Credit card companies in cheap 0% balance transfers battle
Balance transfer fees are being slashed as credit card companies attempt to woo customers.
Credit card companies have been slashing balance transfer fees on their 0% credit cards in a bid to attract people who need to pay off debts after Christmas.
Santander, Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland have all changed cards to offer a decent combination of interest-free period and balance transfer fee.
Cheapest 0% balance transfers cards
Here are the best cards around at the moment that offer balance transfer fees at 1.50% or under on 0% balance transfers. The table is ordered by the cheapest cards, in terms of balance transfer fee, and then length of interest-free period.
|
Credit card |
0% period |
Balance transfer fee |
Fee paid on £2,000 transfer |
Representative APR after 0% period ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
23 months |
None |
£0 |
16.5% |
|
|
15 months |
None |
£0 |
18.9% |
|
|
15 months |
0.25% |
£5 |
15.9% |
|
|
15 months |
0.35% |
£7 |
17.9% |
|
|
Post Office Platinum |
18 months |
0.79% |
£15.80 |
17.8% |
|
19 months |
1% |
£20 |
18.9% |
|
|
24 months |
1.25% |
£25 |
18.9% |
|
|
28 months |
1.5% |
£30 |
18.9% |
|
|
28 months |
1.5% |
£30 |
18.9% |
|
|
28 months |
1.5% |
£30 |
18.9% |
*Annual fee of £24
**Nationwide current account customers only
At the moment you can get two very tempting-looking free 0% balance transfers with Santander.
The Santander 123 card freezes your debt for nearly two years. However, there is an annual fee of £24 to consider.
As a result, the 15-month 0% period from the Santander Credit Card is arguably the best of the free offers.
For longer periods, there's two years on offer with a 1.25% fee from the Barclaycard Platinum 24-month Balance Transfer Visa while Halifax, Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland all have cards offering no interest to pay for 28 months in return for a 1.5% fee.
If you think you'll need even longer, there are 0% balance transfer credit cards offering up to 35 months interest free, but they come with far higher balance transfer fees.
Compare the credit cards with the longest 0% balance transfer period
The importance of a good credit rating
If you think your credit rating is a bit blemished, for example you've missed a payment or two in the past, you might want to try first for the Fluid Low Fee Credit Card Visa. This allows you to pre-check your eligibility without it being recorded on your credit report.
If you keep being turned down, don't carry on applying, as you'll hurt your credit rating. Instead, try to make some cutbacks if you can and pay off more of your debts.
Make sure you keep up your repayments and your credit rating will, in time, improve.
If you're in serious trouble, seek free, independent help in confidence from a debt charity such as StepChange or National Debtline.
Low-rate alternatives
If you don't think you can keep up on moving your debt around then a lifetime low-rate balance transfer credit card might suit you better.
Instead of remaining interest free for a certain amount of time, these credit cards have a low APR applied to the balance from the start of the transfer that lasts as long as you take to pay it off. Some of the best cards in this category don’t charge a transfer fee and those that do keep it very low.
Comments
Do you want to comment on this article? You need to be signed in for this feature