0 Interest For Life Of Card Balance Transfers

How to Find 0% Balance Transfer Credit Cards

DailyMarkets.com, which is consumer finance and investing site founded in 2008, has revealed tips on how to find the best 0% balance transfer credit cards that will help people cut their credit card debt.

The website, a New York-based consumer finance website that helps people save smarter and invest smarter, has an exclusive consumer finance section, with a special emphasis on educating US consumers about credit cards and helping them find the best credit cards for their needs.

Balance transfer credit cards is a simple, yet under-used strategy that people should use to get rid of their credit card or store card debts to reduce their interest costs.

“If you have an existing card debt and are currently paying high interest on it, 0% balance transfer credit cards can be your life-saver and help you get out of debt faster. With a 0% balance transfer, you can move your credit card or store card debt from a high-interest card account to another card that charges zero interest on that balance for a promotional period of time,” said DailyMarkets.com founder and CEO, Grace Cheng.

Balance transfer credit cards work when a person transfers an existing balance of one credit card to another card that offers a lower interest rate, or even better, offers a 0% introductory interest rate on balance transfers for a specific duration, which can last from six months to a year or longer.

New credit card balance transfer battle

A new balance transfer battle has erupted with Barclaycard and Nationwide extending their offers to claim top spot in the market.

Yesterday Nationwide matched Barclaycards 17 month 0% balance transfer offer – previously the longest on the market – by introducing a new card.

Today Barclaycard announced that it would be upping its deal to 18 months, beating Nationwide by one month, to make it the with the longest balance transfer offer on the market.

Balance transfer cards allow you to move an existing credit card debt to a new provider at a 0% rate.

There are over a hundred 0% balance transfer credit card deals on the market, ranging from three months to Barclaycards 18 months.

Other credit card providers have also introduced new deals to tempt borrowers. Tomorrow M&S launches a new offer of 0% on all purchases with its card for 15 months and earlier this week MBNA launched a new rate for life credit card at 5.9%.

We round up the cards and highlight what you should watch out for

Nationwide

The new card from Nationwide offers 0% on balance transfers for 17 months and 0% on purchases for three months. There is a fee of 2.95% (5 minimum on each transfer) and transfers must be made within three months of opening the account.

After the 18 months has ended the headline APR (the advertised rate that 52% of successful applications must get) is 15.9%, which is lower than the average rate of 18.9% across the market.

The card is also available to those who dont want to transfer their balance with a separate offer of 0% on purchases for six months.

Barclaycard

Barclaycard has upped its 17 month balance transfer offer to 18 months with a fee of 2.9% for transferring the balance.

Anyone who makes an application online by the end of the month and transfers 3,000 or more will get 20 knocked off the fee.

For example, the 87 fee on a 3,000 transfer would be cut down to 67, meaning the fee is effectively cut to 2.23% from 2.9%. Transfers must be made within 60 days of opening the account.

After the 18 month introductory period is up, the APR advertised interest rate is 16.9% – although, this will depend on the individual customer’s credit history.

M&S

From tomorrow M&S Money will be offering a 15 month 0% period on all purchases for new customers.