topic Re: Best Balance Transfer Cards in Credit Cards

Best Balance Transfer Cards

Anonymous — Sun, 27 May 2018 16:54:52 GMT

Hi everyone. I'm planning to do a balance transfer but I am having trouble deciding if I should just do it to my Discover IT (limit is 34.5k with 0 balance) or if I should open another card to put about 10k from other cards on. I would like to know which cards are better for balance transfers and also offer good initial limits. I also have an offer from PenFed for a personal loan up to 25k with 12.99 % APR and it expires on May 31st. That would be my last resort because, well, it's a loan and I don't particularly like that interest rate. I asked for a lower rate, they ran my credit and said that they don't want to go lower than 12.99%. My scores right now are all between 745 and 765. So far I was thinking about:

Citi Simplicity (I have no accounts with Citi so far)
PenFed Pathfinder or Promise maybe? I currently have the Platinum Rewards with a 18k limit with a 0 balance and a car loan with 9k left.
Chase Slate (I opened a CSR with a 27.5 k limit earlier this month and I currently have a Marriott with 15k limit and a 3k balance and a Freedom card with 7k limit a 0 balance).

Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Re: Best Balance Transfer Cards

Anonymous — Sun, 27 May 2018 17:18:34 GMT

For me, when I do balance xfer's I'm always shopping for the 0% intro promos since I like to avoid interest at all costs. That's usually good for around 12-18 months then I just repeat the process with another 0% promo card until its paid off. Now most cards charge a transfer fee of 3 - 5% with the exception of I believe 3 cards, Amex ED, BofA classic, Chase Slate and Navy Federal Credit Union. Most times you must make the transfer within 60 days of application to avoid fee but this could vary. So if that works for you I would grab one of them.

Citi Simplicity is good (0% for 18mo) but they charge a 3% fee.

Hope that helps.

Re: Best Balance Transfer Cards

kilroy8 — Sun, 27 May 2018 17:24:32 GMT

The USAA Rate Advantage card has a good 0% period and no BT fees. They also have been known to give good SL's.

The Simplicity or Diamond Preferred are the best BT cards, usually. But I don't think the SL would be enough to do you any good.

Re: Best Balance Transfer Cards

Anonymous — Sun, 27 May 2018 17:54:17 GMT

Pretty sure I saw a no fee BT offer for new cardmembers for the Amex Everyday. There's also the BankAmericard, but I'd suggest the Slate or Amex first since they're more useful cards long term (since the Slate can be converted to. Freedom or Freedom Unlimited in the future)

Re: Best Balance Transfer Cards

Gollum — Sun, 27 May 2018 19:13:11 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi everyone. I'm planning to do a balance transfer but I am having trouble deciding if I should just do it to my Discover IT (limit is 34.5k with 0 balance) or if I should open another card to put about 10k from other cards on. I would like to know which cards are better for balance transfers and also offer good initial limits. I also have an offer from PenFed for a personal loan up to 25k with 12.99 % APR and it expires on May 31st. That would be my last resort because, well, it's a loan and I don't particularly like that interest rate. I asked for a lower rate, they ran my credit and said that they don't want to go lower than 12.99%. My scores right now are all between 745 and 765. So far I was thinking about:

Citi Simplicity (I have no accounts with Citi so far)
PenFed Pathfinder or Promise maybe? I currently have the Platinum Rewards with a 18k limit with a 0 balance and a car loan with 9k left.
Chase Slate (I opened a CSR with a 27.5 k limit earlier this month and I currently have a Marriott with 15k limit and a 3k balance and a Freedom card with 7k limit a 0 balance).

Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.

You might take a look at the BECU Cash Back VISA. It has no BT fee and 12 months 0% interest. I don't know what the BECU policy is regarding initial credit limits. I was recently approved for the card, I "only" applied for $10,000 credit limit, and that's what I got.

Edit: BECU provides the TransUnion FICO 08 score for BECU members via their website, but I don't know how often the score is updated.

Re: Best Balance Transfer Cards

Anonymous — Sun, 27 May 2018 21:07:16 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
For me, when I do balance xfer's I'm always shopping for the 0% intro promos since I like to avoid interest at all costs. That's usually good for around 12-18 months then I just repeat the process with another 0% promo card until its paid off. Now most cards charge a transfer fee of 3 - 5% with the exception of I believe 3 cards, Amex ED, BofA classic, Chase Slate and Navy Federal Credit Union. Most times you must make the transfer within 60 days of application to avoid fee but this could vary. So if that works for you I would grab one of them.
Citi Simplicity is good (0% for 18mo) but they charge a 3% fee.

Hope that helps.

