Last week, following the list of 79 credit cards offering 0% APR, John made the following point:

Awesome list Flexo. However all of them are not devoid of Balance Transfer (BT) fees. That is something to watch for especially when the BT fees are not capped. Would be great if this list could be further divided based on 0% or capped BT fees vs. a 3% fee.

Savvy money manipulators like to use balance transfer offers to fund savings accounts earning interest, while paying the credit card balance off slowly for the duration of the 0% APR promotional period. I tried my hand at balance transfer arbitrage but it didn’t work out well for the combination of credit cards I used. Other people are much more successful, making thousands of dollars in bank interest every year on money borrowed at 0%.

This isn’t for the faint of heart. In order to succeed, it takes massive organizational skills. One late payment and you will lose your entire benefit. Not only that, but good balance transfer deals are getting more difficult to find. 0% APR deals still exist, but many come with fees in the small print. The interest you might earn may outweigh the fee, so if you are interesting in attempting arbitrage, here are some of the options that currently exist.

New! Chase TravelPlus Visa: 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 12 billing cycles following the opening of your account. After that, 17.49% variable. Fee: 3% of the amount of each transaction, but not less than $5.00 nor more than $99.00.

Discover Business Miles Card, Discover Business Card, Discover Open Road Card, and many other Discover cards: 0.0% until the last day of the billing period ending during January 2009;* then the standard APR for purchases. Fee: 3.0% for each balance transfer made under this offer, with a minimum of $5 and a maximum of $75.

JetBlue Business Credit Card from American Express: 3.99% during the first 6 months of Cardmembership. Then the standard Purchase APR will apply. Fee: There is no balance transfer transaction fee associated with this offer. However, future balance transfers may incur a fee as disclosed at the time of the applicable offer or transaction.

Startwood Preferred Guest Business Rewards Card from American Express: 2.90% APR during the first six months of Cardmembership on balance transfer requests submitted submitted during the first 90 days of Cardmembership. Then the standard APR for purchases will apply. Fee: There is no balance transfer transaction fee associated with this offer. However, future balance transfers may incur a fee as disclosed at the time of the applicable offer or transaction.

GM Business World MasterCard: 0% fixed APR for the first 12 billing cycles following the opening of your account. After that, 13.49% variable. Fee: 3% of the amount of each transaction, but not less than $5.00 nor more than $75.00.

Chase Platinum Business Card: 0% fixed APR for the first 12 billing cycles following the opening of your account. After that, 11.49% variable, 15.49% variable, or 22.49% variable, depending on our review of your application and credit history. Fee: 3% of the amount of each transaction, but not less than $5.00 nor more than $99.00.

Chase Business Rebate Visa Card, Chase Business Cash Rewards Card: 0% fixed APR for the first 12 billing cycles following the opening of your account. After that, 13.49% variable, 17.49% variable, or 22.49% variable, depending on our review of your application and credit history. Fee: 3% of the amount of each transaction, but not less than $5.00 nor more than $99.00.

Citi Professional Cash Card, Citi Professional Card: 0% APR on balance transfers for first 12 months. Fee: 3.00% of amount of each balance transfer, $5.00 minimum, $50 maximum, but waived with this offer.

Citi Professional Card with ThankYou Network: 0% APR on balance transfers for first 9 months. Fee: 3.00% of amount of each balance transfer, $5.00 minimum, $50 maximum, but waived with this offer.

As you can see, the offers are not nearly as abundant as they once were. If you know of any other good cards for balance transfers, feel free to leave suggestions here.

{ 2 comments }