New Platinum credit cards from NatWest and Bank of Scotland allow borrowers to avoid interest for a whopping 22 months!
NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland have revamped their Platinum credit cards today, meaning each card now offers 22 months of 0% interest on balance transfers.
Previously the Platinum cards from the two banks offered a respectable 20 months before you would need face interest charges on your debt.
However, this change takes the cards right to the top of the best buy charts.
Here’s a look at the five cards offering the longest interest-free periods on balance transfers:
|
Card |
0% period |
Balance transfer fee |
|
HSBC Visa* |
23 months |
3.3% |
|
22 months |
2.9% |
|
|
22 months |
3.2% |
|
|
22 months |
3.2% |
|
|
22 months |
3.5% |
*Existing current account customers only
As you can see, the very longest 0% offer comes from HSBC, but as the card is only available to existing current account holders with the bank, it won’t be an option for many borrowers.
What a difference a fee makes
That leaves four cards, including the new RBS and NatWest offers, all allowing borrowers to sidestep interest for 22 months. So how do you choose between them?
The answer lies in the third column of the table above – the fee you pay for transferring that balance. With a balance transfer card, you need to pay a transfer fee, which is a percentage of the debt you are moving onto the new card.
At 3.2%, the fee charged by the RBS and NatWest cards is better than that on offer from Halifax (3.5%), but still not as good as that from Barclaycard (2.9%). So how much of a difference does that 0.3% differential actually make?
Here’s the fee you’d have to pay for a range of different transfer sizes
|
Debt size |
Barclaycard (2.9%) |
RBS/NatWest (3.2%) |
Halifax (3.5%) |
|
£1,500 |
£43.50 |
£48 |
£52.50 |
|
£3,000 |
£87 |
£96 |
£105 |
|
£5,000 |
£145 |
£160 |
£175 |
|
£7,500 |
£217.50 |
£240 |
£262.50 |
|
£10,000 |
£290 |
£320 |
£350 |
As you can see, the Barclaycard 22-Month Platinum should remain your first choice. But if the Barclaycard isn’t an option – perhaps because the debt you want to transfer is already on a Barclaycard – then the new cards from Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest are solid back-ups.
More on credit cards:
Sainsbury's launches top low-rate credit card
Barclaycard Initial: the 0% credit card that improves your credit rating
The credit cards that reward spending
The cheapest balance transfer card around
How to use credit cards for transfers and new purchases