Best Transfer Balance Cards With Longest Introductory Time

Credit card competition intensifies

Competition in the credit card market is intensifying, with two providers launching record introductory offers.

Barclaycard is offering 0% interest on balance transfers for 18 months to people who take out its Barclaycard Platinum card, the longest period for which one of the deals has ever been available.

At the same time, M&S Money will start offering a credit card on Thursday which offers an introductory 15-month interest-free period on purchases, also the longest period on record.

Financial website moneysupermarket.com said the Barclaycard deal had pushed up the average interest-free period for the top five credit cards offering one of the deals to 16.6 months, the longest it had ever recorded.

At the same time, the M&S deal had led to the average offer period for purchase credit cards rising to a new high of 13.2 months.

Kevin Mountford, head of banking at moneysupermarket.com , said: "With a number of regulatory changes hitting the credit market at the turn of the year, many people predicted the end of 0% offers.

"However, the opposite has actually happened, with a number of providers looking to take the top spot in the best-buy tables.

"This demonstrates an appetite among lenders to attract new customers, which is great news for anyone looking to consolidate their existing debts or make large purchases."

The group is predicting that some of the other major credit card providers will respond with similar or better deals. But it urged people thinking of taking advantage of one of the offers to look at the balance transfer fees involved, as these are often around 3%.

Moneysupermarket also pointed out that despite providers appearing to have a renewed appetite for credit card lending, this did not extend to all customers, with the top deals still restricted to those with the best credit ratings.

Top Credit Card Offers For March 2011

'S recent success has attracted the attention of one or two rival credit card sites who seem to believe that posting negative comments and tweets which call into question my credibility is a good way to boost the profile of their own brands. I'm flattered and mildly amused by this.

And I am sure that my loyal readers see their ploy for what it is. Anyway, onto the list!

Best Overall Balance Transfer Card: As of the start of March, the Discover More credit card offer for new cardholders is a fantastic deal, in my opinion. You get 0% introductory APR for 12 months on balance transfers, plus 0% intro APR on purchases for the first 12 months.

In addition, you will earn a $100 cash-back bonus after spending $500 on the new card within the first three months.

Best Airline Rewards Credit Card: I love United Mileage Plus -- it's my favorite flier rewards program, and I have always called United "the adult's airline" since they treat you like an adult... No tacky jokes, no weird flight attendant uniforms or "team spirit" nonsense. Just a great airline, with exceptional business class service and a wide range of routes. The complimentary in-flight movie programming on the longer cross-country flights are surprisingly good as well, in my opinion.

So it's no surprise that I recommend the United Mileage Plus Signature Visa to my readers. Use the link published there to sign up and you'll receive 25,000 bonus miles after your very first purchase, plus a $50 statement credit after that first purchase. Remember to add an authorized user to your account, such as your spouse or someone else you trust, and you'll receive another 5,000 bonus miles. That's a total of 30,000 bonus miles, which is enough for a free roundtrip flight in most cases.

Another Exceptional Airline Card: The JetBlue Airways American Express card is another great option, especially if you fly out of JFK often (they have their own swanky terminal there, T5, with a wide variety of shopping and dining options. 5ive Steak is my favorite restaurant at T5 -- great New York Strip and shrimp cocktail). With the JetBlue credit card, you get 10,000 bonus points after your very first purchase, and another 10,000 points after spending $500 during the first three months of membership.

Solid Cash Back Credit Cards: I am torn between Chase Freedom -- which has a $100 bonus cash back offer at the moment (just spend $500 within the first three months) and earns you up to 5% cash back in quarterly bonus categories such as gas, home improvement, and department stores (1% everywhere else!) -- and Bank of America's BankAmericard Cash Rewards card, which offers a flat 1% cash back on all purchases. Cash Rewards is also a VISA Signature card, so it has all of the additional purchase protections and travel benefits that come with the Signature program.