Three of the UK's biggest banks withdrew their 0% balance transfer deals this week. NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Capital One all changed the conditions of their credit card deals. For customers, this means that you will have to pay back the debt immediately to avoid incurring interest.

In addition, Moneyfacts have released figures which show that other banks including Abbey, Sainsbury's Finance, Halifax and Sky have reduced the time period in which you don't have to pay interest on purchases.

So if you have a credit card with one of these companies it's time to start shopping around for a new deal, but get in quickly because the remaining deals are going fast.

Michelle Slade, an analyst at Moneyfacts has said: "These deals are starting to reduce fast and consumers could find they have no where left to switch their debt too and will have no choice but to pay the higher APR."

Research by Abbey has revealed that the average disposable income has dropped by almost 30 per cent over the last three years.