Credit Cards Compete For the Longest 0% Balance Transfer Period
Published: 17 March 2011
By MoneyHighStreet Staff Leave a Comment
Updated: 17 March 2011
Barclaycard Platinum Card now has a 0% balance transfer period of 20 months, topping the 18 months offered by Virgin Money and MBNA.
The 0% balance transfer period has steadily increased from 14 months a year ago to the 20 months now offered by Barclaycard.
As the credit card providers look to attract new business, these deals are only available to new customers.
Current credit card deals with longer 0% balance transfer deals include
| Credit Card | 0% Bal Trans intro period | Bal Trans Fee | Representative APR (variable) |
| Barclaycard Platinum Card | 20 months | 3.2% | 17.5% |
| Virgin Credit Card | 18 months | 2.89% | 16.8% |
| MBNA Platinum | 18 months | 2.88% | 16.7% |
Each of these cards also offers an introductory 3 months 0% on purchases too.
Diane Ray from MoneyHighStreet.com comments: “At the end of the deal period, higher representative APRs are applied. Whilst Barclaycard offers the longest deal period, it also has the highest representative APR at the end of the period, at 17.5%.
Consumers need to be aware of these rates and ensure if possible that a credit card balance is cleared before the end of the period. If it is not the interest payments could very quickly negate the advantages of the deal.
Of course, if the balance isn’t cleared, an option is to reassess 0% balance transfer periods and look to switch credit cards accordingly.”
