0% on balance transfers?

[gwtw428]

Hi,
Any credit card companies offering 0% interest on balance transfers? I saw a few but they seem to charge alot of $$ to make the transfer. Also, one was for 15 months but if you dont qualify it is only for 7 months! and they dont tell you if you qualify for the 15 months until after!! : (
I dont want to get ripped off!!

Thanks! I am doing this since Disney Visa upped my interest from 8% to 18%!!! I have NEVER been late on a payment..EVER! I called and spoke to a manager and was told that all cc companies were increasing rates and basically tough luck! So screw Disney Visa!!!!!

 

[Golf4food]

Hi,
Any credit card companies offering 0% interest on balance transfers? I saw a few but they seem to charge alot of $$ to make the transfer.

Any transfer fee is almost always going to still save you money over continuing to pay high interest on a large balance. If you are paying $50 in interest every month even a $300 transfer fee for 0% at 12 months is going to save you a lot of money. $50 x 12 mo = $600 (That's just a random example.)

 

[Ava]

Ditto what Golf4food said. Do the math to see if the balance transfer fee will be less than the interest you'd be paying for the months you have the 0%. I've gotten several 0% balance transfer offers in the mail lately from Discover card, perhaps look into them. Good luck!

 

[geek]

Why not just pay the balance off full and then continue to pay the full balance each month? Then your interest is 0%.

 

[dogodisney]

I have received a few 0% offers but after the year the interest rates are variable, so youmay want to watch for that too.

 

[punkin]

I think the days of free balance transfers are over. If you can't pay the balance off in full, it may make sense to close the card and freeze your old percentage rate. After you pay it off, you can always open a new account.

 

[neatokimmo]

Go to www.citicards.com and look through their offerings. I have several citi cards and three are offering 0% for a year now. They each have a 3% transfer fee, that is standard (and it makes sense, why should they loan you money for free? The 3% covers some of their costs).

 

[Golf4food]

Why not just pay the balance off full and then continue to pay the full balance each month? Then your interest is 0%.

That isn't always an option for everyone in the world. Life happens. Not everyone with credit card balances has them because they went out to dinner too much and bought too many pairs of shoes.

 

[FireDancer]

If you qualify for a Citibank Platinum card you can get 15 months on balance transfers and new purchases. The transfer fee is a one time 3% charge which beats even a low compound interest rate.

This site is a good resource.

 

[4Seasons]

That isn't always an option for everyone in the world. Life happens. Not everyone with credit card balances has them because they went out to dinner too much and bought too many pairs of shoes.

EXACTLY!!!

To give you a (personal) example, I'm currently looking for a new card with 0% on purchases because my daughter is starting college this fall. She has a decent sum of money accrued in a mutual fund, but if I can put the balance of her tuition (that scholarships aren't covering) on a 0% card for 12-15 months, that will allow her mutual fund another year of growth without being touched. At the end of the 0% period the money would be withdrawn from the mutual fund to pay off the balance on the card.

Used responsibly and worked correctly, 0% on cards can really be a money saver.

 

[Nicolepa]

That isn't always an option for everyone in the world. Life happens. Not everyone with credit card balances has them because they went out to dinner too much and bought too many pairs of shoes.

While that is true. Looking at the OP's signature line it does appear they may have gone to Disney too much.

 

[Nicolepa]

EXACTLY!!!

To give you a (personal) example, I'm currently looking for a new card with 0% on purchases because my daughter is starting college this fall. She has a decent sum of money accrued in a mutual fund, but if I can put the balance of her tuition (that scholarships aren't covering) on a 0% card for 12-15 months, that will allow her mutual fund another year of growth without being touched. At the end of the 0% period the money would be withdrawn from the mutual fund to pay off the balance on the card.

Used responsibly and worked correctly, 0% on cards can really be a money saver.

This is true as well, but the OP wants to switch her balance because her rate went from 8% to 18%. No matter how you work it 8% is not a money saver.

I've purchased many things with a 0% card, but I've always had the cash in the bank so I could pay the balance off immediately if needed. But I would never take a trip if I had any sort of credit card balance with an interest rate.

 

[Carl Fredricksen]

While that is true. Looking at the OP's signature line it does appear they may have gone to Disney too much.

Here we go again...

Get the Dave Ramsey book and set a plan to pay it off completely. If you can get a 0% card which will provide some short term gain, but the real target should be a $0.00 balance. If you are in good standing with the company, I would keep the card open and not move anything. Plus if you start applying for new cards, you could damage your FICO score as each one runs a credit check.

Bankaholic and Bankrate have some comprehensive reviews of the most current offers out there if you are looking for advice. Be careful though, because with the current credit crunch, many offers are not what they seem or come from less than reputable companies.

Any money saved in interest is good, but IMO focus on the zero balance, not zero percent.

 

[gwtw428]

While that is true. Looking at the OP's signature line it does appear they may have gone to Disney too much.

Just so you know, I am a travel agent and always go to Disney on travel agent rates. I never pay full price for ANY vacation. I also always use frequent flyer miles or my FIL Delta buddy passes for flights. Also, my Disney trips have been over a period of many years...my credit card balance is from last year ONLY due medical bills...Would you like to speculate now on anything else?

Do not make assumptions as to why I have a credit card balance. I am sure that many, many people have credit card balances and for many different reasons. (death of family member, medical bills, lost job etc)

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

Your personal finances and the reasons behind your decisions are nobody's business but yours, so to answer the original question...

We have a Toys R Us (Chase) card that keeps sending us balance transfer offers with a 3% transfer fee up to a max of $99. To me, having a max fee is unheard of in this day and age. At the moment it's 0% until January 2011 or 3.99% until October 2011.

It might be something they're also offering new customers, but I don't know.

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

We're going to do that ourselves, were just looking into it. My DH end of last year had gotten sick and was out of work for a few weeks, and then Christmas hit, yikes. Never had them like this before. I have tons of offers of 0% BUT the transfer fees on my cards have all gone up to 4%. This has really made me po'd. Not sure if I'm the only one tho bc I see all u guys seem to be getting still 3% offers which was what mine used to be. I don't know why it bugs me so much, I think it's bc they were suppose to do some credit card reform, lol.

 

[donalduck]

This is what happends when you play with snakes. They will always will BITE YOU.

 

[donalduck]

We're going to do that ourselves, were just looking into it. My DH end of last year had gotten sick and was out of work for a few weeks, and then Christmas hit, yikes. Never had them like this before. I have tons of offers of 0% BUT the transfer fees on my cards have all gone up to 4%. This has really made me po'd. Not sure if I'm the only one tho bc I see all u guys seem to be getting still 3% offers which was what mine used to be. I don't know why it bugs me so much, I think it's bc they were suppose to do some credit card reform, lol.

Here is a website for you http://www.daveramsey.com/. He can help you get out of debt for good. Goodluck

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

We're going to do that ourselves, were just looking into it. My DH end of last year had gotten sick and was out of work for a few weeks, and then Christmas hit, yikes. Never had them like this before. I have tons of offers of 0% BUT the transfer fees on my cards have all gone up to 4%. This has really made me po'd. Not sure if I'm the only one tho bc I see all u guys seem to be getting still 3% offers which was what mine used to be. I don't know why it bugs me so much, I think it's bc they were suppose to do some credit card reform, lol.

Yesterday in the mail I got a 0% transfer offer from my BoA credit card and the transfer fee is 3%.

 

[donalduck]

Yesterday in the mail I got a 0% transfer offer from my BoA credit card and the transfer fee is 3%.

All the ones that I have gotten are 4 percent now. You must have gotten lucky.