Balance transfer offers can be a great way to save money if you’re being charged too much interest on an existing balance. You just move the balance to a new credit card with a better deal. You can’t beat it, right? Unfortunately, plenty can go wrong with balance transfer offers (like most other things in life, right?). So what happens if you made a balance transfer mistake and now you’re paying for it?

Let’s take a look at some common balance transfer mistakes, and what you can do to lessen the burden if you make one of them:

Mistake 1: You forgot about the balance transfer fee.

Yay! You just transferred your balance to a new credit card with a much lower interest rate. You can start saving money right away. Or can you? You get your statement, and you see you’ve been slapped with a balance transfer fee you weren’t expecting (because you didn’t read the fine print carefully enough). Uh oh. Well, first thing — relax. The balance transfer fee is probably still much less than what you would pay with a higher interest rate, so you’ll still save money, just not as much as you thought. The best thing you can do in this case is to pay off that balance transfer fee amount right away. Then at least it’s out of the way and not contributing to your overall balance.

Mistake 2: You didn’t pay off the balance transfer within the introductory period.

Unless you get a card like the Suncorp Platinum credit card where the balance transfer rate is offered for the life of the balance transfer, your balance transfer offer is probably limited. After a few months to a year your interest rate will increase (either to the purchase rate or the cash advance rate). If you didn’t realise this and you didn’t pay off your balance quickly enough, you go back to being charged too much interest. Ideally you’ll simply pay off the balance right away when this happens. If you can’t though, it’s worth the effort to try to negotiate with your credit card company. If they won’t work with you, consider another balance transfer (just don’t make a habit of it for the reason mentioned below).

Mistake 3: You bounce around from one balance transfer card to another.

Some consumers have this idea that they can always get one over on their credit card companies by constantly initiating balance transfers. They run up a balance. They transfer it to a card with a low balance transfer rate to save. When that offer expires, they transfer it to yet another new balance transfer card to get a lower rate. And so on….

What they might not realise is that they’re slowly damaging their credit history. Every enquiry (application they make for a new card) is stored in their credit file for years. Constantly applying for new cards shows creditors that you’re a bad risk for them because either you’re desperate for credit or they realise you’re just going to leave and find another offer in a few months anyway. You might find yourself stuck when you really do need a new line of credit (like a car loan, mortgage, or even a new credit card for whatever reason). If this is you, all you can really do is stop.

While one or two balance transfers won’t ruin your credit, if you’re a serial card-switcher, it’s time to stop and settle on the terms you agreed to with your current card. Instead of looking for a better deal all the time, use the deal you have now and work to get your debt paid off.

The best solution is to avoid these balance transfer mistakes in the first place. But if you do find yourself stuck with less than desirable terms, never be afraid to call your credit card company and see if you can work something out. After all, they want to keep you as a customer. While they won’t likely bend to your every whim or honour absurd requests like cutting an interest rate in half, they might be willing to work with you if it means keeping your business.

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