Starting September 30th, a Capital One consumer credit card is offering 0% APR balance transfers.  Unfortunately, however, this offer carries a full 3% transaction fee, which makes it a high fee balance transfer.  (In contrast, Discover limits balance transfer fees to 3% of the transaction with a $75 maximum.)

The Capital One card, aimed at consumers with excellent credit only, that offers 0% APR balance transfers is the Capital One ® Platinum Prestige Visa®.  This card also sports a low long term APR, which is currently 8.9% as well as a 0% APR on purchases.  The duration of this offer changes with frequency, so its best to refer to application for complete details.

Additionally, a number of Capital One cards are now offering 0% interest rates on purchases as well including many popular rewards offers, such as the Capital One® No Hassle Miles(SM) Rewards - Excellent Credit.  Like the Platinum card, the duration of this offer changes frequently, so it is best to refer to the application for complete terms and conditions.

For more information on current Capital One Offers, visit their section in Smart Balance Transfers.  For more information on 0% APR balance transfers, visit that section of Smart Balance Transfers.

Comsumers looking to eek out an extra 3 months on a 0% APR balance transfer have extremely limited options.  To be precise, they have one.  At present, the only credit card on the market offering a 0% APR for 15 months on balance transfers is the Advanta Platinum.

The Advanta Platinum card, though designed for business, is available to consumers as well, though this is a source of confusion for some applicants.  Here’s the simple step you need to take to complete the application and take advantage of a 0 APR for 15 months.  When on the application page, you will find a field where applicants are prompted to enter a business name.  In this field, simply enter your name and voila, you are on your way to extra 3 months of balance transfer savings.

Just how much you can save with a 0% APR for 15 months obviously depends on the amount of the balance you transfer.  For example, a person with a $3000 balance transferred from a credit card charging a 14% interest rate can save over $100. 

An additional benefit of the Advanta Platinum Card is that after the 15 month 0% APR introductory period ends, the ongoing APR is a fixed 7.99%, significantly lower than most current offers.

You can learn more about the Advanta Platinum card and apply online to take advantage of a 0 APR for 15 months here.

While the majority of credit cards only offer a 0% APR for 12 months, there are a few major credit cards that offer a 0% APR for 15 months.  Unfortunately, no credit card currently offers a 0% APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers.  However, there is one credit card on the market for each 0% category.

The first of these credit cards is Blue from American Express.  This credit card offers a 0% APR for 15 months on purchases.  Aside from offering a 0% rate, this card also offers no fee rewards and charges no annual fee.  Once the zero interest period expires, this card offers a variable 11.24% interest rate on remaining balances.

The second offer comes from Advanta.  They offer a 0% APR for 15 months on balance transfers with their Platinum Rewards card.When the zero interest rate expires, this card offers a low 7.99% variable APR on remaining balances.  Although this Advanta credit card offer is aimed at businesses, consumers can also apply.  Many visitors have written us about the application process, as the form requests a business name.  In this area, simply use your name as the business name to complete the application.

As noted above, no credit card is currently offering a 0% interest rate on purchases and balance transfers.  There are, however, many credit cards that offer a 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months.  You can review these offers and apply online by visiting the 0% APR credit card section of Smart Balance Transfers.

Note:  The information in this posting is accurate as of 5/29/08.  Before applying online for a credit card that offers a 0% APR for 15 months, be sure to examine the application to verify that the offers described above are still current. 

Time to say goodbye to David Spade and say hello to the crazy credit card guy.  Capital One has recently begun an advertising campaign for its Capital One Card Lab, an online tool that lets consumers build their own credit card…kind of.  Consumers with excellent credit card will be able to get a credit card as designed.  However, people who are unsure of their credit or have lessor credit than they percieved may get something slightly different than what they created in the card lab.

For this review of the Capital One Credit Card Lab, we’ll assume we have excellent credit, which gets us through the first step of this 4 stop process.  Step two is where things get a little complicated.  On this page, you are able to choose your interest rate, your introductory interest rate and your rewards.

In an attempt to build the best rewards credit card available, I selected to get 1% cashback on purchases with a special 2% intro rate for 12 months.  After selecting this, a number of options were removed, including every possible APR below 15.9% and a 0% on balance transfers.  I then chose to get a 0% APR on purchases for 1 year.  The result:  the only available interest rate was 19.9%. 

Ultimately, the card I created was not nearly as good as a number of cashback credit cards already on the market.

Disappointed, I tried the Capital One Card Lab again.  This time, I designed a card for someone with good credit.  The results were equally unsatisfying.  I opted to get a 0% APR for 9 months on purchases (the longest available duration), a standard 1% cashback reward option and was ultimately offered a card with a 18.9% APR.  Compared with other offers on the market for individuals with good credit, this lab creation was a complete dud.  There are probably 30 other credit cards available with better terms.

The Capital One Card Lab is graphically impressive and fun to play with.  But choosing a credit card is not about having fun.  While some people with excellent credit may be able to create a card that offers good rewards, individuals who don’t meet Capital One’s harsh criteria for excellent credit will find much better deals elsewhere.

You can visit the Capital One Card Lab or compare current 0 APR credit card deals in the appropriate section of http://www.smartbalancetransfers.com

A number of visitors have written me regarding Capital One balance transfer offers. Unlike many credit card companies, which offer a 0% APR on balance transfers instead of purchases, Capital One does the opposite: they offer a 0% APR on purchases only. This has proved confusing for the people who emailed us, so we wanted to clarify this issue for other readers.

Additionally, Capital One does offer no fee balance transfers. However, all balance transfers are charged the standard interest rate, which is often in the low to mid teens. Essentially, you may end up paying the same interest rate you had on your previous credit card.

To learn more about no fee balance transfers as well as 0% APR balance transfers, visit the respective sections of Smart Balance Transfers credit card comparison section.