Slightly off topic but how high should you go in Utilization when doing a BT to avoid possible AA? Going to have to do one myself soon but my utilization will be at 82%.

Back on topic, I would just BT to the Discover instead of opening a new account. If you don’t pay it off, just BT to another 0% card etc.

Re: Best Balance Transfer Cards

Anonymous — Sun, 27 May 2018 22:08:03 GMT

What's your overall utilization?

Also, NFCU Platinum card is 0%/$0 fee for 12 months (within 30 days of approval) with relatively low APR beyond the intro period. Addtionally, the SL tend to be higher than the SLs on the other cards featured here. The trouble with opening a new card is you're never sure what your're going to get as a SL (cough cough Citi/Barclaycard is notorious for issuing limits lower than the planned balance transfer). I feel like Navy will either deny or give enough of a SL to ensure utilization isn't an issue, if you include a substantial part of the balance transfer in with the application. This is anecdotal of course.

Re: Best Balance Transfer Cards

Anonymous — Sun, 27 May 2018 23:01:17 GMT

I don't believe you mentioned the amount you plan to BT? Unless it's over $10K, I think I'd just use Discover instead of opening a new account.

To stay under 30% that is. Anything more would probably benefit from an actual loan, as high balances on CC can cause problems.

Espcially from unexpected expenses. 12.99% might seem high, but it's better that 16.40-21% on a backdated CC balance if something happens. Most BT offers are for 12 months, so it requires discipline to pay it back in a timely manner. Or you can get caught up in a constant rotation of BT's.

Re: Best Balance Transfer Cards

Gollum — Sun, 27 May 2018 23:23:33 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi everyone. I'm planning to do a balance transfer but I am having trouble deciding if I should just do it to my Discover IT (limit is 34.5k with 0 balance) or if I should open another card to put about 10k from other cards on. I would like to know which cards are better for balance transfers and also offer good initial limits. I also have an offer from PenFed for a personal loan up to 25k with 12.99 % APR and it expires on May 31st. That would be my last resort because, well, it's a loan and I don't particularly like that interest rate. I asked for a lower rate, they ran my credit and said that they don't want to go lower than 12.99%. My scores right now are all between 745 and 765. So far I was thinking about:

Citi Simplicity (I have no accounts with Citi so far)
PenFed Pathfinder or Promise maybe? I currently have the Platinum Rewards with a 18k limit with a 0 balance and a car loan with 9k left.
Chase Slate (I opened a CSR with a 27.5 k limit earlier this month and I currently have a Marriott with 15k limit and a 3k balance and a Freedom card with 7k limit a 0 balance).

Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.

You could look at the BECU Cash Back VISA. No BT fee and 12 months 0% interest. 1.5% cash back in $5 increments, lowest interest rate currently 11.4%. I don't know their policy regarding starting limits; I recently applied for "only" a $10,000 starting limit and was approved. BECU also supplies the TransUnion FICO 08 score to its members via the website, but I don't know how often the score is updated.

Re: Best Balance Transfer Cards

SouthJamaica — Mon, 28 May 2018 00:52:26 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi everyone. I'm planning to do a balance transfer but I am having trouble deciding if I should just do it to my Discover IT (limit is 34.5k with 0 balance) or if I should open another card to put about 10k from other cards on. I would like to know which cards are better for balance transfers and also offer good initial limits. I also have an offer from PenFed for a personal loan up to 25k with 12.99 % APR and it expires on May 31st. That would be my last resort because, well, it's a loan and I don't particularly like that interest rate. I asked for a lower rate, they ran my credit and said that they don't want to go lower than 12.99%. My scores right now are all between 745 and 765. So far I was thinking about:

Citi Simplicity (I have no accounts with Citi so far)
PenFed Pathfinder or Promise maybe? I currently have the Platinum Rewards with a 18k limit with a 0 balance and a car loan with 9k left.
Chase Slate (I opened a CSR with a 27.5 k limit earlier this month and I currently have a Marriott with 15k limit and a 3k balance and a Freedom card with 7k limit a 0 balance).

Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.

1. Generally speaking I prefer credit union non-rewards platinum cards with no balance transfer fees and fair interest rates: examples PenFed Promise, Langley Select, Vantage West Connect.

2. My Discover card usually provides 2 options: a zero interest balance transfer with a 3% fee, and a zero fee balance transfer with 4.99% interest. So if either of those are good for you go with it (my preference is the no-fee version).

3. I would not go for the Simplicity because it has a balance transfer fee and probably has too low a starting limit.

4. I would not go for the Slate because it doesn't offer any value, except for the initial balance transfer, and it usually gives you too low a starting limit to be worth anything.

