A balance transfer allows a credit card holder to shift their debt from one place to another, in order to get a better deal.

The best balance transfer deals are usually offered to new cardholders, as a way of getting them to sign up for a credit card company's services.

Balance transfers offer consumers a way of paying off their debts, as zero per cent credit cards allows the debt to be frozen while monthly minimum repayments are being made.

How to get a balance transfer

Once an individual has shopped around for the best balance credit card, i.e. one that has a low rate of interest for the longest period of time on their total debt, they will need to apply for credit card.

Whether or not their application will be successful will depend mainly on their credit rating, as competition for a good transfer balance to another credit card is stiff.

According to Sainsbury's Finance some 716,600 people will try and transfer around £1.1 billion a month between credit cards this year.

Someone with a good score has a decent chance of being accepted for a zero per cent balance transfer, while those with a history of late payments may be better off going for slightly less-attractive deals, but ones they are more likely to be approved for.

Once the credit card has been acquired, then the consumer should shift their debt from the place where it is accruing interest onto the new card, where the transfer will secure an interest free, or low interest period.

Consumers should be careful to take note of the rate of interest the credit card will charge them when they make purchases. Often the cards with the best balance transfer rates do not offer cheap deals, in terms of spending.

What sort of balance transfer to get

Most balance transfers will offer a zero per cent interest period for between nine and 15 months, after the money has been shifted.

However for someone with a large debt going for a lifetime balance transfer credit card could be a better option.

This allows the individual to secure a low rate of unfluctuating interest on their debt until it is completely paid off.

According to independent financial comparison and advice website, Fool.co.uk some of the rates these types of deals offer are lower than those of a quick loan and are therefore a savvy way of controlling a large debt and stopping it from escalating.

The future for balance transfers

Beccy Boden-Wilks, a debt adviser and spokesperson for National Debtline, has warned recently that the credit crunch may change how balance transfers work.

She says: "Because we've lived in period where we've had very cheap, accessible credit, people would just keep doing nought per cent balance transfers.

"They'd do nine months, get to the end of the nine months and then do another one."

However, due to the recent credit crunch Ms Boden-Wilks says that now when credit card holders are reaching the end of their zero per cent interest period, they are being refused for another deal.

Furthermore, an increasing number of credit card companies are levying transfer charges of between two and nine per cent on making a balance transfer, on the total sum shifted.

This fee is a one-off payment and usually worth paying to benefit from the low-interest term that follows.