Which Credit Card Should I Transfer My Balance To?
by Mr Credit CardOne of our readers, James, sent us this question:
I have just gained a credit card debt of about $3,000 and just need some time to pay it off without all the interest stacking.
I wanted to do a balance transfer to a new credit card and just wanted to get all my facts straight before doing so. I have been looking at Citi Mastercard offering 0% APR on balance transfers, but it charges a 3% fee with a minimum of $5 and it doesn’t state a maximum.
My question is, would this be a good card to get and how do I know what my maximum credit amount would be on this new card?
I plan on adding a few more bills onto this card down the line and I just want to make sure that it will provide me with enough credit limit. Please help! James
Hi James, thanks for your question!
You are right that the Citi card has a 3% fee on balance transfers and no cap. That would mean that your balance transfer could end up costing you as much as $90. Now the Citi Platinum Select Mastercard does offer a zero percent APR for the next 6 to 12 months, so that is a positive.
However, there are two other cards that might fit your needs better, and they have a cap on their balance transfer fees:
The Discover More Card - This is a combination reward / cash back credit card with no annual fee, and a zero percent APR on balance transfers for 12 months. The maximum balance transfer fee is $75. If you expect to pay down the $3000 balance in the next year, this card is probably the way to go. If you do not expect to pay down the full balance though, then you may want to balance transfer again when the year is up because this card will revert to around a 10.99% interest rate – a little higher than the Citi Mastercard.
The other front runner would be the Chase Platinum Visa - This is not a rewards, or cash back credit card, but it does offer a nice selection of benefits. The balance transfer APR is also 0%, and the maximum balance transfer fee is $75.
You can click on any of the links above to see my detailed reviews of each of these cards.
As far as what your limit will be when you apply, there is no way to tell. You may want to consider splitting the balance transfer between a couple of cards if you don’t get the limit you expect.
Of the three cards above, the Citi Platinum Select has the highest balance transfer fee, but it has the lowest regular APR after the zero percent offer has expired (8.99%) so if you plan to keep the card, either it, or the Discover More Card are your best bet.
Thanks again for your question!
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October 15th, 2009 at 19:47
I’ve recently been turned down by Capitol One Visa for a new credit card.My goal was to do a balance transfer from my American express card to this new card, (As American express recently raised my interest rate to 27.6%)Having been turned down once, I’m apprehensive about applying for another card within a six month period because I believe this will adversely effect my credit score.The reasons for being turned down from Capitol One were 1:too few or revolving accounts
2:Proporton of account balances too high
3:proportion of mortgage to credit limit too high
I feel that the credit card companies are taking advantage of my situation and for the first time in my life I’m unable to obtain credit. Is there any thing I can do to?