Card offers joint-longest 0% balance transfer period.
HSBC has increased the 0% period on balance transfers on its HSBC Credit Card to 34 months.
That’s now the joint-longest interest-free period borrowers can enjoy. You will have to pay a 3.3% balance transfer fee though, so on a £2,000 transfer you’re looking at a fee of £66.
The card previously offered 30 months of 0% interest and was limited to existing current account holders. However the revamped card is open to all borrowers.
How it compares
Let’s take a look at the credit cards offering the longest 0% balance transfer periods at the moment.
|
Credit card |
0% balance transfer period |
Balance transfer fee |
Cost of transferring £2,000 balance |
Representative APR |
|
34 months |
2.99% |
£59.80 |
18.9% |
|
|
HSBC Credit Card |
34 months |
3.3% |
£66 |
18.9% |
|
33 months |
2.79% |
£55.80 |
18.9% |
|
|
33 months |
2.8% |
£56 |
18.9% |
|
|
Bank of Scotland Platinum 33-Month Balance Transfer Credit Card |
33 months |
2.85% |
£57 |
18.9% |
|
33 months |
2.85% |
£57 |
18.9% |
|
|
33 months |
2.89% |
£57.80 |
18.9% |
|
|
33 months |
2.9% |
£58 |
18.9% |
|
|
32 months |
2.69% |
£53.80 |
18.9% |
As you can see, while the HSBC card now offers the joint-longest 0% period around, the card is not quite as good as the Barclaycard 34-Month Platinum as it has a higher transfer fee. Indeed, the HSBC card comes with the highest transfer fee of any of the cards in the table above, by at least 0.3 percentage points. So if you can clear your debt in less than 34 months, the other cards will work out cheaper overall.
[SPOTLIGHT]It’s also worth remembering that Barclaycard loves to have clear water between its top cards and other 0% deals in the market, so don’t be surprised if it moves to improve its 33-month and 34-month cards in the next couple of days.
I want a lower transfer fee
You can bag yourself an even lower transfer fee if you go for a shorter 0% period. In fact, there’s no transfer fee to worry about at all with the Tesco Bank Clubcard No Balance Transfer Fee card, and you avoid interest on your balance for 12 months.
For more, read The best low-fee balance transfer credit cards.
Of course, this only works out cheaper in the long run if you manage to clear the balance before the 0% period comes to an end. So don’t overstretch yourself for the sake of a smaller fee, if you’ll only end up needing to move your remaining debt to a new 0% card a year or so down the line.
More on banking and borrowing:
The best low-fee balance transfer credit cards
The best balance transfer credit cards