The Best 0% Balance Transfer Credit Cards
Updated List Of Preferred 0% Balance Transfer Card Offers Below
If you are searching for how to make money or pay down high interest debt with the top balance transfer offers, you’ve come to the right place. The short list of credit cards I’ve listed here are all currently running 0% APR offers for 12 months. They represent the best of breed recommendations for this special card category.
- If you are looking for credit cards that offer both 0% interest for purchases and balance transfers, please take a look at this list of 0% APR credit cards.
- If you are interested only in cards that have no balance transfer fees, please take a look at this select list of no fee balance transfer cards.
Reasons Why People Apply For Balance Transfer Offers
Everyone has their own goals and objectives when it comes to using balance transfer credit cards. For some it’s finding ways to reduce their high interest debt, but for me, it’s always been my ongoing goal to maximize my full financial potential by leveraging all of my assets, including my good credit score. Currently, I make money with balance transfer offers by applying for select credit cards that charge no interest for introductory balance transfers. After researching and choosing the best deals from a complete list of all 0% balance transfer offers, I take the transferred credit balances and deposit them into high interest bank savings accounts to earn free money. Some card issuers like Citibank make the balance transfer process extra easy by allowing you to simply request a balance transfer check payable to you for the full credit limit.
However, card issuers seem to be slowly phasing out lucrative no balance transfer fee offers. Such select zero balance transfer fee opportunities will not be around forever so I’d recommend locking them up before they disappear in the near future. Remember to always read card terms carefully. Also, while a handful of the choices below are noted as business credit cards, you don’t have to actually own your own small business to apply for the business card offers. You can properly enter your own personal name and Social Security Number as your business when prompted by the credit card application.
Here Is My Personal List Of the Best 0% Balance Transfer Credit Card Offers
The choices were made after reviewing and balancing all terms and considerations such as length of 0% APR offer duration, whether any balance transfer fee applies, whether the 0% interest rate applies to purchases as well, and whether there are any additional rewards for purchases:
- Discover More Card - 0% balance transfer offer for 15 months, and 0% APR interest offer on purchases for 6 months. There is a 4% balance transfer fee. You can also earn 5% cash back bonus rewards on quarterly changing purchase categories like travel, home, apparel, gas restaurants, movies, and more. There is no annual fee.
- Citi Platinum Select Card – 0% APR interest offers for 12 months on purchases and balance transfers for 18 months. The balance transfer fee is 5%, with no annual fee.
- Citi Forward(SM) Card – 0% interest free offer for 12 months on both balance transfers and 7 months on purchases with no annual fee. Transfer fee is 4% but there is a new account signup bonus offering up to 8,500 bonus points after you sign up for paperless statements and make $250 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
- Chase Slate Card – 0% APR interest on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months.
- Chase Freedom Card – 0% APR interest on purchases 6 months and 12 months on balance transfers. 5% bonus cash back in popular, rotating categories like gas, groceries, airlines, home improvement and more, and 1% cashback on everything else with now spending tiers.
- Citi mtvU Card For Students - Popular among students, this Citibank card offers 0% intro APR* on purchases for 7 months, if you qualify, based on your application and credit history*.
- Discover More Card – Clear – 0% balance transfer offer for 12 months, and 0% APR interest offer on purchases for 6 months. There is a 4% balance transfer fee. You can also earn 5% cash back bonus rewards on a wide array of special purchase categories, like the regular Discover More card. You can also earn 5%-20% cashback when shopping through Discover’s online shopping site. There is also no annual fee.
- Discover Escape Card – 0% balance transfer for 6 months, and 0% APR purchases for 6 months. Earn double mile rewards on all purchases, redeemable for travel, cash, and gift cards. Get additional extra 25,000 bonus miles for monthly made purchases during your first 2 years. There is a $60 annual fee.
- Miles By Discover Card – 0% on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months. This card also offers miles at 1 mile per dollar spent including a 12,000 mile promotion. For each month you make one purchase, you will be award 1,000 miles (for 12 months). No annual fee.
- Discover More Card – American Flag - 0% on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months. Enjoy up to 5% cash back rewards on purchase categories that change every quarter. High reward categories include gas, clothing retailers, restaurants, and hotels. There is no annual fee.
- Discover More Card – Wildlife Collection – 0% on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months. Get cash back bonus rewards on spending categories like all Discover More network cards. There is no annual fee.
- Discover More Card – Sealife Collection – 0% on purcahses and balance transfers for 6 months. Earn up to 5% credit card cash back on purchases made in special purchase categories. There is annual fee.
- Discover More Monogram Card- 0% on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months. This is a cash back card offer for up to 5% cashback on special category purchase. There is no annual fee.
- Capital One Platinum Credit Card – 0% rate for both balance transfers and purchases, for a period of 12 months up to August 2011. The balance transfer fee is 3% with no annual fee.
- Capital One Prestige MasterCard - 0% interest rate for both balance transfers and purchases, for a period of 12 months up to August 2011. The balance transfer fee is 3% with no annual fee.
No Balance Transfer Fee Credit Cards – Balance Transfer Card Offers
- Simmons First Visa Platinum Rewards – No balance transfer fee, low interest balance transfer deal
- Simmons First Visa Platinum Credit Card – No balance transfer fee, low interest balance transfer
April 29th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
A couple years ago, I bought our car using money from a VISA-accessible HELOC.
Then I instantly transferred it to a brand new 0% for 6 months and 0% for life (with 2 purchases/mo.) Discover Card.
They require a minimum payment of 5% of the balance ($600/mo decreasing for a $30000 car); can’t remember what the transfer fee was, but it was capped.
Anyway, the two purchases I make a month? I go to the pumps and use the crdit card to buy $.03 of gas twice.
June 1st, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Hi,
I have got a few credit card, so i need to transfer 0% intrest so can you tell me how much i am able to transfer and get some time to pay off so if you can help me please reply to my email.
thanks
regards, Amir
June 19th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Thanks for the list of 0% deals offering zero balance transfer rates. I’ve been using balance transfers and 0% APR credit cards for a long while now so it’s good to see that they are still around despite the economy.
What happened to all the 12 month balance transfer credit cards? It seems like they all suddenly disappeared. All the existing 0% balance transfer cards now seem to have balance transfer fees with 12 month deals. Are there any more 12 month offers that have no fees?
July 5th, 2008 at 2:13 am
Raymond,
Can you email me some balnce trasfer cards that you recommend for my situation? I think it’s gonna take me at least 2 years to pay off my exisitng high interest card debt. Looking to do some credit card arbitrage
July 25th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
i just need a debit credit card number to buy my text book through on line. if can you can do this for me and i will be greatful.thanks.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:28 am
free card
September 27th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
so good to hear you are a student, use my credit card to buy books, but be fair, not too much!
It is a mastercard, # 4507 4365 9867 9980, and expires **/** so get them quick!
** Editor’s Note: The expiration date provided has been bleeped out. Please refrain from posting actual expiration dates! **
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:35 pm
BEWARE! Chase will not transfer the balance from another Chase card. This is not currently noted in the fine print on the application. Chase used to do this but not anymore. If you want to transfer the balance from a Chase card you will have to transfer it to a different credit card Company.
Also, once you open a credit card account it is noted on your credit report whether you cancel the card the day after opened or after 20 years so chose wisely. Call if you are not sure about the details.
October 28th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
The Chase Business Rebate card no longer has a maximum on balance transfer fees. Read the T&Cs carefully. It is a full 3%, unless I am missing something.
November 13th, 2008 at 9:04 am
The Discover more card does not have the cap of $75 towards transfer fees. Its a full 3% but the remaining terms are still there. Just did one yesterday and I’m trying to negotiate with them to cap it at $75 based on an article in CNNMoney.com which had the same offer that is listed here. Lets see if they do it.
November 15th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
I want the best personal use card that has 0% for 12mos for more for balance transfers with excellent credit and a cap on the tranfer.
November 18th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
DaJobSucks thanks you for your participation in our weekly Business and Work from Home Blog Carnival. Sorry for posting the carnival a couple hours late, we will get it right next week.
Thanks again
November 19th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
BEWARE!!!!!!!! —- I just got hit with a bait and switch from Advanta. I applied for 0% interest for 15 months from Advanta and they approved me for the 90 days no interest on new purchases. My fault for not reading the TandCs at the time of application but they transfered 11,000K of balances as I requested before I caught on. Now I am trying to move my money again so that I dont get stuck paying 16% on my balance transfer.
