Santander launches market-leading 18-month 0% purchase card

Santander's new 18-month 0% credit card has jumped straight to the top of the best buy tables.

Santander has stormed to the top of the best buy tables with a new credit card offering 18 months of 0% interest on purchases.

It also has a nine-month 0% balance transfer period, with a 3% transfer fee.

The 18-Month Purchase card is ideal if you’re planning on making a big purchase and want to spread the cost for a year and a half without paying any interest.

Longest 0% purchase cards

The new Santander card offers the longest 0% period around for new purchases. If you’re about to pay out a lot of money, for a new kitchen or a set of furniture, for example, this is a good way to break up the total cost and pay it back without worrying about interest.

The next-best deal is the Halifax Purchase Credit Card, which comes with a slightly lower 0% period of 17 months. It also boasts a six-month 0% balance transfer offer and a 3% fee.

In third place is the Tesco Bank Clubcard for Purchases, with a 16-month 0% purchase period. It also offers six months of 0% interest on balance transfers with a 2.90% fee. The added benefit of this card is you’ll earn Tesco Clubcard points on anything you buy, which if you’re a regular shopper at the supermarket could come in handy.

Here I’ve listed the top five 0% purchase cards on the market.

Santander changes

The Spanish bank has revamped its Balance Transfer MasterCard. It has increased its 0% interest period to 29 months for balance transfers, with a 3% fee.

This makes it the fourth card on the market to offer a 0% period of 29 months but it’s also the most expensive of the lot.

Top of the tables is the Barclaycard Platinum Visa, with a 30-month 0% period, and in second place is the Barclaycard 29-month Visa card which has a 2.49% fee. MBNA and Tesco offer similar cards with fees of 2.89% and 2.9% respectively.

There have also been changes to the Low Fee Visa card for balance transfers. The 0% period is now 17 months and there is a 0.9% fee. This means if you were moving over £2,000 it would cost just £18 – a significant change to the cards at the top of the tables with fees around the 3% mark.

To see how it compares, check out The best 0% balance transfer credit cards.

Compare the cheapest balance transfer cards

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Tesco and MBNA launch 29-month 0% balance transfer cards

The best 0% balance transfer credit cards