What Are The Best Balance Transfer Credit Cards of 2017?

If you're a consumer or business carrying a sizeable balance on your existing credit cards, the best balance transfer or 0% intro APR credit card can be a good tool for reducing your interest and debt burden. In our study we looked for the options that would work best for cardholders looking to move their existing credit card balances. We evaluated cards based on their ability to ease your overall interest and debt burden, and financial advantages from making new purchases.

• The Best Balance Transfer Credit Cards
• Best Overall
• Longest 0% APR Offer
• No Transfer Fee
• Best Business Balance Transfer Card
• Compare Cards
• How Do the Best Cards Compare?
• How Do Balance Transfers Save You Money?

Our Picks For Best Balance Transfer Credit Cards of 2017

The following cards were hand picked from a list of over 300 different credit cards. These cards are some of the most well-rounded balance transfer offers on the market, and are likely to fit the needs of most consumers shopping for one. For each card, we also explore their long-term potential, to see if the card can be useful after you pay off your debts.

Best Overall: Chase Slate®

The Chase Slate®'s unique feature is in not charging fees for balance transfers made within the first 60 days of opening your account. After the 60th day, you will be charged the greater of $5 or 5% of the amount transferred. As of 2017, there are very few credit cards out there that combine a $0 introductory transfer fee benefit with a long 0% APR period. On nearly all other credit card options available, even other cards that work really well as balance transfer credit cards generally have a fee of at least 3% added to any amounts you transfer. The Slate supplements this feature with a sizeable 0% intro balance transfer APR period of 15 months, which falls at the higher range in the credit card universe. Only the Citi Diamond Preferred and Citi Simplicity have longer introductory balance transfer APR lengths at 21 months each.

Long-Term Potential: The Chase Slate® has limited value after the promotional period ends. After 15 months, cardholders can expect their purchase and balance transfer APR to become somewhere between 15.74%-24.49% (variable), depending on their credit history. Two out of the three possible interest rates on this card are above average – unless you qualify for the lowest APR, this is a bad deal. Furthermore, the Chase Slate® doesn’t have any rewards program, or other notable features.

Highlights

• 0% intro APR for the first 15 months
• $0 intro fee for balance transfers within the first 60 days of account opening
• Free credit score tracking

Longest 0% Intro APR: Citi Simplicity® Card - No Late Fees Ever

The Citi Simplicity® Card - No Late Fees Ever comes with one of the longest introductory 0% interest periods we’ve seen, in the 300+ cards in our survey: 21 months. That comes out to close to 2 years of 0% APR on balance transfers. Unlike the Chase Slate®, the Citi Simplicity® Card - No Late Fees Ever comes with a balance transfer fee – 3% or $5, whichever is greater. Even though it charges a fee, the 6 additional months of 0% APR the card provides over the Citi Simplicity® Card - No Late Fees Ever can more than make up for that difference. If you need more than 15 months to rein in your credit card debt, this is one of the best cards to do it with.

Analysts believe that late fees on many credit cards will increase in 2017. Luckily, Citi Simplicity® Card - No Late Fees Ever cardholders never have to pay a late fee or penalty APR – making it a great card for individuals who have difficulty with their finances. With most other credit cards, missing a payment will result in a late fee up to $35, and runs the risk of raising your APR up to 29.99%. These higher rates will continue to apply indefinitely, becoming a costly mistake. With the Citi Simplicity® Card - No Late Fees Ever, even if you miss a payment, your interest rate will not change. In addition most cards also charge a fee ranging between $15-35 for every late payment made, while the Simplicity won't tack on these additional charges.

Long-Term Potential:  The Citi Simplicity® Card - No Late Fees Ever is one of the few balance transfer credit cards to hold decent long-term potential. While the promotional APR on the Citi Simplicity® Card - No Late Fees Ever runs out after 21 months, the ‘no late fees’ and ‘no penalty APR’ features don’t. While we don’t recommend consumers miss payments, it’s still a valuable safety net to have.

Highlights

• One of the longest '0% APR periods' - 21 months
• No late fees or penalty APR
• Citi Price Rewind benefit

Best For No Transfer Fees: Barclaycard Ring™ Mastercard®

The Barclaycard Ring™ Mastercard® never charges their users any balance transfer fees – no matter whether it’s 20 days after account opening or 20 months. The card provides a 0% introductory APR on balances transferred to it within the first 45 days of account opening, which would put it on par with other cards on this list, including the Chase Slate®. Once the 0% period runs out, this card provides a relatively low ongoing APR – 13.49% (variable).