December 7th, 2008 at 12:54 am
ABOUT THE PROBLEM Frank, [11/19/08] had. I got a balance transfer from ADVANTA and was satisfied even though it was only for 9 months. I couldn’t find one longer without a % fee for the entire amount. I really had some kind of a problem advantaging the initial payment and actually missed the first payment due to confusion of when the initial payment was due. I was allowed to continue without the offer being cancelled but then 4 months later became confused again and made a payment 2 days late. I had the payment set up automatically but it wasn’t the entire amount. Then, without further notice, my 0 bal. offer was cancelled and they charged me a large fee for a late payment. I would say they are at least hard to get. I am disatisfied with their demeanor. Now I am in a bad situation of seeking another 0 balance transfer offer.
January 2nd, 2009 at 3:09 am
Balance transfers can be a great way to save some money in interest but it is important to remember that it is best to never cancel or close down any of your credit cards after you complete the balance transfer because if you do so then you will “lose” the credit history of the canceled card(s) off of your credit score. Since your credit score is positively affected by the length of your credit score then you could cause damage to your credit score by closing down a credit card with a significant length of credit history (also, you could hurt your credit score because you are decreasing your amount of available credit).
February 25th, 2009 at 8:25 am
Hey. I was calling my cards to get a balance transfer at the lowest rate. Just a few grand I want to amoritze at a low rate. The first 2 operators denied that they could waive the 3% Bal Tran Fee (B**K of A****ica). First operator was from Asia, the next from down south somewhere, the third was normal young woman from the midwest, easiest to understand on the phone. she was able to give me 1.99% for 10 months with no bal tran fee.
Like Comcast, just keep calling, someone will do it…
March 11th, 2009 at 10:52 am
I HAVE A CREDIT CARD WITH A BALANCE OF$10,000 AN APR.OF 23% IF YOU KNOW OF ANY OTHER CARD I CAN APPLY FOR WITH A LOWER APR PLEASE ADVICE.THE CARD I HAVE IS FROM BANK OF AMERICA.
April 14th, 2009 at 4:14 am
Rack:
Assuming your B of A was for 12 months:
0% for 12 months with a 3%, uncapped balance transfer = 3% APR (if it was capped you most likely screwed yourself; but if you did it recently, it probably wasn’t)
Your presumption you got a deal falls on being able to obtain a similar rate for the 11th and 12 months, which given the way things are going is unlikely.
You’ll need at a minimum an 8% APR for months 11 and 12 of that year to break even with the 3% BT fee deal.
And maybe you can get it by 1st quarter 2010. I hope so for all of us. Things don’t look good with the new credit changes coming up next year.
April 16th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Can someone tell me if this is a good offer from the Discover More Card 0% for life on a balance transfers with a 3% balance transfer fee no cap. I have to purchase $50 a month starting in December. I would like to transfer over at $10,000 but I want to make sure this is a good deal. Any help is much appreciated.
April 20th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Need Help–
It might be a good deal provided you don’t have to pay back a large %age of the outstanding balance per month. Hard to believe they’d give you that rate for life, but if you can transfer $10,000 and pay back only 2% per month, it would take nearly 10 years before you got the balance under $1000 and a $20 minimum payment kicked in. That would give you a lot of time to earn interest on that money and make back your $300. If you could invest that money at a 2% APR, you’d make ~$700 in the first 9 years. Not a get rich quick scheme, but it has a positive NPV.
If they make you pay back 5% per month it may not work out so hot for you, because you’d end up paying it back fairly quickly and not have a chance to earn that interest.
Where did you find this deal? I might be interested.
–Alex
April 29th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
I have a maxed out Visa Platinum card ($12,300) My interest rate on it is 10.5% I’m currently paying $340 a month min payment and Its killing me!
I’ve never done a balance transfer before and I have a excellent credit score. I’m looking for the best card to do a 0% balance transfer for 12 months. Thanks for your help!
