Store Cards.

Store cards are rarely good value for money as they generally charge a much higher interest than is available through a normal credit card from your high street bank or other finance provider.

They often come with the offer of a discount from your purchase at the till and those who have ended up with a variety of these cards are often in a position with a number of high interest debts. In this case it would be sensible to consider moving these debts under a balance transfer to another card and closing the Store card/s.

These cards are sold at the point of and a quick credit check and application form completed in minutes allows a purchase to be made using the card.

Store cards do have some advantages as users will often get discounts, special offers, extra money off during sales, sale previews, magazines and details of special offers exclusive to card holders.

These advantages may very well be of benefit but the card holder should realise that these are marketing schemes to persuade you to purchase more on the high charging card.

If you can clear the balance within the interest-free period, the Store card need not be all bad news. It does require discipline to extract the the advantages of a Store card and avoid the disadvantages.

If you are not sure you have that discipline then avoid them!

Store card interest rates are inevitably higher than normal credit cards and the small print needs to be carefully examined. Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) is a popular add on but you should treat this option with great care. Read the page on PPI on yourmoney.co.uk before ticking the box.

Other small print may include that the card charges interest from the date you made the purchase and you have no free period of you miss the payment date.

You can find further useful reading on Store cards here:

The Uswitch site allows you to compare deals from various Credit Card providers.
http://www.uswitch.com/

Martin Lewis the TV Journalists web site always has information and articles on Credit Cards and balance transfers:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/