(Updated 5/9/2013) Would you believe me if I told you one of the easiest ways to eliminate your credit card debt is to open a new credit card? It sounds a little crazy, but it’s true. Using 0% balance transfer credit cards to move your credit card balance from your current interest rate to a 0% interest rate can save you hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars in interest over the duration of the zero percent balance transfer offer. But there is a catch – you have to stop using your old credit card and commit to paying off your balance. Do this, and you can cut months off your journey to eliminating your credit card debt.
Let’s take a look at some of the balance transfer credit card options available on the market, some of the things to look for to help you choose the best card for your needs, and some pitfalls to avoid.
Best 0% Balance Transfer Credit Cards
The following list represents the best consumer offers for transferring your credit card balance to a 0 percent credit card. You can click on each respective card for more details or see the following list for more balance transfer offers. We have the a Citibank card rated number 1, since they offer by far, the longest balance transfer offer in the industry. However, Chase currently offers a 15 month balance transfer card without a transfer fee. If you need the longer time to pay off your debt, then Citi is a great opportunity. If you can pay off your debt within 15 months, then the Chase may be a better card for you. All of these cards are solid options, and have no annual fees. Be sure to click through and visit the credit card issuer’s site for more details and current terms and conditions.
(18 months). The Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card is also among the leaders for the longest balance transfer offers: Get 0% Intro APR on Balance Transfers and Purchases for 18 months. After that, the APR will be 11.99%-21.99% based upon your creditworthiness.* There is a balance transfer fee of either $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer. This card also features 24/7 access to personalized concierge service, special access to unforgettable live entertainment experiences through Citi Private Pass®, $0 Liability on unauthorized purchases, Citi® Identity Theft Solutions, and no annual fee. Apply for the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card.
(18 Months). The Citi Simplicity® Card features a 0% Intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 18 months. This is among the longest balance transfer offers around, which makes this an attractive card for consolidating credit card accounts. There is a a balance transfer fee of either $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater. However, there is no annual fee. Perhaps the most unique feature with this card is the lack of late fees or penalty rate hikes if you miss a payment. The interest rate is a variable APR of 12.99%-21.99% after the intro 0% APR expires. Apply for the Citi Simplicity® Card.
(14 months). The new Discover it® card features a 0% Intro APR* on purchases and balance transfer for 14 months, in addition to an excellent cash back program that features 5% cash back in select categories, and 1% cash back on all other purchases. For example, you can earn 5% Cashback Bonus on up to $1,500 in purchases at Home Improvement Stores now through June with free and easy sign-up. And 1% cash back on all other purchases.* There is no annual fee, no overlimit fee, no foreign transaction fee & no pay-by-phone fee. Please visit the Discover website to learn more. Apply for the Discover it®.
(18 months). This version of the Discover it® card is very similar to the above card, with one major exception. It features a 0% Intro APR* on balance transfers for 18 months, and 0% Intro APR* on purchases for 6 months. After the intro periods, the variable purchase APR applies, currently 10.99% – 22.99%. Please visit the Discover website to learn more. Apply for the Discover it®.
How to evaluate 0% balance transfer credit card offers
0% balance transfer credit cards are a great way to save a lot of money on interest and repay your credit card debt more quickly. When used correctly, you can save hundreds, or even thousands of dollars in interest payment. However, not all offers are created equally, as you will see below. You will want to evaluate each card individually and make sure you understand the credit card offer before applying for a balance transfer card. Some important things to look out for include:
- Duration of balance transfer offer. Most cards offer 12-18 months at 0%.
- Balance transfer fees. Most fees range from 0% – 3%, or a fixed price, such as $75. There is usually a minimum fee as well.
- Interest rate. This only matters if you plan on using the card after you pay off your balance, but it is something to keep in mind.
- Rewards and cash back. Depending on your needs, you may want to consider credit cards with sign up bonuses, rewards bonuses, cash back cards, points cards, or special features, such as travel cards or gas rebates.
Compare all features before applying. Just because one card has a longer balance transfer duration doesn’t automatically make it the best card. You should first evaluate how much debt you have,the interest rate, how much it will cost for you to transfer your balance, how much you will save with a particular card (including balance transfer fees), and an estimate of how much you will save over the duration of the balance transfer offer. Then consider additional benefits of the card, such as cash back, sign up bonuses, rewards programs, etc. As you can see, most of these cards offer some form of cash back or rewards, which makes them a nice option to use after you pay off your balance transfer.