May 7th, 2009 at 9:51 am
Are there any more balance transfer credit card offers offering 0% APR that happen to be Citibank or Bank of America Cards? The Citibank Platinum looks good at 12 months but are there any BofA ones? I guess Discover credit cards offer lots of balance transfer deals but not sure where they accept them these days if I decide to use them for purchases after the 0% balance transfer period ends…..hmmm
May 21st, 2009 at 12:35 pm
i like a bank that will help me to pay my credit in the l/c form
June 24th, 2009 at 9:50 am
The discover card is 0% until December of 2009, not 12 months.
June 28th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Hi,
I am trying to finance the purchase of a new laptop and not accumulate any interest. I read the blog on 0% interest credit cards and saw a link for the American Express “Clear” card and just wanted to know if anyone has had any experience with this card and if it is truly a 0% interest Amex card that allows you to make monthly payments instead of having to pay it in full like a tradtional Amex green card?
June 29th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Hey,
I have an AMEX Clear When I got it about a year ago I got 5.99% (Balance Transfer – For Life of Balance) and 11.24% on Purchases. Haven’t used this card since so i am still taking full advantage of the 5.99%.
July 26th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Be careful if the card requires you to make a purchase on the card each and every month. You wil be charged interest on the new purchases every single month until you pay the new purchases off. The catch here is that your transfer balance came before your monthly purchases, so until your high balance transfer is paid for, you have accumulating monthly interest on all of your new purchases. That interest keeps accruing and cannot be paid off until you have paid off your balance transfer. I know, it happened to me. Dropped that card in a hurry. You are better off to pay the transfer fee.
August 13th, 2009 at 3:01 am
What Scott said is completely true unfortunately. For example, some credit cards that offer 0% on balance transfers for “X†amount of months will charge you their interest rate on any new purchases. The catch is that their annual fee on the card (if there is one) or any other fee they put on your card other than what you transferred over, is considred to them as a “new purchaseâ€, so you will begin paying finance charges on those “new chargesâ€. The ONLY way out of paying the new finance charges with them is to pay off the credit card in full, which includes their new charges as well as your balance transferred. I just had this experience with Air Canada’s Aeroplan Bank of America card.
August 30th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
I will have 14,000 balance on a BofA Visa that is due 10/28 or they will retroactively put 29% interest on it. Help? It was a cash advance which I already paid the 3% fee on the $18,000 limit. Does anyone have suggestions? I have good credit and am looking for another card to transfer the balance to with the lowest interest rate.
August 31st, 2009 at 11:08 pm
Looking for a card with no balance transfer fee and 0% interest for 6 or 12 mths
Please contact me ASAP,I have excellant credit
Thank you
DB
September 14th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
I have several cards . One is shut down, but I keep making payments and the interest is 15 % or less on others. I do have two chase cards , one at 30% for $5,000 and one at 18% for $9,000. I want to transfer the $5,000 one first and pay it off. What are the numbers I am looking at. I don’t understand the cap or how to do the balance transfer. Please advise. WB
October 7th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Careful with Chase (and, I guess this goes for all of the scoundrels).
I’ve been a Chase customer for several years now. Last year they offered me several “special offers” including a 0% transfer – UNTIL THE BALANCE WAS PAID OFF. I went with the deal and transferred a balance from another card and closed the other account. Thinking I could pay off the balance fairly rapidly with the entire payment going to principal, I thought I was golden.
Then, in July, they sent me a “change in terms” document (which I ignored -stooopid me). In August, imagine my surprise when I noticed a 14.24% APR on the balance I thought was supposed to be 0%. What? What about “the deal”??
I’ve contacted them several times now with no resolution. Apparently any special offer can be made null and void if *they* decide to change the terms (they can do it according to the “original” fine print in the agreement), not if *I* decide it should change. So much for accepting any kind of deal nowadays.
I am so p*ssed at Chase now that I want to transfer the balance from that card to another 0% card. I realize the new card will eventually go up, but at least I’ll know months in advance and can plan for it.
October 18th, 2009 at 1:01 am
I have excellent credit and have used 0% cards for years. My problem is that now I have cards with every bank. Citi, chase, bofa, discover, etc. These banks don’t want to offer me a new card since I already have an account with them. I several thousand dollars on different cards that promo rates are about to expire. What should I do?
