Barclaycard has responded to increased competition from its rivals by launching the longest 0% balance transfer credit card ever.
Yesterday both Tesco and Sainsbury’s bumped up their 0% offers to 33 months, which brought them level with Barclaycard.
Barclaycard has spent the last couple of years obsessively claiming top spot in the best buy tables, so a response was expected. And it did indeed respond, by bumping its top 0% deal up to an incredible 34 months.
Barclaycard also added a month of 0% interest to its existing 32-month card.
Here’s how the best buy tables look now:
|
Credit card |
0% period on balance transfers |
Balance transfer fee |
Cost of transferring £2,000 balance |
Representative APR |
|
34 months |
2.99% |
£59.80 |
18.9% |
|
|
33 months |
2.79% |
£55.80 |
18.9% |
|
|
33 months |
2.9% |
£58 |
18.9% |
|
|
33 months |
3% |
£60 |
18.9% |
|
|
32 months |
2.65% |
£53 |
18.9% |
|
|
32 months |
2.69% |
£53.80 |
18.9% |
|
|
32 months |
2.8% |
£56 |
18.9% |
|
|
Bank of Scotland Platinum 32-Month Balance Transfer MasterCard |
32 months |
2.8% |
£56 |
18.9% |
As you can see, Barclaycard once again has the two cards at the very top of the table. However, if Barclaycard isn’t an option – perhaps because the debt you need to transfer is already on a Barclaycard – then there are plenty of options.
I don’t need that long!
It’s not just the length of the 0% deal that you need to consider when it comes to balance transfer credit cards. You also need to look at the transfer fee. If you don’t need the best part of three years free from interest in order to clear your balance, then you can get a 0% card with a much smaller transfer fee.
In fact the Tesco Bank Clubcard No Balance Transfer Fee (as the name suggests) doesn’t charge a fee at all, but you still get a 10-month 0% period in which to clear your debt before you start paying interest again.
For a full run-down of the best cheap balance transfer cards, check out The best low-fee balance transfer credit cards.