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Balance Transfers
It is estimated that one third of credit card holders fail to pay off their balances in full each month.
These people could save themselves a small fortune by regularly switching to a 0% deal,
especially as there are now a number of 0% balance transfer credit card deals
on offer. We provide a summary of some of the leading balance
transfer rates on offer below. You can see at a glance who
offers the longest 0% intro period for transferring a card balance.
It is estimated that if everyone switched their credit cards to another provider, more than £2 billion a year could be saved in all.
If you're intending to shift your debt, do your sums
carefully as you may not save as much as you'd hoped. Card
companies have recently introduced balance transfer fees,
so you might find that a credit card with a life of
balance rate would save you more.
Below is a summary of the best balance deals currently available in
the UK.
Click on the card for full details / apply online.
Credit Seeker - Search Results
Credit Card Click card for more details or to apply |
Promotional Rate for Balance Transfers (Balance transfer fee rates in brackets) |
Promotional Rate for Purchases |
Cashback |
Typical APR (variable) |
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NatWest Gold
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8.9% for the life of the balance (no fee) |
8.9% for nine months |
2% of your remaining transferred balance will be paid into your account every six months |
16.9% |
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Virgin
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0% for 16 months (2.98%) |
0% for 3 months |
Virgin cardholders can take advantage of exclusive instant discounts with money off holidays, wine, music, gym membership, DVDs and insurance |
16.6% |
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NatWest Platinum
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0% for 15 months (2.9% - min £5) |
0% for 3 months |
- |
16.9% |
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HSBC Bank
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0% for 15 months (2.9% - min £5) |
0% for 3 months |
- |
16.9% |
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RBS Platinum
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0% for 15 months (2.9% - min £5) |
0% for 3 months |
- |
16.9% |
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MBNA Platinum Plus
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0% until July 2010 (2.9%) |
0% until September 2009 |
- |
15.9% |
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MBNA Rewards
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0% for 13 months (2.9% - min £3) |
0% for 3 months |
Collect 1 reward point for every £1 spent. Reward points can be redeemed for travel and entertainment offers or high street vouchers |
15.9% |
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Halifax All In One
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0% for 9 months (3% - min £3) |
0% for 9 months |
- |
15.9% |
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Bank of Scotland All In One
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0% for 9 months (3% - min £3) |
0% for 9 months |
- |
15.9% |
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NatWest
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16.9% (no fee) |
4.9% for 9 months |
- |
16.9% |
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Royal Bank of Scotland
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16.9% (no fee) |
4.9% for 9 months |
- |
16.9% |
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American Express Nectar
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- |
15.9% |
Earn up to 4 Nectar points for every £1 spent, 5,000 bonus points when you first spend £200 and double points for the first 3 months |
15.9% |
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American Express Platinum MoneyBack
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- |
18.9% |
Up to 5% cashback on purchases |
18.9% |
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Capital One Classic
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- |
34.9% |
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34.9% |
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Vanquis Visa
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- |
39.9% |
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39.9% |
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Transferring a credit card balance sounds complicated, but is actually very simple. To transfer a balance
from one card to another you simply inform your new card provider
where to transfer the balance from and they will then pay off your
debt. You then owe the new card the money instead. The main
reason for transferring a balance is to benefit from better rates of
interest.
0% intro rates for new customers
It’s not just
about what the rates of interest are but for how long the rates last
that counts. Many cards now offer interest free debt to new customers for an
introductory period usually lasting around 6 months. Anyone who has debts on a credit card, and a reasonable credit history, should be able to obtain 0%
for balance transfers. However is is important to note that 0% interest does not mean
there is nothing to repay it just means all you have to do is meet the credit
card minimum payments each month and pay nothing in interest on what
is left over.
If you still have a debt when the 0% period come to and end there
is nothing preventing you from shifting the balance again to another
card. The time to switch the money is the month before the deal ends – which usually means applying for a new card about 6 weeks before the deadline date.
Life of Balance Deals
If you anticipate carrying over a balance for longer than the intro
periods available and don’t want to repeatedly switch should use ‘life of balance’ transfers where the special rate lasts until the entire balance transferred is paid off.
Examples of these are Morgan Stanley Platinum.
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