14 Best Balance Transfer Cards With 0% APR Of August 2024 (2024)

A balance transfer card lets you move a balance from one credit card to another.Sometimes, you can transfer more than just credit card debt to a balance transfer card, such as a personal loan.

Balance transfer cards typically come with an introductory 0 percent APR offer for a set period (typically 12 to 21 months), during which you won’t be charged interest on your transferred balance. This interest-free period allows you to pay off debt more efficiently, since your payments will go toward your principal balance instead of interest charges.

When the intro APR period ends, interest applies to any remaining balance at the end of each billing cycle like a regular credit card. The average intro APR period is 12 to 21 months, with many of the best balance transfer intro periods offering 18 to 21 months. However, cards with longer intro periods often lack rewards, hindering their long-term value.

The amount of time it takes for a balance to transfer from one credit card to another will vary by issuer. The process typically takes five to seven days, but some credit card companies may take up to six weeks to complete balance transfers. Others may take as little as two days. You will typically receive an estimated turnaround time from your card provider in advance. Also, if your new card issuer approves your balance transfer request, it must coordinate the transfer with your current card issuer, which could cause potential delays.

Dig Deeper:Pros and cons of a balance transfer

Learn more:How to choose a balance transfer credit card

Here’s how a Bankrate expert chose her balance transfer card

When Bankrate writer Seychelle Thomas chose a balance transfer card to help her pay off debt, she prioritized one card detail over others: the 0 percent intro APR length on her transfer.

When I was trying to pay off credit card debt as a freelancer two years ago, I compared balance transfer options and chose to go with the Citi Simplicity® Card. My main priority was finding the longest intro APR period. The Citi Simplicity beat most other options and made it easy for me to pay down my balance on schedule without destroying my fluctuating budget at the time.

Keeping fees to a minimum was next on my list, because every little bit counts when you're paying off debt. When I compared it to the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card (a card with a similar offer) I noticed that the Citi Simplicity had no late fees, a lower balance transfer fee as an intro offer and no penalty APR rate. That was a no-brainer for me.

The only other advantages of the Diamond Preferred were the FICO score access and Citi Entertainment, but I didn't find them valuable because I had other cards that offered similar features.

— Seychelle Thomas, Writer, Credit Cards

Bankrate keeps a pulse on how people react to the latest trends in the credit card world and breaks down how everyone can best prepare their finances for these market changes.

The current bulk of online and social media conversation revolves around optimizing credit card reward and sign-up bonus strategies, but inflation rates, snowballing card balances and sky-high APRs certainly seems to affect the discussion around balance transfer cards.

Ask the experts: What is the biggest mistake people make with balance transfers?

In the face of a tougher economic landscape, driven in part by inflation and Federal Reserve rate increases in 2023, issuers may be tightening credit card approval requirements.

According to Bankrate’s proprietary data, approval rates for balance transfer cards decreased overall for applicants in the back half of 2023 — regardless of credit score. Among Bankrate users who applied for a balance transfer card, approval rates fell 17 percent from August to December 2023.

Although your approval odds for a card depend on your credit profile, these trends suggest that getting your hands on a balance transfer card may be harder now than it once was.

Here’s how balance transfer credit card approval rates for Bankrate users declined in the last few months of 2023.

Bankrate’s most recent data shows that the average credit card balance reached $6,501 in the third quarter of 2023. We’ve set up a scenario based on this average, where you would transfer a credit card balance of $6,501 based on the following conditions:

• You would pay the 3 percent to 5 percent balance transfer fee upfront.
• You would pay off the $6,501 balance within the intro offer period for each card.
• We calculate potential savings with each card by comparing how much interest you would pay on your current card at 20 percent APR (approximately the current average interest rate), minus the balance transfer fee.

Estimate your balance transfer savings

If you’re trying to find out how much you’ll have to pay on your balance transfer card, check out this tool to help you calculate your total savings:

What’s the catch with balance transfer credit cards?

A credit card not charging interest for over a year can sound too good to be true, especially when you consider that interest charges are one of the key ways issuers make money from credit cards. But as long as you follow an offer’s terms, there’s no catch with a balance transfer.

As long as you pay off your transferred balance in full during your zero-interest intro APR period, you won’t be charged any interest. When the offer ends, your ongoing APR kicks in for any remaining balance or new purchases. In other words, you’ll only face interest charges if you a carry a balance beyond the intro APR period or take on new debt.

This differs from deferred interest. With these offers, you start to accrue interest immediately after your original purchase, and if you don’t pay off your balance in full by the end of the deferred interest promotional period, you’ll face all those accumulated interest charges.

Along with using an intro APR to pay off debt more efficiently, you can use the offer to try out the issuer, practice new spending habits or implement new cash back earning strategies (ideally focusing on everyday purchases you need to make anyway).

Dig deeper:What is a balance transfer, and is it a good idea for debt?

• Initiate your balance transfer immediately

  Most cards require you to transfer your debt within a set period of time to qualify for a 0 percent intro APR offer. And the sooner you transfer the balance, the sooner interest stops accruing on that debt.

• Keep up with your old card until your transfer is complete

  Payment history is themost significant factor affecting your credit score. Until you have confirmation from your previous issuer that yourcard balance is zero, keep up with payments on your card.

• Create a payoff strategy

  The key to a successful balance transfer is paying off as much of your transferred balance as you can within the intro APR period. Creating a payoff plan gives you a clear timeline to work with, and sticking to it could save you a ton in interest charges.

• Don’t miss a payment

  Missing a payment on your balance transfer card could void your intro offer, so nailing down a payment plan and sticking to it is crucial to maximizing the offer.

In the news: Almost half of Americans are going into debt through doom spending

When evaluating the best balance transfer and low-interest cards, we consider a mix of factors, including how cards score in ourproprietary card rating systemand whether cards offer features that fit the priorities of a diverse group of cardholders.

This includes users who need to carry a balance long term, need as much time as possible to chip away at debt or are looking for maximum long-term value via rewards.

Here’s a quick look at how our rating methodology breaks down for balance transfer cards:

• Intro APR and offer length for balance transfers45%

• Balance transfer, annual and other fees22%

• Intro APR and offer length for new purchases18%

• Ongoing APR15%

We analyzed over 100 of the most popular balance transfer and low-interest cards and scored each based on its introductory APR, intro APR period length, ongoing APR, balance transfer fee, perks and more to determine whether it belonged in this month’s roundup

Here are some of the key factors that we considered:

India Davis is an editor specializing in credit cards and updates. She believes in putting the reader first and carrying out a brand’s voice to its fullest potential. She has…

Nouri Zarrugh is a writer and editor for CreditCards.com and Bankrate, focusing on product news, guides and reviews. His areas of expertise include credit card strategy, rewards…