With provisions of the new credit card laws due to go into effect on February 22, 2010, credit card companies are adjusting their offers accordingly.  Long term interest rates have already increased across the board and 0% credit card rates are likely to increase, and thus disappear.

With congress passing and President Obama signing the CARD act of 2009, provisions of which have been enacted already with the remainder to be implemented in 2010, credit card issuers are preparing for the most sweeping changes to hit the industry in decades. This, along with the uncertainty around consumers’ ability to pay their debts, has credit card companies closely examining their rates and incentives. Continue Reading »

Around this time last year, credit card companies began tinkering with 0% interest rates.  First, they stopped offering fixed APR credit cards with low interest rates.  Then, slowly at first, they began reducing 0% interest offers from as much as 15 months to around 6 months.  Today, 0% interest credit cards have managed to hang in there, though many deals are not what they once were.  Here’s a round-up of what you can expect to find in the credit card market today.

1.)  0% Interest on Purchases:  Credit card companies use 0% interest rates on purchases to lure in new customers who will use their cards, spend (and earn then fees every time you use the card) and then carry a balance once the 0% interest period expires.  Continue Reading »

As 2009 nears its close, many people start thinking about their New Year’s resolutions.  My recommendation:  get out of credit card debt.  Many consumers today are paying significantly higher interest rates than they were a year ago.  And, according to the Wall Street Journal, the average household is currently carrying $8,083 in credit card debt, up from $7,489 three months ago.  One of the reasons credit card debt is up close to 8% in this short period lay in the fact that some consumers are paying 20% or more in interest.  However, even a consumer with an average interest rate of about 15% can save close to $1,000 in a single year by taking advantage of a 0% balance transfer.

How Balance Transfers Work:  If you are not familiar with balance transfers, this section will cover the very basics.  Essentially, a balance transfer transaction involves moving the debt from a high interest card to one with a low introductory rate that is usually 0% for 6 months to 1 year.  During this period, you pay no interest on your credit card debt, which allows you to pay down your principle quicker.  Continue Reading »

A few years back, getting approved for a credit card online took less than a minute.  Such is not the case today.  Credit card companies are spending more time reviewing credit card applications and instant credit card decisions are essentially a thing of the past.  For last minute credit card shoppers, this could prove to be a problem.

On the average, consumers looking to get a 0% credit card in time for the holidays should allow at least 10 business days for their card to arrive in the mail.  This unfortunately means that a person who applies for a credit card today is unlikely to get the plastic in hand until the beginning of December.  In a best case scenario. Continue Reading »

Since 2007, Smart Balance Transfers has been providing information on balance transfer offers to tens of thousands of visitors every month.  Many visitors have been utilizing 0% balance transfers on a yearly basis to defer interest costs.  For much of the past decade, this was a relatively simple task.  When one 0% offer ended, you could easily find a new offer for balance transfers.  Such is not the case today.

As experienced credit card users may have noticed, there just aren’t that many 0% balance transfer offers available today, and most of them only provide 0% rates for 6 months.  This is not ideal, as these offers now carry higher balance transfer fees ranging from 3-5%.  Gone are the days of 0% for 15 month balance transfers, not to mention no fee balance transfers and fixed APR for life balance transfers.  Today, balance transfer options are relatively limited. Continue Reading »

Update 3/10/2010:  A credit card offering a 0% for 15 months has recently become available.  Although the offer advertises a 0% for up to 15 months, applicants that do not meet certain credit requirements wil be given a 0% rate for 7 months.  For more info, see the article 0% APR for 15 Months or Not.

Original Aritcle:  A little over year ago, I researched the almost mythical 0% balance transfer for life.  Despite the fact this incredible offer seemed to be an impossibility, I ultimately learned that Discover had been offering this deal to select customers via direct mail invitation.  However, the trail of evidence dried up after 2006, and that offer disappeared.  At this time last year, 0% balance transfers for 15 months existed.  Sure, only one such offer remained (down from a half dozen), but getting a 0% APR for 15 months was a possibility.  Such is not the case today.

Unfortunately, I’ve come across some deceptive ads promoting phantom 0% for 15 month balance transfer deals, however, the ads lead to pages with 0% offers lasting 6 months.  Continue Reading »

I received an email today that sickened me.  A visitor interested in purchasing a timeshare was being told to use a 9 month 2.9% introductory rate credit card to pay for the $17,000 bill and then utilize 0% balance transfers for five years to pay off the bill and escape interest.  I was very please to have an opportunity to help this visitor avoid what could easily have turned into a financial nightmare.

