Credit Cards - Balance Transfer Credit Card Offers

Balance transfer credit card offers used to have a zero percent promotional interest rate for a year. Since the credit crunch and the recession that started late last year most credit card balance transfer offers now only have an introductory interest rate for six months. More often than not, the intoductory interest rate isn’t zero percent anymore.

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Another change these days in balance transfer offers is the balance transfer fee the credit card company will charge you for the transfer. The maximum transfer fee charge used to be a fix dollar amount, usually around $50 to $75 dollars depending on the credit car issuer.

A few years ago the charge was changed to a percentage of the total dollar amount of the balance transfer, usually three percent.  Then the average fee was raised to four percent. Now some banks have raised the fee to five percent of the total balance transfer amount.

When you factor in the fee you are paying for the balance transfer the promo interest rate you are paying isn’t so attractive anymore. A five percent fee on a $15,000 balance transfer will come to $750. The zero percent offer is looking less like zero percent when you consider the transfer fee.

If you are thinking of taking advantage of a zero percent balance transfer offer from your credit card company be sure to read the fine print on the balance transfer fee, do the math and make sure the transaction is worth it.