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People who want to simplify their finances by merging all of their credit card account balances into one single account should get balance transfer credit cards. A person can gain control of his or her finances by simplifying the process of paying his or her debts. A person may also save money because these credit cards offer competitive interest rates and other perks.

However, people who want to use balance transfer credit cards to merge all of their accounts, need to keep a few things in mind. The interest rate is the most important consideration when shopping for balance transfer credit cards. There are two components of the interest rate that should be considered on these credit cards.

The introductory rate is the first component of the interest rate that should be considered. This rate is usually much smaller than the long term interest rate. It will be applied to the credit card balance for a limited time period. Credit cards that are designed to function specifically as balance transfer credit cards generally offer very low introductory rates. Some may even go so far as to offer a zero percent interest rate for a fixed amount of time.

Persons who are in the process of actively reducing their credit card balances will find the low introductory rates useful. They can gain a temporary respite from the cycle of ever increasing interest payments through the use of balance transfer credit cards that charge a zero percent introductory interest rate.

Introductory rates are meant to be short term incentives, and the long term interest rate will be applied after the introductory period has expired. Persons who use using balance transfer credit cards should strive to pay down their balance as much as possible during the period in which the introductory rate is in effect. This is because this interest rate is always much higher than the introductory rate.

Persons who are interested in balance transfer credit cards should also find out if the credit cards they are considering charge an initial interest fee on the account transfer balance. If the introductory and long term interest rates are appealing enough to offset the extra initial payment, then they should apply for credit cards that charge a fee for account balance transfers.