During the past five years, it was entirely possible to use 0% balance transfers year after year to defer interest (and hopefully pay down debt).  However, this is not the case today.  Not only is it getting tougher to get approved for a 0% balance transfer credit card, it is also getting increasingly difficult to get a 0% APR for more than 6 months.  To make matters worse, just about every company has raised the maximum balance transfer fee and many have increase the fee to 4 or 5% of the transaction. Continue Reading »

Many of us have grown so accustomed to getting 0% credit card offers in the mail that we’ve grown to take them for granted.  Now that these offers have all but disappeared, the Internet has taken up the slack.  At present, it is still possible to find 0% credit card offers, albeit for shorter durations and, for balance transfers, with higher fees.

Unfortunately, the new credit card law designed to protect consumers may lead to a number of unintended negative consequences that are likely to hurt consumers with good credit.  Chief among these is an end to 0% credit card deals, especially those lasting more than three to six months. Continue Reading »

Unfortunately, a number of my dire predictions have been coming true recently.  Eight months ago, I wrote that no fee balance transfers would become a thing of the past.  Today, getting a 0% APR for 1 year on a credit card that charges no fees on balance transfers is a distant memory.

About the same time, I warned that balance transfer fees would rise.  At that time, most companies were charging a 3% fee with a $75 maximum.  A few weeks later, companies began lifting the $75 maximum, raising the cost on balance transfers in excess of $2500 dramatically.  Continue Reading »

Unfortunately, starting on March 1st, Discover is no longer offering a 0% APR on purchases for an entire year.  The new 0% term is now 6 months.  While most Discover cards, and most offers from Discover, only offered a 6 month APR on purchases, we were one of the few lucky sites able to get our visitors a 0% APR for an entire year on purchases and balance transfers.

While this change in duration is unfortunate, consumers looking for 0% balance transfers can breathe a sigh of relief, as Discover will continue to offer a 0% APR for a full year on balance transfers to approved applicants.

For more information on Discover credit cards, please see the Discover balance transfer page on our website.

Should you read an older blog entry stating there is a 0% for a full year on purchases, please ignore this.  As always, check and double check the terms and conditions of any credit card you apply for.  While we strive to maintain the most accurate information, discrepancies do occasionally occur.

Okay.  Its time to pull out your credit card statement and take a look at your monthly interest expense.  What you find might not be pleasant.  We plugged some numbers into our balance transfer calculator to estimate the monthly cost of carrying a balance on a credit card with a standard interest rate.  The results weren’t pretty.  Check out these monthly and annualized expenses for people with $3000, $5000, and $10,000 in credit card debt.

We’ll start with $3000 in debt on a credit card with a 14% interest rate.  Every month, this card racks up $35 in interest.  While this may not seem outrageous, over the course of a year, the total interest expense nears $450.  And that assumes the debt doesn’t go up.

Things start getting uglier when we increase the debt level to $5000.  On a monthly basis, the interest expense crosses the $50 threshold, coming in at $58.  While this isn’t ideal, the yearly cost is really striking:  $746!.  And $5000 is only about half of the average household credit card debtload.

Now, let’s look at the costs of $10,000 in debt.  On a monthly basis, interest expenses cross into triple digits, coming in at just over $100.  What’s frightening, however, is the yearly cost.  It totals over $1,400.  No matter who you ask, that’s a lot of money.  And, its money that doesn’t have to be spent.

Although the credit crunch has made it more difficult for some consumers to get accepted for 0% balance transfers, it is still possible to get approved for one of these money saving deals.  Unfortunately, however, the credit crunch may worsen, and the availability of these offers may dry up quickly.  For those reasons, not to mention the fact you can save a few hundred or thousand dollars, the time to transfer balances to a 0% credit card is now.

You can review these offers in the balance transfers section of this website and apply online.  You can also continue reading for some real nightmare balance transfer scenarios.

Nightmare #1:  $10,000 in credit card debt with a 17% interest rate

• Monthly Interest Expense:  $142
• Yearly Interest Expense:  $1839

Nightmare #2:  $15,000 in credit card debt with a 15% interest rate

• Monthly Interest Expense:  $188
• Yearly Interest Expense:  $2411

Nightmare #3:  $20,000 in credit card debt with a 15% interest rate

• Monthly Interest Expense:  $250
• Yearly Interest Expense:  $3215

These scenarios are not uncommon across America, and with high interest rate credit cards, debt can quickly spiral out of control.  With an interest rate of 14%, debt can double in as little as 3 years.  And, as we all know, its much easier to get into credit card debt than it is to get out.

Our advice is simple:  don’t let your credit card debt get out of control.  Consolidate high interest credit card debt onto a 0% APR balance transfer credit card and pay down your debt before its too late.