The Barclaycard Ring™ Mastercard® also doesn’t come with any foreign transaction fees. If you frequently travel outside of the United States, and would rather pay using your credit card than exchanging currency, this card is great for the job. Most other credit cards would charge you up to 3% per transaction. In terms of other features, however, the Barclaycard Ring™ Mastercard® is somewhat lackluster. Its rewards program, while very unique, is complicated and not likely to get you better rewards than a decent cash back card would.

Long-Term Potential: The Barclaycard Ring™ Mastercard® is great to keep around, and move over any balances you can’t pay off in one go, due to never charging transfer fees. Outside of this, there is no reason to use the card, as you will be better off sticking to a proper rewards card for most of your shopping.

Highlights

• 13.49% APR (variable based on Prime Rate)
• No balance transfer fees
• No foreign transaction fees

Best for Business: Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card

The Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card is both a great balance transfer credit card and rewards card. It is one of the few business cards that offers an introductory balance transfer APR period - a full year. After the introductory period, the card offers a variable APR on the lower-end of the interest spectrum, and is a very reasonable rate -- especially if you qualify for the minimum rate.

If your small business is carrying a balance on its existing credit card then you might considering taking advantage of the Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card to help manage and reduce your interest payments. The introductory APR will mitigate the costs of your existing debt, and if the cash back rates are better than your current card, the rewards will help you save on additional expenses you find yourself making. Best of all, the Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card has no annual fee which makes it a very cost-effective option to consider.

Long-Term Potential: Unlike our favorite consumer cards, the Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card is also a rewards credit card, which makes it an excellent card to keep around in the long-term. Businesses will enjoy a basic 1% cash back rate on all purchases with 2% cash back on gas station / restaurant spending and 5% cash back on specific office related expenses each account anniversary year. The extra percentages in these last two categories are applied to the first $25,000 in combined purchases each.

Highlights

• 0% Introductory APR for 12 Months
• 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on cellular phone, landline, internet and cable TV services each account anniversary year, and 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year
• APR: 13.49% to 19.49% (variable)

The Top Balance Transfer Credit Cards

Best For..	Card	0% Balance Transfer APR Duration	Ongoing APR	Balance Transfer Fee
All-Around Use	Chase Slate®	15 billing cycles	15.74% to 24.49% variable	$0 Intro fee on transfers made within 60 days of account opening. After that: $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater
Longest 0% Intro APR	Citi Simplicity® Card - No Late Fees Ever	21 Months	13.24% - 23.24% variable	$5 or 3% of the amount of each credit card balance transfer, whichever is greater
No Transfer Fees	Barclaycard Ring™ Mastercard®	15 months	13.49% variable	None
Business	Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card	12 billing cycles	16.49% - 23.49% variable	$5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater

Compare Balance Transfer Credit Cards

The best way of selecting a balance transfer credit card is to fit it to your specific financial situation. Using your tool below, you can enter your current amount of debt, your estimated monthly payments, and your current interest rate, and our tool will figure out which credit cards will provide you with the best value, ranking them from highest to lowest value. If you would like to know more about some of the top cards, look to our picks below.

How Do the Best Balance Transfer Credit Cards Compare to Each Other?

We examined how these credit cards compare to each other for a benchmark consumer. For this profile, we assumed the individual to have the average credit card debt and interest rate, and be making steady payments of $400 per month. We then calculated the total amount of interest saved through each card, over a 24 month period, less any balance transfer fees, whenever those apply. The results were then graphed, as seen below.

As you can see, the amount of money you can pay each month will have a huge impact on which cards end up saving you more money. Generally, ‘0% intro APR’ credit cards will be best, if the time it takes you to repay your debt falls within a month or two of their promotional period. If it will take you a longer time than that to pay it off, cards with a low APR – like the Barclaycard Ring™ Mastercard® and Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card – reign supreme.

How Balance Transfer Credit Cards Help Save Money

If you're still unsure how balance transfer cards can be an important tool we think it might be useful to walk you through how their features can be a useful in improving your finances. If you carry a balance on your credit card, the interest rates you pay on that balance will generally range between 10 - 30% annually, with most falling somewhere in the middle.

For someone with a credit card balance of $9,036 (the average US credit card debt for indebted households) and a 15% interest rate, this would amount to $1,283 in interest by the time the bill was completely paid off (assuming $400 monthly payments). What happens if you transfer the balance and take advantage of a 0% into APR offer that lasts 12 months? Assuming the card has no balance transfer fee, by the time you finish paying off your debt, you would have lost just $241 to interest - a difference of $1,042. Even if the new card has a 3% transfer fee, in the end you would save more money than that one-time cost, making it extremely worthwhile.

In reality things are a little more complicated since consumers are likely to make new purchases onto their card, so that their balance will not continually go down. The math however still works out the same. By taking advantage of introductory APRs, you can spend more money on reducing debt instead of using it to pay additional charges. This equates to substantial savings over time and can be an important step in finding financial stability.