Coming to the end of your 0 per cent deal with Virgin? We Tell You What To Do Next

The 0 per cent Virgin Credit Card deal is still one of the best on the market, but if you are coming to the end of your 16 month interest free period, and have money to pay off, you need to move your balance now.

Virgin won’t extend your 0 per cent deal. This is how the lenders make money – they are banking on you not having paid off all your credit card debt before the deal runs out. But you can do almost as well elsewhere. Here are our three top tips to help you get the best deal for your debt transfer right now:

1. Go for another 0 per cent deal

There are plenty of other deals out there, so go and get yourself one. The best alternative for existing Virgin credit card holders is Barclaycard Platinum. It is offering 15 months 0 per cent interest on balance transfers, so just one month behind the Virgin card. This has other benefits too.

The transfer fee on this card is lower than Virgin – at 2.9 per cent rather than 2.98 per cent with Virgin – and the default interest rate is currently lower, at 15.9 per cent compared with 16.6 per cent.

If you are moving from a non-Virgin card, then choose the Virgin card – it is still the best 0 per cent deal out there right now, at 16 months.

2. Use a current account with a 0 per cent overdraft

If you cannot get another 0 per cent card, then see if you can get an account with an agreed overdraft limit and 0 per cent interest. You need an overdraft big enough to cover your credit card balance though.

Alliance & Leicester’s Premier Direct Current Account has a 0 per cent deal on overdrafts for new customers for 12 months from when you open the account. After that, if you are within your agreed overdraft, then you would pay 50p a day up to a maximum of £5 a month – there is no interest currently applied if you are within your arranged limit, but that could always change so check the terms.

The most you would pay in a year for this facility under the current terms is £60. Bear in mind if you had, say, £3,000 outstanding on your card with Virgin and went to the 16.6 per cent rate, then you would be paying £498 a year in interest alone. So you could save yourself £438 a year this way if you can get an agreed overdraft for £3,000 at 0 per cent.

You would not have to make any specific monthly repayments, unlike on a credit card, so be disciplined about reducing the overdraft.

3. Get a low interest loan

If you cannot get a 0 per cent credit card deal, or the 0 per cent overdraft, then reduce your interest payments with a low interest loan.

Nationwide customers can currently get 7.6 per cent on loans, while Alliance & Leicester is offering 7.9 per cent to existing customers, or exclusively through certain partners such as TotallyMoney.com.

This is nowhere near as good as 0 per cent, but even with Alliance & Leicester’s Personal Loan Alliance & Leicester’s Personal Loan, you would still be saving yourself £231 a year in interest compared to leaving a £3,000 debt to go onto the standard 16.6 per cent rate on the Virgin card.

Of course, these tips apply no matter what 0 per cent card deal you are coming off of at the moment. Don’t get suckered into paying the high interest rates of the credit card providers. They are relying on you to do it, so beat them at their own game.