I’ve said it before and I’ll say it here again:  transfer balances as soon as you can.  If you’re a veteran of balance transfer credit cards, you’ve probably noticed that the length of 0% offers is getting shorter as fees increase substantially.  In fact, if you did a 0% balance transfer at Smart Balance Transfers last year and are returning to get a new card as your 0% period expires, you’re probably shocked at how much has changed during one year.  If this is your first time transferring balances, you might not want to read this article, as it discusses truly great opportunities that no longer exist.

Balance transfer veterans have been enjoying years of free lunch.  If, for example, they transferred a $10,000 balance to a 0% credit card in 2005, they could have gotten a 0% APR for 1 year, paid no fees, paid the minimum amount due, and put the rest of the money in a high yielding money market account that earned 5% interest.  At the end of the 0% period, they could have gotten a new balance transfer card and repeated the process, earning interest on the free money being lent to them by the credit card companies.

Obviously, this couldn’t go on forever.  However, with mailboxes full of 0% balance transfer offers, it was hard to image a time when these deals wouldn’t be there.  Until they weren’t. 

Now that so many Americans have been attacked with ridiculously high interest rates for little to no apparent reason (other than greed), the number of balance transfer offerson the market has decreased substantially.  More troubling, however, is that the quality of these offers has deteriorated as the credit requirements have become stricter.

Which brings us to today, where it takes excellent credit to qualify for a credit card (in general) and near perfect credit to get a balance transfer lasting for more than six months.  Balance transfer veterans, accustomed to no fee balance transfers and 0% rates that lasted for 15 months are in for quite a surprise, as many of you may have been counting on the continuous flow of easy balance transfer money.

And balance transfer newbies?  You not only missed the party, but the loyalty you showed to your credit card company has been wasted.

Ultimately, the future availability of 0% rates on anything is uncertain at best.  In fact, the only thing that seems certain is that interest rates on credit cards will skyrocket, thanks in large part to Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act, the new credit card bill which was supposed to help consumers (in about 9 months, by the way) but has had the undesired effect of causing banks to hasten interest rate increases and back away from low margin businesses, such as giving money away free for 1 year to lure in new customers.

Obviously, I’m not a huge fan of the new credit card bill or the credit card companies, as the two have merged together to create a perfect storm of sorts that has hurt Americans tremendously at a time when we can least afford it.  For the time being, however, 0% APR balance transfers are still available.  And if you could benefit from one, by all means do so as soon as possible.  Soon, the option may not be there.