One of the most effective ways to lower your credit card balance—and therefore your minimum payments—is to do a 0% APR balance transfer. This means that you can transfer the balance of one credit card with a higher interest rate to a different card which has a 0% annual percentage rate (APR). Your credit card balance grows and grows because of the snowball effect of high interest rates, but with a 0% APR balance transfer, you can stop that snowball effect.
Like many people, you may have wished that the bills would just stop increasing for a few months so that you could get on top of them. This is exactly what a 0% APR balance transfer does for you; it doesn’t get rid of the principle balance, but it stops it from growing long enough for you to start paying it down, and ideally, even paying it off altogether. Instead of taking two steps forward and one step back, you can finally start to take two steps forward without having your progress undercut by high interest rates.
Because credit card companies compete with each other, they don’t make any secret of their 0% introductory APRs. They are extremely easy to find on the internet; simply do a search for “0% APR balance transfer,” and many different offers will come up, along with the comments of analysts who can tell you whether each of these offers is everything it claims to be. But this competition between companies is a very good thing; we all want more of our money to go to ourselves and less to banks and credit card companies. If one of these companies wants to offer to forego a large part of their profit, which is where interest payments go, you should jump on the chance to take advantage of it and get your 0% APR balance transfer done.
Of course, these are temporary rates, so it’s important to read the fine print of each offer, but many of them allow you to do a 0% APR balance transfer all the way through the first year you have the card. The earlier you do the 0% APR balance transfer, the longer time period you have to pay off the balance without it increasing due to interest. 0% APR balance transfers are one of the most popular and easiest ways to get a handle on your credit card debt, and to start making your money work for you.
Balance transfers offer consumers a great way to save on expensive credit card interest payments. If you have a sizable credit card balance with a high interest rate, you should consider transfering this balance to a new credit card and pay NO INTEREST on the balance you transfer for a year or more!
Typical balance transfer offers include a 0% interest offer for a limited number of billing cycles. After the introductory rate expires, an ongoing market rate applies.
2. Check out our top offers and choose a card that is right for you.
3. Follow the links provided and apply online.
4. Once approved, often instantly, your new card will pay off the balance of your old card, and this amount will appear on your new card at the introductory low rate!
Balance Transfer Wizard
American Express
