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 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.

www.getmyvisa.com is a domain used by Washington Mutual for pre-approved mail offer credit cards.  In general, credit cards offered on www.getmyvisa.com, such as the ESPN Visa, offer consumers a 0% APR for 6 months on purchases and transfers and APRs ranging from 9.99% to 23.99%, based on a review of your credit. 

Getmyvisa.com Vs. Current Offers from Other Issuers

Overall, getmyvisa.com offers fare poorly when compared to current credit card offers from other issuers.  For example, Discover offers a 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for a full year.  Other banks, such as Chase, Citi, or Bank of America, offer similar deals with a 0% APR on either purchases or balance transfers for up to 1 year.

You can compare 0% APR offers from every major credit card issuer in the credit card comparison section of Smart Balance Transfers.  Once you’ve found the best credit card deal, you can apply online for instant approval.

Should you prefer to apply for a www.getmyvisa.com offer, visit their website.

First, we’ll examine the reasons this is not a great deal.  To begin, this offer charges a 3% balance transfer fee with no maximum.  A good 0% balance transfer credit card caps the maximum fee at $75.  Thus, if you accept the Bank of America offer and make a $4000 balance transfer, you would pay $120 in fees instead of $75.  But that’s just the beginning. 

Buried in the fine print of your credit card is a statement such as this, “all payments will be credited to the balance with the lowest interest rate first.”  Thus, if you have a $2000 balance on your card being charged 10% and you transfer $2000, your first $2000 in payments will reduce the lower interest transferred balance, leaving you with $2000 being charged at the 10% or higher rate.

Clearly, the easy balance transfer offer at www.bankofamerica.com/easybt  is not a great deal.  And, compared to a credit card that charges a 0% APR on balance transfers for 1 year and charges low fees, it is not even a good deal.

To maximize your savings on balance transfers, you can review current 0% APR balance transfer offers and apply online at Smart Balance Transfers.  At Smart Balance Transfers, we feature detailed information to help consumers save money on balance transfers.  To find the best money saving balance transfer deal, peruse our website, compare offers, and apply online here.

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. 

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

The Advanta Life of Balance card is the clear leader in this category.  They offer a 2.99% fixed APR for life on balance transfers.  Although this is marketed as a business credit card, consumers can apply for this fixed apr for life balance transfer credit card.  When filling out the application, simply use your name instead of business name when prompted to do so.

The Advanta Life of Balance card offers the lowest fixed APR for life on the market.  However, there are a few addtional offers.  American Express offers three credit cards that offer a fixed APR for life on balance transfers.  Among the deals they offer, the American Express Clear card offers no fee balance transfers and a 5.99% fixed APR for life.  The remaining offers from American Express do charge a balance transfer fee, but offer a 4.99% fixed APR for life.  If you expect to repay your balance in more than 3 years, this may be the best deal.

Overall, the Advanta offer provides the best deal of all fixed APR for life balance transfer deals on the market.  However, individuals who intend to pay their balances off in around a year may save most with a 0% APR balance transfer credit card.

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.

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.

When you’re getting ready to apply for a balance transfer card, there is one very important disclosure to look for:  the balance transfer fee.  While different credit cards disclose this information in different ways, you will generally find information on balance transfer fees in the “Other Fees” section of the terms and conditions.

Once you’ve located this section, carefully review the specifics.  In total, there are three different possible fee structures.  The best, and most difficult to find, is a statement that there are no balance transfer fees. 

The most common balance transfer fee disclosure generally states, “ BALANCE TRANSFER TRANSACTION FEE: 3.0% for each balance transfer made under this offer, with a minimum of $10 and a maximum of $75.”

Notice that a maximum fee is clearly stated.  The third possible fee disclosure will look very similar to the one cited above.  However, there will be no notice of a maximum fee.  If there is no stated maximum fee, you will be charged a full 3% of the balance you transfer.  This means that a $10,000 balance transfer would cost $300, as opposed to $75.

If possible, we recommend finding a credit card that charges no balance transfer fees.  We list every available no fee balance transfer offer on our website.  If you cannot get approved for a no fee balance transfer card, we strongly encourage you to avoid a credit card that does not cap the maximum fee at $75.