Best 0% credit cards

APR stands for 'annual percentage rate' and is the rate a provider will charge you for borrowing, including the amount of interest plus any fees. Where credit cards use a 'representative APR', it means only 51% of successful applicants must be given the stated rate.

If you get a 0% spending card, you won't be charged ANY interest on your spending during the introductory interest-free period. However, after that ends, you'll be charged interest on any outstanding debt. So, if you fully repay your debt before then, you won't pay a penny.

You can continue to use the card after the 0% period ends, though to avoid paying interest you must repay your balance IN FULL each month. However, there are specialist reward cards which can net you cashback or points on your spending, which are better for day-to-day spending.

Set up a direct debit for at least the minimum repayment as soon as you're accepted. Even though you pay 0% interest, you still need to make repayments each month.

If you miss one, you may lose your 0% deal and get a £12ish charge. It may also be added as a missed payment on your credit report.

You'll also need to be careful not to spend more than your credit limit. If you do, the card provider may end the 0% offer, which means you'll start paying interest.

Your aim should be to pay more than the minimum – unless you've pricey debts elsewhere, in which case focus max repayments on them. Minimum payments are designed to make debts last as long as possible, which you should try to avoid – see tips to beat this in Danger: Minimum Repayments.

There are no 0% loans, but there are 0% credit cards... so the trick is to turn a card into a loan.

Go even one month beyond the promotional 0% period and the interest rate (Annual Percentage Rate) rockets, so calculate the amount needed to clear the balance by then and remember that end date.

Divide what you spent by the number of 0% months and set up a direct debit to clear it in that time, so it works like a loan where you pay it back in full over a set period.

So £600 over a year is £50 a month to clear. If you've not cleared it in time, see our Balance transfers guide for full information on shifting the amount you owe to another 0% card. Also see How to cancel a credit card if you no longer need it for what you need to consider.

While purchases on these cards are interest-free for a number of months, you'll need to check if other uses, such as balance transfers, are as well (see What is a balance transfer credit card?).

Some cards let you transfer a balance over to the same 0% period you would receive for spending, after a one-off fee around 3% of the balance you're transferring. See our Best all-rounders guide for full info.

Cash withdrawals are a different case – interest is usually charged from the date of making the cash withdrawal until it's paid off.

This means you'll most probably see an interest charge on the first statement after the cash withdrawal, which is the interest charged from the date you made the withdrawal until the date the statement was issued.

But you may also find interest is charged on the following statement. There'll be a delay between your statement being drawn up, and you paying it. It may be a couple of days, it may be a couple of weeks, but you'll be charged interest on the cash withdrawal until you pay it off.

First up, we would caution anyone with past credit problems against new borrowing. Yet the 0% spending period on these cards can be used to give you respite and save you money on costly debts, such as overdrafts with high interest. Here's how...

Step 1: Do normal spending on the 0% spending card up to the credit limit. As you're using it instead of cash from your bank account, your income should build up there.

Step 2: Use the money built up in your bank account to reduce your debt (for example, your overdraft). In effect, you've now got the debt on the card instead.

Step 3: No interest is added during the 0% period (up to 12 months, based on the cards below), so you've got until this ends to reduce your overall debt – though you do need to still pay the minimum monthly repayments. Do a budget to work out how to do it.

Step 4: When the interest-free period ends, the rate jumps to the expensive APR of the card, so ensure there's no debt on it. Then focus on repaying the highest APR debt first.

If it's not high enough to buy what you want, just use as much of the limit of the card you've just got as you can. You could always try to get another 0% purchase card, or look for another way to get the cash.

See How much credit limit should I have? and High credit limit cards for more. 

When your introductory 0% period ends, you'll start accruing interest on any unpaid balance and on any future spending at the card's APR. 

APR stands for 'annual percentage rate' and is the interest rate credit card providers charge on any outstanding card debt after any introductory interest-free period ends. When APR is calculated, providers must include the cost of borrowing, plus any fees (eg if the card charges an annual fee for use). Read our full Interest rates guide for more info.

Due to long interest-free periods on offer, 0% spending cards are often one of the cheapest ways to borrow. If you can't or don't want to get one of these cards, however, other options include: 

• A personal loan: here you borrow a lump sum, and pay it back in fixed, monthly instalments. See How to get a cheap personal loan for current best buys.

• A money transfer credit card: with these cards, a lender transfers cash directly into your bank account for a small fee. They also tend to come with 0% periods, which give you a number of months to repay without incurring interest charges. See our Money transfer cards guide. 
  

• An overdraft: Here you can borrow much smaller amounts. Some banks won't charge you for going into your overdraft up to a limit, depending on your credit score, but be aware that overdrafts can be a danger debt, in some cases with interest rates up to a shocking 40%. Find out more in our Cut overdraft charges guide.

While purchases on these cards come with interest-free introductory periods, you'll need to check if they have similar deals for balance transfers. 

Some cards allow you to transfer a balance over with the same or similar 0% period you would receive for spending (typically including a one-off fee of around 3% of the balance you transfer). We list these dual-use cards in our Best all-rounders guide. 

If your spending card does not come with a 0% balance transfer intro period, you still may be able to do a balance transfer, but you'll likely be charged an expensive interest rate on the transferred debt from the moment it reaches your account.