Two providers are now offering 29-month 0% balance transfer cards. Here's how they stack up.
MBNA and Tesco have shaken up the 0% balance transfer market by launching cards offering 0% interest for 29 months.
This pushes both cards towards the top of the tables, giving Barclaycard some healthy competition and borrowers even more choice.
Longest-ever balance transfer cards
The MBNA card now has a 29-month 0% interest-free period on all balance transfers. You’ll need to pay 2.89% on whatever you transfer over in the form of a transfer fee. So if you were moving £2,000, there would be a fee of £57.80.
This is the second-best card in the balance transfer market, with only Barclaycard ahead thanks to its combination of a 30-month 0% period and 2.89% fee as well as its 29-month 0% card with a fee of just 2.49%.
The changes to the Tesco card mean it offers 29 months of 0% interest, with a fee of 2.9%.
The Tesco card is slightly more expensive than the MBNA deal, but you earn Tesco Clubcard points when using it so if you’re a regular shopper at the supermarket it could be for you.
The table below outlines the six cards offering the longest 0% periods in the balance transfer market.
|
Card |
0% period |
Balance transfer fee |
Fee paid on £2,000 transfer |
Representative APR |
|
30 months |
2.89% |
£57.80 |
18.9% |
|
| Barclaycard 29-Month Visa | 29 months | 2.49% | £49.80 | 18.9% |
|
29 months |
2.89% |
£57.80 |
18.9% |
|
|
29 months |
2.90% |
£58 |
18.9% |
|
|
28 months |
2.39% |
£47.80 |
18.9% |
|
|
28 months |
2.45% |
£49 |
18.9% |
Balance transfer cards
If you’re struggling to pay off your Christmas debts, or you’ve been avoiding clearing your credit card for a while, now is the time to focus on getting out of the red.
[SPOTLIGHT]Balance transfer cards, if used properly, are a great way to pay off your debts because they give you a holiday from interest payments. This means that every penny you pay each month goes directly towards reducing your debt.
Depending on how much debt you have, it might be worth going for a card with a shorter balance transfer period as it can work out cheaper. The Fluid Low Fee Visa, for example, has a fee of 0.75% and a 12-month 0% balance transfer period. Second to this is the Barclaycard 12-Month Low Fee card which has a slightly higher fee of 0.79%. So if you know you can clear the debt in 12 months, these are a better choice than the lengthy 0% deals on offer in the table above.