As of June 30th, the no fee balance transfer deal offered by American Express for its series of IN credit cards will no longer be available.  The offer, available with the IN:LA, IN:NYC, and IN:Chicago cards, provided a 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months and charged no balance transfer fee.

The removal of these three offers from the market is not surprising.  Just about every credit card company has stopped offering no fee balance transfers since the beginning of this year and most have raised balance transfer fees substantially.

Currently, the ESPN Visa, a Washington Mutual credit card, continues to offer a 0% APR for 6 months on no fee balance transfers.  However, most people will save more money by opting for a low fee balance transfer offer.  Additionally, many credit card companies have increased their requirements to qualify for 0% offers, and with the economy’s future uncertain, it may be very difficult to get approved for a new 0% credit card when the 6 month intro period expires.

Thus, we recommend applying for a credit card that charges low fees and offers a 0% APR on balance transfers and purchases for a full year.  You can learn more, compare current offers, and apply online at our main site, www.smartbalancetransfers.com.

The ESPN Visa card, issued by Washington Mutual, is currently offering a 0% APR on balance transfers and purchases for 6 months.  There are no fees on balance transfers initiated at the time of application.

The ESPN Visa is a sports affinity credit card that offers consumers a range of sports themed rewards.  Aside from offering no fee balance transfers, this card also offers new customers the following benefits:

• 2,500 Bonus Points upon first card use within one year.
• Rewards start at just 2,500 points.
• No annual fee.
• Earn 5 points for every $1 you spend on purchases from ESPN, including ESPN Shop, ESPN Zones, ESPN Sports Concierge Service, and more.
• Earn 1 point for every $1 you spend on other purchases.
• Earn tickets and VIP Access to Sporting Events, Sports Merchandise and Collectibles, Retail, Dining, and Travel Rewards through the ESPN Total Access Rewards Program†.
• Use the FREE ESPN Sports Concierge Service to buy hard-to-get tickets, arrange travel to sporting events, or create your own ultimate fan experience.

You can learn more about the ESPN Visa by viewing the online application or compare other balance transfer credit cards in the credit card offers section of Smart Balance Transfers.

The days of 0% APR no fee balance transfers are over-for now.  This week, Citi stopped offering no fee balance transfers with its Citi Professional Cash card.  This was the last no fee balance transfer offer from a major bank.  While Bank of America currently offers a 1.9% APR on no fee balance transfers with its Make a Wish card, this APR is only for 6 months.  Paying a balance transfer fee and getting a 0% APR for 1 year provides much more savings. Now that the market currently lacks a no fee balance transfer credit card, consumers should focus on credit cards that charge low balance transfer fees. 

What is a low fee balance transfer?  In a nutshell, a low fee balance transfer is one with a limit on maximum fees.  Currently, all major credit cards are charging a 3% balance transfer fee per transaction.  However, some credit cards have no limit on balance transfer fees, while others cap fees at $75.

Finding a low fee balance transfer credit card can provide a great deal of savings.  For example, if you transfer a $5000 balance to a credit card that has no limit on balance transfer fees, you would spend $150 in fees.  The same balance transfer, if done with a low fee balance transfer card, would only cost $75.

We have compiled a complete list of balance transfer credit cards here for easy comparison.

Even though balance transfer fees are now unavoidable, the amount of money you can save with a 0% APR balance transfer is still significant.  For example, if you have a $5000 balance on a credit card with a 12% interest rate, you can save over $620 this year on interest.  If you factor in the balance transfer fee, you still save over $550 on interest.

To find out how much you can save with a 0% APR balance transfer, check out our balance transfer calculator before applying for a new credit card online.

In a move that has become all too common over the past year, Bank of America recently stopped offering 0% APR no fee balance transfers with its Platinum Plus Visa.  To make matters worse, they have put no cap on balance transfer fees.  This is a seismic shift, as what was once the best balance transfer credit card on the market is now one of the worst.

Here’s the problem.  Most credit cards charge a 3% balance transfer fee with a maximum fee of $75.  Thus, if you transferred a large balance of $10,000, your balance transfer fee would be $75.  With the new fee structure of the Bank of America Platinum Plus, the fee on a $10,000 balance transfer would be $300, or 4 times the maximum fee most other issuers would charge.

The elimination of this no fee balance transfer credit card from the market has left only one current offer available to consumers looking to save money on balance transfer fees.  And, based on the way credit card companies have been behaving, it is only a matter of time before the final no fee balance transfer credit card is gone.

What’s the best balance transfer option now?

As I write this, Citi still offers one no fee balance transfer credit card (see the no fee balance transfers section of SmartBalanceTransfers to learn more).  If, however, you need to transfer a balance from a Citi card, there are no current fee free offers.  If you find yourself in this position, or cannot get approved for the Citi no fee credit card, Discover and Chase still offer 0% APR balance transfers with $75 fee limits.  Over the course of a year, these credit cards will provide hundreds, if not thousands in savings.  Sure, you’ve got to pay a little more in upfront fees, but most reasonable people would much rather pay 3% in fees than 15% in compounding interest.

