Beware the Balance Transfer Fee!
Balance transfer offers have been an incredibly popular feature of credit cards in recent years, offering the chance to save a decent amount of cash by moving your debt around from card to card to avoid paying interest indefinitely, or by transferring a balance to a 'low rate for life' card to benefit from reduced payments while you clear it.
The success of these deals has backfired somewhat on credit card issuers - as people have learned to play the system to their own benefit, credit card companies have been estimated to lose up to £80m a month from the offers.
In an effort to minimise these losses, card companies such as Barclaycard and MBNA earlier this year began to charge customers a 'handling fee' for making a balance transfer. Many other cards have followed suit over the last few months, meaning that using balance transfer facilities is no longer a cut-and-dried proposition - depending on the amounts involved, you may actually lose money from the deal.
Fee-Free Cards
It's not too late to play the balance transfer game though, as many cards still don't charge a fee - indeed, Sainsbury's have made quite a fuss about not having a fee during their recent relaunch of their card range.
The problem is now that it's now virtually impossible to get a 0% deal without paying a fee - most deals are now of the long term low rate variety.
Cards which don't currently charge a fee include: Barclaycard Initial, Cahoot Visa, Co-op Clear, Co-operative Bank Fixed Rate Visa, Intelligent Finance Flat Rate, Smile, and Student Barclaycard.
Compare Balance Transfer Fees
The table below shows details of any fees applying to cards we've reviewed on this site.
(Data last updated Thursday 24th 2008f July 2008)
| Card | Fee Details | Minimum Fee | Maximum Fee | Balance Transfer Rate (APR) | Intro Rate Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbey Balance Transfer Card | 2.5% | £3 | Unlimited | 0% | for 13 months |
| AOL Card | 2% of transferred amount | £3 | £50 | 0% | for 12 months |
| ASDA Credit Card | 2.5% of the transfer | £5 | 0% | for 9 months | |
| Barclaycard Breathe | 2.5% | £6.25 | 0% | for 12 months | |
| Barclaycard Flexi-Rate | 2.5% | £2.50 | No maximum charge | 0% | for 14 months |
| Barclaycard Platinum | 2.9% | £2.50 | Unlimited | 0% | for 14 months |
| Barclaycard Platinum Cashback | 2.9% | None | Unlimited | 0% | for 12 months |
| Barclaycard Simplicity | 2.5% | - | - | ||
| BMI Classic Mastercard | 3% handling fee | £3 | Unlimited | 0% | for 12 months |
| BT Card | 3% handling fee | £3 | 0% | for 12 months | |
| Buy and Fly Mastercard | 2% | £3 | £50 | 0% | for 9 months |
| Capital One Classic | 3% | - | - | ||
| Capital One Mastercard | 3% fee | No minimum | No maximum | 0% | until 1st March 2009 |
| Capital One Platinum | 3% | 0 | Unlimited | 0% | until 1st October 2009 |
| Capital One Platinum Cash Back | 3% | - | - | ||
| Citi Platinum Mastercard | 3% | £5 | Unlimited | 0% | for 12 months |
| Citibank Shell Mastercard | 3% | £5 | Unlimited | 0% | for 12 months |
| Co-op Advantage Platinum | 2.5% | £5 | £100 | 0% | for 6 months |
| Co-op Travel Card | 2.5% | £ | 0% | for 6 months | |
| Conran Credit Card | All balance transfers subject to a 2% handling fee | £3 | £50 | 0% | for 12 months from account opening |
| Delta Airlines Skymiles Card | 2% | £3 | No maximum | 0% | for 9 months |
| Egg Card | For each balance transfer there is a 3% handling fee | £50 | 0% | until 1st September 2009 | |
| England Cricket Card | 2% fee | £3 | £50 | 0% | for 12 months |
| GM Platinum | 2% handling fee | £5 | 0% | for 5 months | |
| Goldfish Card | 3% | £3 | 4.9% | for 36 months | |
| Halifax All In One | 3% | £3 | No upper limit to balance transfer fee | 0% | for 10 months |
| Hilton Mastercard | 2% of the amount transferred | £5 | £50 | 0% | for 6 months |
| HSBC Card | 2.5% of the transfer amount | £5 | No upper limit stated | 0% | for 13 months |
| John Lewis Card | 2% | £5 | £50 | 0% | for 6 months |
| Leeds Building Society Mastercard | 2% | £3 | £50 | 5.9% | for the life of the balance |
| Lloyds Advance | 3% | 4.9% | for 3 months | ||
| Lloyds Platinum | 2.5% | £2.50 | No upper limit | 0% | for 14 months |
| Marbles Card | Fee of 2% of the amount of each Balance Transfer | £5 | None specified | 0% | for 12 months |
| Marks and Spencer &More | 2 | £5 | No upper limit | 0% | for 6 months |
| MBNA Platinum Plus | 2.9% handling fee on balance transfers | £3 | 0% | until September 2009 | |
| MBNA Platinum Rewards | 2.9% balance transfer fee | £3 | 0% | until September 2009 | |
| MBNA Rewards American Express | 3% handling fee | £3 | No maximum | 0% | for 12 months |
| Mint Card | 2.9% of the transaction amount | £5 | 0% | until 1st August 2009 | |
| Morgan Stanley Gold Card | 2% | 0% | for 6 months | ||
| Morgan Stanley Platinum Card | 1% | 0 | 0 | 3.9% | until 1st July 2010 |
| NatWest Classic Card | 2.9% | £5 | 0% | for 13 months | |
| Natwest Gold Card | 2.9% | £5 | 0% | for 13 months | |
| NatWest Platinum | 2.9% | £5 | 0% | for 13 months | |
| Post Office Credit Card | 2.75% | £3 | No maximum charge | 0% | for 10 months |
| Priority Club Card | 2% | £3 | £50 | 0% | for 12 months |
| RBS Classic Card | 2.9% | £5 | 0% | for 13 months | |
| RSPCA Visa | Fee of 3% of the amount of each Balance Transfer | £3 | Unlimited | 0% | for 12 months |
| Ryan Air Card | 2.99% fee | £5 | 0% | for 6 months | |
| Sainsbury's Mastercard | 3% | £3 | Unlimited | 0% | for 10 months |
| Sony Card | 3% | £3 | No maximum limit | 0% | for 12 months |
| Tesco Bonus Card | 2.9% | Unlimited | 0% | for 13 months | |
| Tesco Clubcard Card | Balance transfers subject to a handling fee of 2.9% | Unlimited | 0% | for 13 months | |
| Virgin Card | 2.98% handling fee | £3 | 0% | for 15 months |
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