The Colour of Money

As far as I can see, the Post Office credit card really is one of the best all-round credit cards available at the moment.

For a start it offers an interest free credit card balance transfer facility for 10 months. So, if you have got debts on your existing credit cards, you can transfer the balance to the Post Office card and not pay any interest on the transferred balance for 10 months.

Usually a credit card is either good news for purchasers or good news for people doing balance transfers - but seldom good for both types of credit card user.

But the Post Office credit card scores well on both counts. Because as well as the 0% balance transfer feature, it also offers an interest-free deal for new purchases for the first three months. After the three month introductory period, the interest rate is 1.385% per month (unless of course you clear the balance each month in which case there is no interest to pay).

And if that wasn’t enough, the card also offers a great deal if you use it abroad. Most credit card companies charge fees or commission if you use your credit card when you are overseas on holiday or on business. But with the Post Office credit card you pay no commission on purchases that you make abroad using your card.

Sounds good so far: 0% interest on balance transfers for 10 months, 0% interest on purchases for three months, and a permanent 0% commission on purchases made outside the UK.

Is there a catch? Well, not as far as I can see. The only bits of smallprint I can find are that the balance transfers are subject to a handling fee, which seems to be the case with all credit cards these days. In the case of the Post Office card the balance transfer handling fee is 2.75% of the amount transferred. The only other point to note about the transfer offer is that for the 10 months interest free offer you have to make the transfer within three months of first getting the card.

On the plus side, though, the 0% balance transfer offer becomes available again on new transfers for a five month period once you have had the card for a year and again when you reach your second anniversary.

And if you are making large purchases, there is a separate payment plan offer that means you can have a lower interest rate for one-off purchases of items costing from £500 to £2000.

As a final bonus, almost everything you buy on your Post Office credit card is insured against accidental damage, loss and theft for up to 90 days from the date of purchase.

If you want to apply or find out more, just click here.