* See the online credit card application for details about terms and conditions. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. When you click on the “Apply Now” button, you can review the credit card terms and conditions on the issuer’s website.
Discover is a paid advertiser of CashMoneyLife.com
Related Articles:
- 0% APR Balance Transfer Card – Longest Intro Offer?
- Citi® Platinum Select® Visa® Review – 18 Month Balance Transfer
- Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® Visa® Card – $100 Cash Back Bonus
- Citi ThankYou® Card Review – Earn ThankYou Points Rewards
- How Much Money Can You Save by Transferring Your Credit Card Balance?
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
you need to show the card(s) with a cap on transfer fees
Caps on balance transfer fees are becoming very rare nowadays.
The Discover More card is a great card of balance transfers. Of course, balance transfer card offers can change often so always be sure to read the fine print before applying.
i am interested in zero percent financing
If I already used citi and discover’s 0% offer, can I still apply for another 0% balance transfer with one of them? are there other cards available?
Hello ph, yes, you can apply with other cards and may get approved as long as your credit score supports adding another line of credit. This varies from person to person, so I can’t tell you if you will be approved or not. You can also check out the Chase Freedom(SM) rewards credit card, which has great benefits and a $50 bonus on the first purchase.
A while back American Express Clear offered 3.9% balance transfer for the life of the trasfered balance. This was perfect for me to pay off my 10k plus in other credit card debt. The only downside I’ve seen is that they will not allow you any additional balance transfer options on any of their cards until you pay off the current loan. Unfortunately I didn’t learn the first time and need a new balance transfer option for a Chase Visa that has jumped from 17.99 percent to 39.9 percent in the last 12 months and there are very few companies these days making any comparable offers. Those that are look very carefully at your history and often times closing accounts with an existing balance like I’ve had to do looks horrible. It took my credit score from a 720 down to a 600 flat. To add insult to injury many companies are lowering credit limits to match your current balance just to keep themselves protected. This also looks bad as it appears you’ve extended or at least closed in on your max credit limit for all cards. A double whammy if you will. Not sure the answer but I hope with this legislation new oversight all americans will begin to tell these companies where to go and begin to operate on cash only. THats the only thing we can truely do to begin to hurt these companies who pray off the consumer.
Hi Michael, very interesting story. Could you do a story for people in Canada, as I can’t apply for US credit cards mentioned in your story.
TIA (thanks in advance).
Gerald, I don’t know much about the credit card companies or offers in Canada. I recommend reading some of the Canadian personal finance blogs out there, such as Million Dollar Journey, Canadian Money Advisor, Canadian Capitalist, or visiting the Canadian Money Forum for more information about Canadian credit card offers.
Be careful with these balance transfer cards – if you make new purchases on your card then you will be paying 0% interest on your previous balance while the juice is running on your new charges. You will continue to accrue interest on the higher interest rate while all of your payments are going to your old balances at 0%. If you get one of these 5% balance transfer cards then be sure not to use it again until you pay off the balance.
Scott, that was true under the old credit card rules, but the Credit CARD ACT created a new law that makes credit card payments pay off the higher balances first. But it’s still a good idea to avoid using your new credit card until you pay off the balance. And even then you should only use it if you can pay off the balance in full. You should only use these balance transfer credit cards as a tool – you shouldn’t use them as an excuse to rack up more high interest credit card debt.
I have several cards with balances. One is at 15.99% and two are at 19.99 and 21.99%. can you transfer the balances from more than one card? I have over $15000 in credit card balances and want to start over at 0% credit card interest with a new credit card. Please help with information.
Hi Alan,
The answer to your question is yes, you can transfer from more than 1 card. If you get the 0% interest Citi card, they give you the option of sending checks to your other credit cards. You just have to watch your credit limit. For us, we have a $25k credit limit with Citi, which Citi is probably the easiest credit card to ask for increases on your limits. Ive never been turned down, every 6 months I ask for an increase and have always gotten it.
Be sure to watch out for the transaction fees. I think its 3%, but that’s normal on every card. I haven’t seen a credit card transfer option that didn’t have at least 3% fee attached to it. You also need pretty good credit to get these 0% balance transfer options. If you have decent credit you could probably get at least 6 months or 12 months no interest. The better your credit score the better the deals they will give you.
I’d also watch out and not max my limits on any of my cards. Any balance over 30% of the total credit limit will cause your credit score to drop some. The higher the balance the more it will affect your score. (ie. – you have a $10k credit limit, anything over $3k charged on that card will start to affect your score).
