Almost a quarter of credit card holders transferred balances collectively worth £10.4 billion between cards during the first three months of the year.

Men are more likely than women to have shifted their borrowings around to take advantage of low introductory rates on credit cards, transferring £6.4 billion in the three months to the end of March, compared with women's £4 billion.

A third of people aged between 25 and 35 have also moved their borrowings between cards, compared to just 9.7 per cent of those aged between 55 and 64 and 3.8 per cent of the over-65s, according to research by Capital One.

Rob Habgood, vice-president of the credit card company, said: "As a nation we spent up to £9.6 billion celebrating the festive season on our credit cards and in total we have about £43 billion outstanding.

"For many people it makes good sense to switch providers and take advantage of lower rates of interest.

"However, people need to look beyond the initial balance transfer rate and to the other rates of interest being charged. In many cases there can be a big jump between the introductory rates and the standard APR."

People living in the Midlands have transferred the most from one card to another, shifting £1.98 billion during the first quarter, compared with just £833 million among people living in Scotland.