If you’re looking to get an instant credit card for holiday shopping you better apply today. Although many credit card companies offer instant online credit decisions, no credit cards give out instant access to your credit card numbers. This means that even if you are approved for a credit card, you still have to wait for it to arrive in the mail.

Knowing this, if you apply for a credit card today or later, chances are you won’t have it in your hand before Christmas. Plus, with the holiday season being the busiest time of the year at the post office, you can expect to wait longer than usual for a “instant credit card” to arrive.

With that said, if you are looking to get a credit card fast, it might be worth considering Chase credit cards or Discover credit cards. While you probably won’t have a new card in time for Christmas, if you get approved for a credit card from one of these companies, you can probably expect to receive it before the New Year.

You can compare all fast approval credit cards offering no interest deals for up to 1 year in the 0% APR section of Smart Balance Transfers.

Happy Holidays for the Smart Balance Transfers blog! This will be a quick post to help last minute credit card shoppers find the best credit card offer for the season. Basically, the most important thing to look for in a balance transfer credit card this time of year is what the 0% interest rate applies to. If you plan on using your new 0% APR credit card for purchases and balance transfers, we recommend the following credit cards:

Best Overall Balance Transfer Credit Card: The Bank of America Platinum Plus, which offers no fee balance transfers and a 0% APR for six months on both purchases and balance transfers.

Runner-Up: The Chase Platinum Card offers a 0% on purchases and balance transfers for a full year. However, there is a balance transfer fee of 3% up to $75.

Worth Noting: The Discover More credit card offers a 0% APR on balance transfers for a full year, but only six months on purchases. It also charges a 3% balance transfer fee.

The Citi Home Rebate card offers no fee balance transfers and a 0% APR for 1 year. However, there is no special rate on purchases.

For more information and to compare these credit cards, visit the 0% APR balance transfer section of SmartBalanceTransfers.com.

As noted in my last posting, Citi has pulled the Driver’s Edge card, a no fee balance transfer offer that provided a 0% APR for 1 year. However, there are still two Citi cards and a Bank of America credit card offering no fee balance transfers. The Citi Home Rebate card (see the no fee balance transfers section of Smart Balance Transfers to view the application) is offering no fee balance transfers and a 0% APR for 1 year. The Citi Professional card is offering no fee balance transfers for 9 months, and lastly, the Bank of America Platinum is offering no fee balance transfers with a 0% APR for 6 months, as well as a 0% APR on purchases.

Apart from these no fee offers, there are still a number of credit cards offering a 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 1 year. These credit cards should be taken into consideration by anyone who plans to use their new credit for purchases this holiday season. You can review all credit cards offering a 0% APR on balance transfers and purchases in the 0% APR section of Smart Balance Transfers.