Profit from your bank: credit cards

Virgin has the best offer – lasting for 16 months, although there is a fairly typical balance transfer fee of 2.9pc.

Those who intend to use the card for spending should apply for a First Direct or Tesco card – both charge no interest on new purchases for the first year.

Watch out for cards that offer zero interest on both balance transfer and new purchases. If the balance transfer offer is longer you may not be able to clear the cost of "new purchases" until the transferred balance is cleared in full – landing you with unexpected interest charges.