Play Your Cards Right and You’ll Make Money

Playing the credit card companies at their own game can make you money rather than land you in debt if you have a good credit rating, some spare time and a little self-discipline.

The key is to exploit the credit card companies’ generous and tempting offers rather than affording one card issuer your loyalty. Being ruthless with your credit cards and systematically exploiting other card offers at the end of the offer period, can save you paying significant amounts of interest.

Credit card companies are able to offer these free money deals thanks to the many customers who pay double figures in interest each month as they don't clear their balances. Due to these loyal customers there are still plenty of great deals to be had in the UK credit card market.

Apart from the usual interest-free balance transfer and low rate lifetime deals, there are a few other ways to make your card work for you.

One way is savings

Some credit cards now offer the facility for a customer to convert the credit limit of their card into real money that can earn you interest in a savings account. The money must first pass through a bank current account first in order for you take advantage of the savings deal.

Whilst the majority of card issuers now charge for interest free balance transfers (usually between £35 and £50), a few still offer this transaction without any charge such as Marks & Spencer's, Amazon.co.uk Credit Card and the Co-op.

Many cards that were designed as spending cards now offer the facility of transferring money from the card into a current account, allowing you the to invest the money in a savings account. If you choose to do this it is vitally important that you clear the cards balance before the interest free period expires or risk losing what you make in interest through having to pay interest on the card.