Hopefully, this decidely consumer un-friendly trend will end soon.  However, with the credit crunch still looming over everyone’s head, it looks like deals will get worse before they get better.

In our opinion, the best type of balance transfer is one that offers a 0% APR and charges no balance transfer fees.  As we’ve written many times before, balance transfer fees are a nuisance.  If you are only transferring a balance from one credit card, the maximum balance transfer fee you will incur is the lesser of 3% or $75.  However, if you transfer three balances of $2500, you’ll end up paying $225 in balance transfer fees. 

 Now, the savings one gets from transferring a $7500 balance from a 14% credit card is over $1000.  However, if you pay balance transfer fees, the amount would be reduced to around $800.  Now, while balance transfer fees are by no means deal breakers, they do help boost savings (in this example, by 20%).

 Given our stance on no fee balance transfers, it should come as no surprise that our selection for “Best Balance Transfer” offers no fees on balance transfers and a 0% APR for 1 year.  And the winner is…The Citi Professional Cash Card.

Below you can vote on the best balance transfer credit cards.  You can compare all of the offers listed in the 0% APR Balance Transfer section of our website and apply online for approval.

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In our opinion, the best balance transfer credit cards charge no balance transfer fees. Consequently, our selections for best balance transfer credit cards are the Citi Professional Card, which offers a 0% APR on balance transfers for nine months and the Bank of America Platinum Plus Card, which offers a 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months. Both of these cards charge no balance transfer fees.

The runners up are credit cards that offer a 0% APR on balance transfers for 1 year, a 0% APR on purchases as well as low long term APRs. Cards that fall into this category are the Discover More Card and the Chase Platinum Card.

With credit markets tightening, it is becoming more difficult to get approved for a good 0% APR balance transfer credit card. Thus, we suggest that anyone who carries a balance on a high interest credit card take action soon to lock in a 0% rate before the banks get stingier.

To compare all current balance transfer credit cards, including our picks for the best balance transfers, visit the credit card comparison section of SmartBalanceTransfers.

Also, feel free to post a comment or shoot us an email with your opinions.

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.

On Friday, February 15th, yet another 0% apr no fee balance transfer offer will be removed from the market. This time it is one of the best offers available, the Citi Home Rebate card. This credit card offered a 0% APR on balance transfers for a full year.

Once Friday comes, there will only be two solid 0% APR, no fee balance transfer offers left on the market, neither of which offer a 0% interest rate for 1 year. These no fee cards offer 0% rates for 6 and 9 months respectively.

If you’re looking to transfer a balance to Citi Home Rebate card before the no fee balance transfer offer expires, you can do so at SmartBalanceTransfers.com before the offer expires. Additionally, you can view all current no fee balance transfer offers at our website at any time.

I received an email from a visitor detailing a bad balance transfer situation that she wanted me to share with other visitors. The visitor received a mail offer from her current credit card company offering her a 0% APR on balance transfers for 1 year. When she received the offer, she had a $5000 balance with the company extending the 0% offer and a $3000 balance with another company. Hoping she could save some money and consolidate her payments, the visitor initiated the balance transfer. That’s where the problems began.

First, she was charged a $75 balance transfer fee. If you’ve been here before, you know I strongly recommend no fee balance transfer credit cards. However, the $75 in balance transfer fees was only the tip of the iceberg. When the visitor made payments to her consolidated credit card bill, she was surprised to find out that every dollar she paid reduced the portion of her debt being charged 0% interest, not the balance being charged 14%. Fortunately, she realized this nasty credit card trick after only a few statements.

After finding my site on Google, she applied for a no fee balance transfer card and sent me an email asking that I share her story with my visitors. I was more than happy to oblige as this highlights one of the nastiest little tricks in the credit card industry. Buried in the fine print of just about every credit card’s terms and conditions will be a statement such as this: every payment will be applied to the balance with the lowest interest rate. In a nutshell, this means that if you have a balance on your credit card and you are offered a 0% balance transfer deal, you’re best off putting it in the shredder and consolidating your credit balances on a new 0% APR credit card that charges no balance transfer fees.

I recently received an email regarding no fee balance transfer offers from Capital One. I have been aware of these offers for some time, but have not mentioned them because, although Capital One offers no fee balance transfers, they do no offer a 0% APR on balance transfers. Instead, they offer a 0% APR on purchases and, while charging no balance transfer fees, charge consumers the standard interest rate on all balance transfers.

Consequently, one can save 3% in balance transfer fees, but in all likelihood will end up paying in excess of 12% to 16% a year in interest. In a nutshell, these offers offer a negligible amount of savings compared to a no fee balance transfer credit card that offers a 0% APR for 1 year.

For more information on credit cards that offer no fee balance transfers and a 0% APR, you can review all current offers in the no fee balance transfers section of SmartBalanceTransfers.