We just took advantage of the Citi deal of 21 months no interest! That’s the best deal on the market right now. It’s helping us to pay down our debts while not paying interest on them. Back with the credit card crunch, they raised our interest rate to 29.99% even though we have 760+ credit scores. So be careful if you use their cards, watch out for their interest rates.
I need to find a card with a higher transfer amount. I need to transfer 9000.o0 do you know any card like that with a longer period say 21 months. It is a Chase card that I need to transfer.
Anna, there is a 21 month balance transfer card from Citi. You can transfer a credit card balance from a different company – in fact, one of the primary reasons the credit card companies offer these deals is to attract new customers. And if they come from competitors, then all the better in the eyes of the gaining company. So far as I know, the 21 month offer from Citi is currently the longest on the market out of the major card issuers.
I saw one card – I think from Citi – which was “0″ % interest on transfers for 18 months with the 3% transfer fee, but it had no late fees or penalties. I have never had a late pay or a penalty, but I feel uncomfortable enuf to give up 21 months for 18 months if there is no chance one of my checks will arrive late or a statement fails to arrive and results in a late payment and causes my interest rate to go from 0% to 12-20% for the remaining balance. Am I understanding this benefit correctly?
just received a credit card with a 5.99% FIXED until balance paid off from First National bank of Omaha. suzie orman says THERE ARE NO FIXED FOR LIFE OF BALANCE cards – it’s a marketing ploy. is she right?
The card you mention says fixed for the life of the balance, so that probably only applies to the balance you transfer over, not new purchases. I recommend reading the fine print, but FNBO is a reputable bank, so it is quite possible the card is as advertised.
Ryan,
I have six credit cards and about 15k on them. My credit rating was 725, but is now below 700. Real estate business is slow. What options do I have?
I got a call from a credit card processing center stating the could do a balance transfer with a 3.9 fixed rate that also would be applied to my existing credit cards.
Any thoughts?
Tim
Tim, I don’t trust non-solicited phone calls pitching financial products or services. You can find anything they are offering at your bank or somewhere else online, and you have the benefit of being able to research the product or service and read the fine print.
Transferring your balances seems like a good idea because it can save you a lot of money each month on interest rates, and it consolidates your payments, which will reduce the number of payments you make each month, and it should also lower the total payment since your won’t be paying as much interest each month. The caveat is that you need to commit to no longer using those credit cards if you can help it.
As far as a fixed rate 3.9% interest rate, that is fairly good if your current credit cards all have a balance at a higher interest rate. But I would first try to get a 0% interest rate if possible. It will save you a lot more money in the long run.
I also recommend looking into the transfer fee. Some banks charge a flat rate, such as 3% of the balance to transfer it over, while other credit card issuers may not charge a balance transfer fee. (There are several of each in this article). It’s important to consider any fees to make sure you are comparing similar products and total savings.
Great information! I have excellent credit (850) and should easily qualify for any of these cards. In the past, zero balance transfer accounts have been happy to make a deposit into my personal checking account so I could make the payoff to the other account myself. Recently, though, a friend told me that her latest offer would not allow her to have the deposit made to personal checking and would only allow for a direct balance transfer. Her FICO is fair, though, and I’m wondering if it’s the reason for that limitation. How can I discern which cards will allow a deposit to personal checking?
I use a credit card from citi cards. They offered zero percent balance transfer, which I utilized. However, they are charging me 50 cents “minimal charge” because I have a recurring charge that I pay off in FULL even before the grace period ends on that particular recurring charge. They tell me that the reason for that is because of the balance on the account from the 0% balance transfer? How is that legal?
I really want to transfer my multiple credit cards to one low % or 0% for a certain given time, but here is my concern. If you have less than perfect credit, say 600, and you inquire for a card which doesnt accept you, then apply for a different one, etc… each time a company inquires on your credit it leaves a negative mark. How can you avoid this? Also, if you do find a co,pamy that accepts you and you transfer your balances, what should be done about the old cards? If canceling gives you negative marks?
Do I have to close the card that I transfer from or can I simply transfer a large majority of the balance and keep both cards? I’ve had my existing card for many years and I know that looks good on my credit rating (which is excellent). Thanks for your help on this.
Great question, Dave. No, you do not have to cancel your old card, so this shouldn’t hurt your credit score in that regard. If you are transferring a balance, you may as well transfer all of it if you can. That way you get the lower interest rate. You can still leave your old card open without a balance on it. If you are concerned about the old card going dormant, just put a small charge on it each month and pay it in full, and the card will remain active. You can do this with a small recurring payment, or by remembering to use it for lunch or something like that.