There are many good reasons for taking out a credit card, and one of the major ones is that you can spread out the cost of a major purchase over a period of time. For instance you might want to pay for a holiday, buy something very special such as an engagement ring, or just go on a spending spree. The problem with most credit cards is that they tend to charge quite high interest rates, which makes them an expensive way to borrow money for the long term. However, this is not necessarily the case with all credit cards.

Do not bother reading any further into this article unless you have a perfect or very close to perfect credit rating, as the cards we will describe here are only available to people with impeccable credit histories, however if the credit card company considers that you are very low risk, then you could qualify for a card which has 0% interest on purchases and balance transfers for periods as long as sixteen months.

Finding these cards is not easy and qualifying for them is not either, so you will need to compare credit cards very carefully before you apply; remember that every time you make an application your credit history will be searched and a record of that search will appear on your credit history; if a credit card company considers that your history has been searched too many times, then it might downgrade your credit rating as a result.

Although these cards have zero interest rates for a limited period, after that period is over interest becomes payable on any balance, and typically the interest rates charged will be 16% to 18% depending on the credit card company, so it is advisable to ensure that your balance is reduced to zero before the free interest period expires.
If you do need to borrow money for a longer period, then you should investigate the possibility of a personal loan in order to pay off the balance. As you already will have an excellent credit rating you should be able to qualify for a personal loan at around half the interest rate that you would be charged on the card.

On the other hand, if you make a purchase with a personal loan you do not qualify for the additional guarantee that you get when you make a purchase with your credit card. When you purchase any item that costs over £100 with your card, your card supplier will compensate you should anything go wrong with that purchase.

Of course you could always transfer the balance to another card from a different company, but you can only do that sort of thing for so long before it begins to look a little odd on your credit rating. Juggling different credit cards can adversely affect your credit score.

Note that the kind of credit cards mentioned in this article is not necessarily the best choice for people who prefer to pay off their balance every month. Such people are advised to look at cashback and rewards credit cards instead.