Tesco shoppingThe supermarket giant is now offering 22 months interest free and a lower balance transfer fee. But how does it check out against the competition?

Tesco has revamped its Clubcard credit card for balance transfers so it charges no interest on balance transfers for 22 months. It's also slashed its balance transfer fee from 3.95% to 2.9%.

Credit Cards

This change puts its joint top of the best buy tables (if you ignore HSBC's 23-month Visa card, which is only open to existing customers) with Barclaycard's 22-month Platinum card.

Both cards now have the same balance transfer period and the same balance transfer fee of 2.9% of the balance you're transferring. However, they differ in a couple of other significant ways.

Credit Cards



For a limited period, Barclaycard is offering £30 discount on balance transfers of £2,000 or more.

The Tesco card, meanwhile, offers Clubcard points on your spending (providing you have credit available). You get one Clubcard point for every £1 you spend anywhere and five points for every £4 you spend at Tesco or on Tesco Fuel.

For many people, you probably shouldn't focus too much on the Clubcard points. That's because if you're going to transfer a large pile of debt from other credit cards, it's best to keep your other spending as low as possible.

But if you're very confident that you can repay the debt over 22 months, and you're a Tesco shopper, the Clubcard points are attractive. The card also comes with a six-month interest-free period on purchases but don't be tempted to overspend. Try to pay your spending off in full each month.

If you're not a Tesco shopper, the discounted balance transfer fee could swing it for you. Let's have a look at how the fees compare to the other market-leading cards at the moment.

How the fees compare
Below are the fees charged by the balance transfer cards offering the longest 0% periods, and the fee you'll face on a £2,000 balance transfer.

Card

0% period

Balance transfer fee

Fee paid on transfer of £2,000

HSBC Visa*

23 months

3.3%

£66
Barclaycard 22-month Platinum balance transfer card 22 months 2.9% £28
Tesco Clubcard credit card 22 months 2.9% £58

RBS Platinum MasterCard

22 months

3.2%

£64

NatWest Platinum MasterCard

22 months

3.2%

£64

Halifax MasterCard

22 months

3.5%

£70
Barclaycard 21-month Platinum balance transfer card 21 months 2.6% £22
*Only available to existing current account holders

You'll notice at the bottom of the table that Barclaycard also offers a 21-month Platinum balance transfer credit card. This also offers the £30 balance transfer fee discount, meaning it has the cheapest fee of all the leading cards. So if you can manage to pay off your debts a month earlier, you'll save some money here.

This illustrates the importance of not just looking at the interest-free period when you're weighing up a balance transfer credit card.

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