Credit card debt is never fun, and developing a plan to get yourself out of the debt can be exhausting. Credit cards commonly charge interest rates of 20% or more, and if you miss a few payments the default rate can be even worse. Fortunately, if your credit is still decent, there is a way to make payments on your credit card without paying any interest. That’s through a solid 0% balance transfer offer provided by a new credit card.
0% APR balance transfer offers are commonly provided by credit card issuers to attract new customers. Credit card issuers rightfully assume that if they can attract you to their product by offering to house your debt for 0% interest, you’re likely to generate new debt after you’ve paid off the old debt. The trick in taking advantage of a balance transfer offer is to pay off the entire debt during the 0% introductory offer, then pledging never again to get deep into credit card debt. It’s easier said than done for many.
Many top credit cards offers now have balance transfer fees, but even with a fee, you could save thousands of dollars of interest charges by taking advantage of 0% APR balance transfer offers. Below you will find the best credit cards available for balance transfers as of May 2012. If you have a favorite balance transfer offer not included on this list, let me know and I’ll add it.
Slate® from Chase – No Balance Transfer Fee. If you have excellent or good credit, the Slate® from Chase – No Balance Transfer Fee offers a 0% introductory APR on both purchases and balance transfers for fifteen months, without charging the dreaded balance transfer fee on transfers made within 30 days of account opening. All other transfers will be charged $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater. The Slate® from Chase – No Balance Transfer Fee also offers a low standard APR of 11.99%, 16.99% or 21.99% variable, depending on your credit history. The card comes with Chase’s Blueprint feature, which allows you to watch your spending like a hawk, paying down the purchases you want as soon as possible.
You’ll avoid the 3% surcharge when making a balance transfer within 30 days of account opening, so if you can pay off your credit card balance in the fifteen month time-frame, the total cost of fees and interest is zero. The Slate® from Chase – No Balance Transfer Fee also has the benefit of being annual-fee free, so depending on your needs, this card could represent the highest amount of savings.
Discover® More® Card. Discover More Card offers a 0% introductory APR on balance transfers for fifteen months and a 0% introductory APR on purchases for fifteen months. Discover has a balance transfer fee of 3%. With this card you’ll earn other benefits such as 0.25% cash back on your first $3,000 in annual purchases then 1% cash back thereafter. The opportunity to earn 5% cash back on rotating categories, subject to a maximum spending limit and quarterly enrollment, is also present. There is no annual fee.
Discover® Motiva® Card. With the Discover Motiva Card, the 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers is in effect for fifteen months. The balance transfer fee is 3%. After the introductory period expires, the regular APR is 10.99% to 20.99% variable*, depending on your credit history. The Discover Motiva Card also includes a cash back rewards feature, in which card holders earn 0.25% cash back on the first $3,000 spent on the card and 1% cash back thereafter.
Chase Freedom® Visa. The Chase Freedom® Visa offers account holders a 0% introductory APR on balance transfers for fifteen months and carries a 3% balance transfer fee ($5 minimum). The Chase Freedom® Visa provides 1% cash back on all purchases and 5% cash back on rotating categories, subject to a maximum and quarterly enrollment, and is therefore one of my favorite cash back credit cards. With the current offer you can earn $100 bonus cash back after you spend just $500 in the first three months of card membership. The Chase Freedom® Visa also offers a 0% introductory APR on purchases for fifteen months and does not have an annual fee.
For diligent credit card users, balance transfer cards can be efficient tools for keeping your bank account balance intact, making better use of your cash than spending your own money for a large purchase. In great economic environments, you could earn interest on your money while paying off your expenses with a 0% interest rate. The proliferation of balance transfer fees makes this type of arbitrage more difficult, but with a few fee-free offers being available today, you might be able to earn interest on your card issuer’s money if you don’t fall into any traps.
Updated May 6, 2012 and originally published March 15, 2012. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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BANK OF CHINA CC SCAM
Just returned from a trip from Hong Kong and China
In HK, all the charges are in HK $, thus avoiding the 3% Dynamic exchange fee. The only one that charge Dynamic exchange fee is Bank of China subsidiary that process Visa CC transactions.
In China, things gets really bad. Each time I ask to be charged in RMB, it came out to be in US$. After protest, it still come up with a statement saying that I was offer to reject the US$ option (which I did not). The bank say all I have to do is to cross out the option line and write RMB on the charge line, I will be fine. When I came home and check my statements, it all had the 3% Dynamic Exchange rated added onto my Schwab Credit card.
It is a big scam by Bank of China.. Be careful when you use credit card in China
“…then pledging never again to get deep into credit card debt. It’s easier said than done for many.” – hehehehe
I have a Citi Dividend MasterCard. I took out a 2500 balance transfer with 0 interest until October of next year. What Citi (and this website) DOESN’T tell you, is that if you use your credit card for purchases, even if you pay off the amount of the purchases on the card (ie if you spend 500, bringing your total balance to 3000, and pay 500 at the end of the month, leaving you with 2500 again)… You pay interest on your 2500 balance.
So I’ll be paying at least 13 bucks a month in interest until I’ve paid off the 2500 balance transfer, which I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to worry about until summer of next year, because money is very tight.
I spoke at great length with some supervisor gentleman who told me about the 0% APR balance transfer, and at NO time did he tell me I’d be unable to use my card. I feel so lied to.
I have a Citi platinum mastercard and recently completed a 0 APR balance transfer with a 6 month term. I never pay interest on credit card but was faced with an unusual home repair so it seemed a prudent way to manage the expense. Also, i already had the card and simply had to select the option. The 3 percent fee was fine as I pretty much washed it out by receiving a 2 percent cash back reward from the HSBC card i used for the purchase. So far so good, right? Nooooo! I then used the Citicard for some regular (standard) purchases figuring I pay those off in full plus the minimum amount due. To my surprise, the new standard purchases started accruing interest from the date of purchase! I called Citibank and they agreed to reimburse the interest charge. Now, I no longer use the Citibank card and continue to pay the minimum each month and avoid any interest. It seems they shoot themselves in the foot as not using the card at all deprives them of any additional revenue. Word of caution, ask questions before signing up, these can work for you as long as you understand their terms and can adjust accordingly.
That is terrible. Even though things are supposed to be becoming more transparent, things don’t seem to change. Citi really needs to focus on their customer service and not playing games.