Applicants now have until August 13th to take advantage of half-price balance transfers from Barclaycard.
Barclaycard has extended its offer for new customers to enjoy a 50% refund on balance transfer fees.
The offer was originally scheduled to run between the 9th July and the 9th August. However, the credit card provider has extended the final deadline to the 13th August after receiving more than 100,000 applications to date.
How the deal works
When moving existing credit card debt onto a new balance transfer card, you have to pay a transfer fee. This is a percentage of the debt you are transferring, and typically is around 3%.
Barclaycard’s transfer fees are already some of the more competitive in the credit card market, particularly considering the length of the 0% interest periods on offer. However, they are effectively cut in half if you take out a card before 13th August. You simply have to apply to have half of your fee refunded once the transfer has been made.
Below are the cards included in the offer:
|
Credit card |
0% period |
Usual transfer fee |
What it would cost to transfer £5,000 |
Effective transfer fee for this promotion |
What it would cost to transfer £5,000 |
|
22 months |
2.9% |
£145 |
1.45% |
£72.50 |
|
|
21 months |
2.6% |
£130 |
1.3% |
£65 |
|
|
14 months |
2.9% |
£145 |
1.45% |
£72.50 |
|
|
12 months |
2.5% |
£125 |
1.25% |
£62.50 |
How the cards compare
Below I’ve put together the ten cards offering the longest 0% periods that aren’t from Barclaycard, as well as what it will cost you to transfer £5,000.
|
Credit card |
0% period |
Transfer fee |
What it would cost to transfer £5,000 |
|
23 months |
3.3% |
£165 |
|
|
22 months |
3.5% |
£175 |
|
|
22 months |
3.2% |
£160 |
|
|
22 months |
3.2% |
£160 |
|
|
20 months |
3% |
£150 |
|
|
20 months |
2.85% |
£142.50 |
|
|
20 months |
3.1% |
£155 |
|
|
20 months |
3.1% |
£155 |
|
|
18 months |
3% |
£150 |
|
|
18 months |
3.95% |
£197.50 |
*Only available to current account holders
So as you can see, the two Barclaycards offering 22 months and 21 months of 0% interest respectively blow the rest of the market out of the water. The only card offering a longer period interest free, from HSBC, requires you to also have a current account with HSBC.
To get the best part of two years before you have to pay interest, all for a transfer fee of either 1.3% or 1.45%, is astonishing. Barclaycard is definitely top dog for me on this one.
All-round credit cards
Now, the Barclaycard 14/14 card doesn’t make this list, as it is an all-round credit card – offering the same period of 0% interest on purchases AND balance transfers. Here’s the best of the rest in this area of the credit card market.
|
Credit card |
0% period on both balance transfers and purchases |
Transfer fee |
What it would cost to transfer £5,000 |
|
15 months |
3% |
£150 |
|
|
13 months |
2.9% |
£145 |
|
|
13 months |
2.9% |
£145 |
|
|
12 months |
3% |
£150 |
|
|
12 months |
3% |
£150 |
So again, you can get an extra month of 0% interest compared to Barclaycard’s deal, but at a price. Once again, Barclaycard's offer looks cracking to me.
These offers from Barclaycard are genuinely pretty extraordinary, but time is running out to take advantage, despite this extension of the offer. Of course, if your existing debt is on a Barclaycard already, then these deals won’t be much use to you. In which case, check out The best alternatives to Barclaycard's balance transfer credit cards
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