Top 0% balance transfer credit cards for Christmas

By lovemoney.com , Nov 22, 2012
Filed under: Credit Cards

It's fun to bring a little joy to everyone at Christmas with thoughtful gifts and treats.

Nonetheless, this abnormal month of spending can play havoc with your finances, especially if you're putting it all on plastic.

Your guide to banking

Credit Cards

Need to know: Savings

But using a 0% balance transfer credit card could help you get back on track for the New Year.

How can it help?

A 0% balance transfer card is a useful tool for handling expensive debt you may have built up on credit or store cards.

These cards enable you to move your debts and pay off your debts over an interest-free period.

This gives you some breathing space to pay it back at your own pace without worrying about your debt growing.

Good time to get one

I know it's only November but there are some cracking deals around at the moment that might not be there come the New Year when you really need them.

Take for example the Barclaycard 24-Month Platinum Visa. This card comes with 24 months interest free on balance transfers, meaning you have until November 2014 to get your finances back in order. It also offers a £30 refund on the balance transfer fee if you transfer a balance of £2,000 or more.

But if you already have existing Barclaycard debt then you won't be able to use this card.

If you can pay back your debt within 23 months, you'll have an even greater range of cards to choose from. Barclaycard (again), Capital One, HSBC (if you're an existing customer), NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland all offer cards where you don't have to pay a penny of interest on the debt you transfer for 23 months.

What's the catch?

Credit card providers don't just give you ages to clear your debt out of the kindness of their hearts.

They depend on you not being able to clear the debt in time before the interest kicks in – which is entirely possible if you transfer a large amount.

But another more pressing problem is the transfer fee slapped onto balance transfers. Most cards charge around 3% for the trouble which means the larger the debt you transfer the higher the fee. Not what you need when you are trying to reign in expensive debt.

The key is to strike the right balance between the length of the interest-free period and the cost of doing a transfer. You want to get the cheapest deal that comes with a timeframe you can work comfortably within.

Longest 0% balance transfer deals

I have rounded up the deals with the longest interest free periods (20 months and over) and arranged them by cost of balance transfer to help you pinpoint the best deal for you.

Card	0% period on balance transfers	Balance transfer fee	Fee paid on £1,000	Fee paid on £2,000	Fee paid on £3,000	Fee paid on £4,000	Fee paid on £5,000
Barclaycard 23-Month Platinum Visa	23 months	2.60%	£26.00	£52.00	£78.00	£104.00	£130.00
Barclaycard 24-Month Platinum Visa	24 months	2.80%	£28.00	£56.00	£84.00	£112.00	£140.00
MBNA Platinum Visa	20 months	2.85%	£28.50	£57.00	£85.50	£114.00	£142.50
Capital One Platinum MasterCard	Until 31st October 2014	2.90%	£29.00	£58.00	£87.00	£116.00	£145.00
Tesco Clubcard Credit Card for Balance Transfers	22 months	2.90%	£29.00	£58.00	£87.00	£116.00	£145.00
Virgin Money Balance Transfer Credit Card	20 months	2.99%	£29.90	£59.80	£89.70	£119.60	£149.50
Halifax 22-Month MasterCard	22 months	3.00%	£30.00	£60.00	£90.00	£120.00	£150.00
Nationwide Credit Card	20 months	3.10%	£31.00	£62.00	£93.00	£124.00	£155.00
Nationwide Select Credit Card*	20 months	3.10%	£31.00	£62.00	£93.00	£124.00	£155.00
NatWest Platinum MasterCard	22 months	3.20%	£32.00	£64.00	£96.00	£128.00	£160.00
Royal Bank of Scotland Platinum MasterCard	22 months	3.20%	£32.00	£64.00	£96.00	£128.00	£160.00
HSBC Credit Card*	23 months	3.30%	£33.00	£66.00	£99.00	£132.00	£165.00
NatWest Platinum BT Credit Card	23 months	3.50%	£35.00	£70.00	£105.00	£140.00	£175.00
Royal Bank of Scotland Platinum BT Credit Card	23 months	3.50%	£35.00	£70.00	£105.00	£140.00	£175.0

*Only available to existing current account holders

If you have £5,000 of debt to clear and need 20 months or more to clear it, you could be paying between £130 and £175 for the privilege.

Shorter interest-free periods with cheaper fees

But you can get a cheaper balance transfer if you can repay your debt over a shorter period of time. For instance, Barclaycard's Platinum Lowest Ever Balance Transfer Fee card charges just a 0.9% fee. So on a debt of £5,000, you'll pay a fee of £45. But you only have a year to repay your debt.

Similarly, the NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland Platinum Low Balance Transfer Fee cards charge 1%, but they give you a slightly more generous 13 months to pay your card off.

Most complained about financial products

1. No savings
 Figures from charity Age UK show that 29% of those over 60 feel uncertain or negative about their current financial situation - with millions facing poverty and hardship. Even though saving for retirement is not much fun, the message is therefore that having to rely on dwindling state benefits in retirement is even less so. To avoid ending up in this situation, adviser Hargreaves Lansdown recommends saving a proportion of your salary equal to half your age at the time of starting a pension. In other words, if you are 30 when you start a pension, you should put in 15% throughout your working life. If you start at 24, saving 12% of your salary a year should produce a similar return.
Current accounts
Buildings insurance
Consumer-credit products and services (i.e. store cards, payday loans, hire purchase)
Mortgages
Unsecured loans
Whole-of-life policies and savings endowments
Other types of general insurance (i.e. mobile phone insurance, pet insurance)
Motor insurance
Credit cards

Add a Comment

Sign in »

1 Comment

Filter by:

lymingtontrader

Another example of the Banks trying to get us all into Debt again !!. What we need first are Job's to pay for all the goods we would like to buy for Christmass !.

December 02 2012 at 2:05 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply