Of all of the credit cards out there, one category can do more for your personal finances than any other. Lots of credit card companies are offering special incentives to get people to sign up with them. When companies do this with an offer of a balance transfer, this can be really good for your finances. So what is so special about balance transfer cards? For the most part, they put money in your hand and in your pocket.

Breathing Room
Though it is nice to have a plastic card that you can use whenever you want to, it is also extremely nice to be able to spend cash when the time comes. This is what makes balance transfer cards so special. They not only give you the continued spending power, but give you breathing room. Credit card companies understand that it is not exactly easy to keep up with all of your bills and they are sometimes willing to offer you a period of 0% on your balance when you transfer over to their card. In this way, cards with balance transfer capacity are a real pocket hero.

Credit Rating Protection
They save your credit rating. Do you have any idea what a missed or late payment can do to your credit rating? In today's tight credit market, you need to keep your score as healthy as possible. If you are about to miss a credit card payment or foresee a problem down the track, then getting a balance transfer to a card with 0% can keep you on your feet for a little while longer. This is a really nice incentive for customers who normally wouldn't need that kind of help.

Designed for the Customer
Another really great thing about balance transfer cards is that they are usually designed in the favor of the customer. This means that the companies will give you good deals along with them. It is popular for the credit card companies to give you a 0% interest rate on balance transfers for a certain period of time. This means that you can get money in your pocket for free. You will eventually have to pay it back, but in the mean time, you can do whatever you want with the money. If you would like, you can even take the money and invest it in an account that will pay you some dividends. This is one of the nice things out there that lots of customers don't even know about.


Tom Becker is a personal finance expert with years of experience advising people on how to best manage their personal finances. He is currently a writer for Money Compare, a popular Australian comparison website that lets people compare the best credit cards, loans, insurance and online bank accounts.