The cheapest 0% credit cards for borrowing money

If you've got an overdraft costing you a fortune one way to get out of the red is to use a 0% money transfer credit card.

These work by letting you transfer money from your credit card to your current account. Once you've transferred the money, you can use it to pay off your overdraft.

Credit card companies usually charge very high rates of interest on this sort of cash advance, higher than you would pay with most overdrafts.

However, 0% money transfer credit cards allow you to transfer money from your card at 0% interest for an introductory period.

This is very similar to a 0% balance transfer. There are only two differences:

1. You're transferring money from a card to a bank account, instead of transferring a debt from a card to another card.

2. The fee is often higher for a money transfer than for a balance transfer. Money transfer fees are usually around 4% whereas balance transfer fees are typically between 1.5% and 3%.

The longest 0% deals

Right now there are two deals which allow you to freeze the size of your overdraft debt for more than three years.

First up there's the Tesco Bank Balance Transfer Credit Card, which gives you a colossal 40 months of 0% interest on money transfers as well as on balance transfers.

Money transfers on the card attract a 3.94% fee, which means if you have a £2,000 overdraft debt to clear you'll have to pay £78.80. If you haven't paid off the resulting debt within the 0% period, you'll then start paying interest at 18.9%.

This is a time limited offer so make sure you take advantage of it before July 7 2016.

The rivals

There are a number of other cards to consider here though.

The Tesco Bank Clubcard Credit Card for Balance Transfers offers 38 months of 0% interest on money transfers for a 3.94% fee.

Virgin has a host of other cards which you can use for money transfers, with varying 0% periods. There's the 36-month card (4% fee), a 34-month card (2.29% fee), a 32-month card (1.69% fee) and a 30-month card (4% fee).

And don't forget the various charity credit cards provided by MBNA (including the WWF and National Trust) which also offer a 24-month 0% money transfer period, with a 4% fee.

Personal loans

If a money transfer isn't for you, another option is to take out a personal loan.

The rates on offer are significantly less than an overdraft at 19%, but again you'll only be accepted at this rate if your credit score is good.

If your credit rating isn't perfect, you may be offered a loan at a higher rate but if it's below the amount attached to an overdraft then it is still worth going for.

Compare the market-leading credit cards