A third plan to switch credit card debt

Around 31 per cent of people with outstanding credit card debt said in a survey that they plan to transfer an average of 1,015 between plastic this year, and just over half of them will do so during the coming three months, according to high street bank Santander.

But the amount people plan to transfer between cards has fallen steeply during the past two years and is less than half the 2,290 consumers planned to shift at the end of 2008.

Many people are still repaying debts they accrued some time ago. Ian Coles, director of Santander Cards, said: "Our research shows that millions of people are switched on to the benefits of transfer offers and are choosing to take a proactive approach to managing their money."