debt could save 585m

Transferring credit card debts to a card with a zero per cent introductory offer could save consumers 585 million a year.

15:33 19 January 2005

Transferring credit card debts to a card with a zero per cent introductory offer could save consumers 585 million a year, Intelligence Finance has found.

But six out of ten cardholders have never carried out a balance transfer, according to figures released today.

The Financial Services Authority said today that over a quarter of families have at least one credit card where the outstanding balance is not cleared each month, owing nearly 2,500 on average.

Additionally, outstanding balances on UK cards hit a record 57.6 billion in November.

"With credit card balances at record levels, it is surprising that more cardholders are not taking advantage of balance transfer offers which can provide a welcome interest free period to help reduce their balances," said Nick Robinson, managing director of Intelligence Finance.

Nearly a third (30 per cent) of customers who visited the uSwitch.com website in December 2004 selected to pay off their credit card balances in full compared to only 21 per cent in October.

The average amount requested for balance transfers was 1102 between October and December, uSwitch.com adds.

New ICM research, commissioned by Intelligent Finance, found that 18 million adults have not transferred their credit card debt.