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Please remember that as of Feb 2010 no credit card co will be able to “screw around” with the % rates. Obama passed the law where they will not be able to change the rates, minimums, policies easily. Because of that you see many credit card copamnies raising % rate. I just got a notice in mail that % rate is going up on my Chase credit card as of January 11, 2010. Please pay attention to what you are getting in mail from the credit card companies! I am in the process of “shopping around” for an interest free transfer. Having hard time finding free transfer with no fee. Discover offers 5% balance transfer fee while Capital One 3%. I am looking further.
October 27th, 2009 at 12:43 am
Hey, the Chase Slate Card With Blueprint is offering 0% balance transfers and 0% purchases for up to 12 months (3% balance transfer fee though). Though Blueprint From Chase is not promoting the card as a balance transfer credit card, it’s right there in the terms black and white!
November 10th, 2009 at 12:24 am
My personal favorite is the Discover More card but you have a nice list overall. I would also add that the Discover More American Flag card has a better balance transfer offer than the other Discover More cards in the More card series.
November 16th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
please send me offers on 0% credit card transfers
March 5th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Can you transfer your balances from one 0% credit card to another if it is the same company? For instance, from a Chase Slate to a Chase Freedom?
March 27th, 2010 at 2:17 am
Hi guys,
you can go for suncorp platinum card at 3.9% on balance transfer for the life of balance transfered. this is also a card from city group. the best card. right now as on 27/03/2010. go for it . enjoy paying off faster.
May 4th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Sharada, from the post above, fails to mention that the Suncorp platinum card comes with a hefty annual fee:
“Subject to your acceptance of the card, an annual account fee which is currently $205 for the Primary Suncorp Clear Options Platinum card…”
Judging by the infrequency of posts, by both the site owner and readers, there are very few deals out right now and this one is definitely not a deal.
Read everything thoroughly.
Best wishes
May 23rd, 2010 at 3:43 pm
I need a credit card i can transfer an 8000.00 balance onto. Citi bank only offered me 4500.00 and then wanted 3% for a transfer fee. Why say on the websit first off that you do not charge a transfer fee if that is not true, they get you sucked into creating an application and then they decide to let you know they are going to charge you a 3 percent transfer fee, that is ridiculous. I had Capial One, when i decided to close the account they jumped my interest rate from 8.9 to 17.9. When i called them they said they had sent me a notice last year that if i closed the account the rate would go up, but hey 9 percent that is really absurd. I guess there are no “good” deals out there anymore, is there no recourse for the everyday person?
June 1st, 2010 at 2:38 pm
Just got some checks for my Citi Pref. Diamond Card account that says 0% APR until Dec. 01, 2011 with a 4 % fee.
I’m transferring 2500 to it. Does this sound ok? FYI the rate on this (discover without a late payment in over a year is 28.99%
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:55 am
Capital One did a bait and switch on me. I applied by phone and was told I was approved for a 0% balance transfer for 12 months, with no balance transfer fee. But what they sent me was a card with 14.9% balance transfer rate (terms sent under separate cover from the card).
When I called to straighten out the error, i was transferred from one party to the next for 2 hours. Finally a “Sr. Acct. Manager” said she was going to transfer me to someone who would trade out my current card for the one I was promised, but in fact I was transferred to someone in the Phillipines who told me I didn’t qualify for that card. I have excellent credit, so I know that can’t be the case; and even if it was, why did they approve me for those terms if they thought I didn’t qualify? Looks like they were trying to trick me into transferring my balance at the much higher rate.
FYI, the FTC has an online site where you can register complaints against such practices. Suggest you do so when this kind of fraudulent activity happens.
And stay away from Capital One!
September 2nd, 2010 at 3:58 pm
I am in “same situation” as another post listed above. I’ve been playing the Transfer Balance Game every year [to payoff a lump sum under 5k] so now I have every card under the sun — AMerican Express, Citibank, Chase, Discover, Bank of America, Capital One, HSBC, etc. What I noticed is that these Credit Card Issuers/Processors PENALIZE existing customers by offering Promos with 0% to new customerly ONLY, while sending Balance Transfer checks to me valid for eight (8) months in hopes of TRAPPING me into 19.99% afterwards. What a Bunch of Con-Artists these Financial Companies are!
What I dont understand is that why are Credit Cards in the United Kingdom offering 0% for balance transfer for 15 months, like the Virgin card???