There's now a decent 0% balance transfer card for people with a less than perfect credit score.
Barclaycard has relaunched its Platinum 18-month 0% balance transfer credit card, which is available to borrowers with average credit ratings.
It’s by far the longest interest-free offer out there if you don’t have a good credit score.
Here’s what it offers and more on who’s eligible.
What the 18-month Platinum offers
You can transfer credit card debts to the Platinum 18-month card and pay no interest on them for a year and a half. In return, you’ll need to pay a balance transfer fee of 2.9% of the debt you’re shifting. So, for example, if you want to transfer £2,000 you’ll pay a fee of £58.
There is also a three-month 0% period on purchases, although if you’re using the Platinum card to pay off your debts you’d be wise to ignore this.
The representative APR (the annual combination of any interest and charges) on the Platinum card for any purchases and balance transfers outside the 0% periods is a high 24.9%. And bear in mind this rate only has to be offered to 51% of applicants, so your actual rate could be higher.
Who’s eligible?
Barclaycard says this card is open to anyone over 21 with an ‘average’ credit rating. It isn’t open to anyone who’s been declared bankrupt, or who’s had any County Court Judgments (CCJs) or Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) in the past five years.
[SPOTLIGHT]You also will need some history of managing credit commitments, so for example you will need to have had a credit card, loan, overdraft, store credit or mortgage in the past. You’re unlikely to qualify if you have more than two other credit commitments right now.
And you won’t qualify if you’ve missed any payments on a credit card or loan in the last 12 months, or if your card debt is more than 40% of your income.
You will also need to have lived at an address in the UK for the past three months or more and have a regular income of more than £17,500 a year.
Finally, you won’t qualify if you already have a Barclaycard, which makes sense as you can’t transfer debts from one Barclaycard to another anyway.
How it compares
There’s nothing to compare the Platinum 18-month card to, as there are no other cards offering a 0% period on balance transfers to people with average credit ratings.
If you have an excellent credit rating and you want a 0% balance transfer you should be looking at the likes of the Barclaycard Platinum 31-Month card or the Tesco Clubcard with Low Balance Transfer Fee.
If your credit rating isn't great, it might be worth switching to a card offering the cheapest interest rate. It all depends on what you're paying. The Capital One Classic Preferred Platinum card has a representative APR of 28.9%, while the aqua Classic 29.7% card has a representative APR of 29.7% and accepts people who've had CCJs. Or you might opt for a personal loan with a lower rate over a longer period. Just make sure you don't use this as an excuse to run up more debts on credit cards.
What to be aware of
If you do go for the Platinum 18-month card, or any other 0% card for that matter, you should make sure you make the minimum repayment each month. Otherwise you will get a black mark on your credit report and lose your 0% offer.
You should try to use the card as a chance for a clean slate and do your very best to pay off your debt by the end of the 0% period.
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