0% Credit Card?

December 18, 2006 8:23 AM

We need a 0% interest balance-transfer credit card. We used to get such offers weekly -- no more. Does anyone have a source?
posted by partner to Work & Money (10 answers total)

I got one recently from Chase. A MasterCard with 0% on balance transfers through April 2008 (if you qualify and all the other fine print that I can't remember off the top of my head). Maybe contacting them could land you something similar?
posted by AwkwardPause at 8:28 AM on December 18, 2006

CreditCards.com has a nice page on balance transfer cards you should check out.
posted by icebourg at 8:32 AM on December 18, 2006

Goggle "zero percent interest" there are loads. Here is one from a Google advertiser.
posted by caddis at 8:32 AM on December 18, 2006

Be careful, though -- some of the companies (Chase is a great example) will send you a card that's NOT 0% interest even if you qualify for the 0% interest.
posted by SpecialK at 8:40 AM on December 18, 2006

(and especially if you don't qualify for the 0% interest, they'll send you a card anyway.)
posted by SpecialK at 8:40 AM on December 18, 2006

Check out this blog entry from Get Rich Slowly, a blog written by MeFi's own jdroth. He recommends Index Credit Cards as the best resource.
posted by matildaben at 9:54 AM on December 18, 2006

Also of note, Money magazine's latest issue included a writeup on the most offensive BS fees (they described it somewhat differently) and among them they mentioned fees on balance transfers from the company you were transferring to. So be very careful to check any offer you get to make sure you're not being charged for bringing them some business.
posted by phearlez at 10:39 AM on December 18, 2006

Watch out for balance transfer fees. Also watch out for other bizarre terms and conditions. I saw one offer that gave a 0% APR balance transfer, but to keep that rate you had to periodically make charges at some other ridiculously high APR, and of course all of your payments were applied to the transferred balance, not the high-APR balance. Very sneaky.
posted by drew3d at 11:28 AM on December 18, 2006

Discover does what drew3d mentions; I'd stay away from their balance transfer offers.
posted by kindall at 5:37 PM on December 18, 2006

Oh, wait. I just checked the one I got from Discover -- it's truly 0% on balance transfers for the first year, with no purchase requirement, and after that you can extend the 0% indefinitely by making at least one purchase a month.
posted by kindall at 5:40 PM on December 18, 2006