For anyone wanting to park their credit card debt long enough to help them pay it all back, Virgin Money and Nationwide have upped the stakes with card offers aimed at pinching customers from the bigger players.

For anyone wanting to park their credit card debt long enough to help them pay it all back, Virgin Money and Nationwide have upped the stakes with card offers aimed at pinching customers from the bigger players.

As balance transfer cards have steadily increased their 0% offer periods from two years up to three years, while fees have been cut for shorter periods, Barclaycard the market giant has seen Virgin Money go head to head with the ultra-long 36-month card.

Both cards were charging fees of 2.99%, but now Virgin has stolen a march by cutting its fee to 2.49%.

Virgin also offers variants - a 34 month card with a fee cut from 2.79% to 2.25%, and a 32-month version with fee lowered from 2% to 1.75%. On a £5,000 balance, that's a saving of £37 for paying back four months earlier. So given the difference in cost, it makes sense to go for the shortest period you think you will need before payback.

Both Virgin and Barclaycard also offer 0% on purchases for six months, and an annual interest rate of 18.9% thereafter.

One extra twist on the Virgin Money card is that customers have access to "Virgin Money Lounges" in Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Manchester and Norwich which offer free drinks and snacks, iPads and Wi-Fi. There are also

offers and discounts on Virgin products including train tickets.

Unlike most rivals, Virgin Money will not cut the transfer period or raise the interest rate depending on your credit rating. Michele Green at Virgin Money says: "Successful applicants can be confident that they will get the rate they applied for."

Other deals include a 32-month card from MBNA Platinum with a 1.94% fee, while the Santander 123 card has no transfer fee for a 23-month card, but does charge an annual fee of £24.

However the Virgin cards have a sting in the tail for anyone unwise enough to use the card for cash withdrawal - it slaps on a 5% fee, above the normal 3% which is steep enough.

If you do withdraw cash, you start paying interest straight away, often at a hair-raising rate. Barclaycard, MBNA and Virgin all charge 27.9% on cash withdrawals.

Using your credit card like a debit card can also affect your credit score, as some lenders frown on the habit.

Nationwide, the giant of the mutual sector, has just reported its most financially healthy year ever. Among a range of initiatives aimed at demonstrating its commitment to its customer members, Nationwide has scrapped various credit card penalties at a time when other providers are cutting back perks.

Borrowers who exceed their credit limit will now escape a £12 fee in a move that will cost the society £2.6m a year.

Most credit cards also charge £12 if you are late with your monthly payment or miss it all together, or if your cheque or direct debit payment bounces.

Matt Sanders at comparison site GoCompare.com, says the easy way to avoid these charges is to set up a direct debit to clear your balance in full every month. "Most cards now allow you to keep tabs on your spending online or through an app." Some will let you set up alerts when you near your card limit.

If you switch your balance to a new card but use it for normal spending, you may incur interest on everything you spend. Nationwide says if you transfer that £5,000 balance, then use the card for £1000 of purchases in a month before repaying in full, you would still be charged around £23 in interest.

Chris Rhodes, Nationwide's retail director, says: "We do not think that is fair, so we have changed the way we charge interest so that the balance transfer and purchases are kept separately."

But if all you are looking for is a 0% interest offer on spending for a time, then the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury's, M&S, Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks have cards charging no interest on new purchases for 19 months or more.

The market is hotting up just as credit card providers are under pressure from a new EU ruling which, from October, will cap the commission they charge retailers when customers use their cards. The new maximum is 0.3% on credit cards (and 0.2% on debit cards) when some card giants have been pocketing up to 0.7%.

Capital One has already moved, citing "changes in the industry" when scrapping its 0.5% cashback offer.

Santander, which pays up to 3% cashback on its 123 card, and Tesco, which pays cashback on its Clubcard, both said they were reviewing the situation.

Nationwide, however, has said its perks are not under threat.

Andrew Hagger, of independent site Moneycomms.co.uk, says the cards from Halifax (Clarity) charging 12.9 % and Nationwide (Select) at 15.9% will not show up in 'best buy' tables, but "when you weigh up the sum of the component parts, these credit cards offer a range of different attributes and excellent long-term value".