Re: Best Balance Transfer Cards

SouthJamaica — Mon, 28 May 2018 00:53:36 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
For me, when I do balance xfer's I'm always shopping for the 0% intro promos since I like to avoid interest at all costs. That's usually good for around 12-18 months then I just repeat the process with another 0% promo card until its paid off. Now most cards charge a transfer fee of 3 - 5% with the exception of I believe 3 cards, Amex ED, BofA classic, Chase Slate and Navy Federal Credit Union. Most times you must make the transfer within 60 days of application to avoid fee but this could vary. So if that works for you I would grab one of them.
Citi Simplicity is good (0% for 18mo) but they charge a 3% fee.

Hope that helps.
Slightly off topic but how high should you go in Utilization when doing a BT to avoid possible AA? Going to have to do one myself soon but my utilization will be at 82%.

Back on topic, I would just BT to the Discover instead of opening a new account. If you don’t pay it off, just BT to another 0% card etc.

I never go over 28%.

Re: Best Balance Transfer Cards

kilroy8 — Mon, 28 May 2018 01:51:32 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
For me, when I do balance xfer's I'm always shopping for the 0% intro promos since I like to avoid interest at all costs. That's usually good for around 12-18 months then I just repeat the process with another 0% promo card until its paid off. Now most cards charge a transfer fee of 3 - 5% with the exception of I believe 3 cards, Amex ED, BofA classic, Chase Slate and Navy Federal Credit Union. Most times you must make the transfer within 60 days of application to avoid fee but this could vary. So if that works for you I would grab one of them.
Citi Simplicity is good (0% for 18mo) but they charge a 3% fee.

Hope that helps.
Slightly off topic but how high should you go in Utilization when doing a BT to avoid possible AA? Going to have to do one myself soon but my utilization will be at 82%.

Back on topic, I would just BT to the Discover instead of opening a new account. If you don’t pay it off, just BT to another 0% card etc.
I never go over 28%.

I don't know what your current utilization is, but there are clear datapoints on this board that show going from 0% to 84.9% or higher on a single card can cost from 30-50 points on your Fico 8 scores, depending on your profile. The breaks people have found are 28.9%, 48.9% 68.9% and 84.9%, which is considered maxed out. Each of those levels cost more points. Remember that utilization is 30% of your score and needs constant care if you want your scores to be decent.

Re: Best Balance Transfer Cards

Anonymous — Mon, 28 May 2018 01:51:42 GMT

I personally recommend the Citi Diamond Preferred. They have been rated #1 in the longest 0% APR rate of 21 months for BTs for the past two years. Good luck to you!

Re: Best Balance Transfer Cards

Anonymous — Mon, 28 May 2018 03:19:30 GMT

@kilroy8 wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
For me, when I do balance xfer's I'm always shopping for the 0% intro promos since I like to avoid interest at all costs. That's usually good for around 12-18 months then I just repeat the process with another 0% promo card until its paid off. Now most cards charge a transfer fee of 3 - 5% with the exception of I believe 3 cards, Amex ED, BofA classic, Chase Slate and Navy Federal Credit Union. Most times you must make the transfer within 60 days of application to avoid fee but this could vary. So if that works for you I would grab one of them.
Citi Simplicity is good (0% for 18mo) but they charge a 3% fee.

Hope that helps.
Slightly off topic but how high should you go in Utilization when doing a BT to avoid possible AA? Going to have to do one myself soon but my utilization will be at 82%.

Back on topic, I would just BT to the Discover instead of opening a new account. If you don’t pay it off, just BT to another 0% card etc.
I never go over 28%.
I don't know what your current utilization is, but there are clear datapoints on this board that show going from 0% to 84.9% or higher on a single card can cost from 30-50 points on your Fico 8 scores, depending on your profile. The breaks people have found are 28.9%, 48.9% 68.9% and 84.9%, which is considered maxed out. Each of those levels cost more points. Remember that utilization is 30% of your score and needs constant care if you want your scores to be decent.

It’s 12% across the board. I’ll likely just split the BTs between Discover and Citi. I didn’t realize how big of a score drop that would be.

By splitting them, my individual utilization on both cards won’t exceed 48.9%.

Re: Best Balance Transfer Cards

Anonymous — Mon, 28 May 2018 04:57:28 GMT

Agreed, I can't believe that I'm still within that 21 months of 0%!

I should be using it more for purchases and balance carrying, but I have too many other cards requiring SUB attention ATM.

Gonna be sad when it ends though. lol

Re: Best Balance Transfer Cards

Anonymous — Mon, 28 May 2018 18:08:00 GMT

Yeah I don't think you realize how long 21 months is until you are in the middle of your introductory 0% APR period, lol. The good news is, similiar to Discover, