Credit card companies have recently started a crackdown denying many borrowers with a patchy credit history attempting to take out new cards.

This means that many borrowers who look to transfer an outstanding balance to a new card with naught percent introductory rate may find themselves stuck paying interest rates on the money owed.

This could see an end to the 'credit tart' culture which has seen many borrowers transfer debts from one card to another taking advantage of the introductory rates.

A study released by a leading price comparison site does not make good reading for anyone who has recently been denied credit and has outstanding debts on other cards.

Repayment debts

The average debt on a card is estimated to be around £1,846 pounds and with the average interest rate on cards coming out at 17.3% APR it means that borrowers could have to pay interest rates of around £300 pounds by the end of 2009.

The survey carried out by the price comparison site discovered that the future looks bleak for those looking to transfer their credit card debt. The survey discovered that one in 10 where turned down for a credit card and even worse almost two thirds of those rejected were borrowers looking to transfer debt to a new card.

Figures from the card providers' trade body Apacs make the future for borrowers who want to switch look even bleaker. It said: "40-50% of applications are being turned down, compared with around a third in 2005, although it is not clear how many of these are from consumers with existing balances."

According to Apacs, "in 2004 before card companies introduced balance transfer fees on low interest rate deals, there were 12.6m transfers worth a total of £21.3bn. Last year this had dropped to 7.8m transfers worth £14.4bn."

Jemma Smith, a spokeswoman for Apacs, said: "Back in 2004-2005 credit card companies were strongly criticised for lending too freely; now they are being criticised for not lending enough."

Your credit rating in the long term

Louise Bond spokeswoman for the leading price comparison site said: "The knock-on effect of rejected credit applications is that it will appear on your credit report and, in the long term, have a negative impact on your score."

Bond also added: "If you can't get another credit card, think about using a 0% overdraft, an unsecured personal loan or, if there are no other options and debt is getting out of control, speak to your provider or seek professional advice."

Currently the longest balance transfer deal on offer is from Virgin Money which is giving borrowers 16 months at 0% interest to clear their debts. The card has a 2.98% balance transfer fee, which means moving a debt of £1,000 onto it will cost just under £30.

Despite this being the best deal it may be hard to for borrowers to convince the credit card company to accept you.

With more being rejected it could see many across the UK struggling to clear debts which keep rising due to interest rates, so it seems that credit tarts may have pay off the money on their credit cards.