In an effort to attract new buyers and motivate current customers during holidays, Halifax announced the extension of the 0% introductory rate deal on its all-in-one credit card to 15 months (up from 13 months) for both purchases and balance transfers.

This is the longest combined balance transfer and purchase card deal currently in the market but what does that mean for potential customers?

Simply put, customers won’t have to pay interest on any new purchases until March 2013 and any balance transferred from another card will receive a 15-month interest-free period starting when the card is issued.

All balance transfers from any other card are charged with a rather typical 3% handling fee that needs to be factored in when moving existing debts over to the all-in-one.

Such a strong promotional offer may tempt customers to frequently use the all-in-one card for all their spending during the interest-free period. However, specialists strongly advise paying off your debts within the promotional period to avoid “being hit” by the much higher interest rates that follow.

After the 15-month interest-free period, the Halifax All-in-one comes with a representative APR (annual percentage rate) of 17.9%.

Also, cash advances such as withdrawing money from ATMs are charged with an annual rate of 27.95% which can and should be avoided as customers benefit a lot more if they use the card for direct spending instead.

Head of banking at MoneySupermarket.com, Kevin Mountford commented: “There is no doubt that a long term dual purpose credit card is a welcome addition to the credit card market as it allows consumers to spread the cost of shopping and debt consolidation. The appetite for lenders to attract new credit card customers continues despite the current economic climate.”

Mr. Mountford also warned that “It is worth bearing in mind that although many customers will receive the 0pc offer for 15 months, this card is ‘risk-based’, so if you have a less than good credit profile you are unlikely to get this specific deal and may be offered an alternative.”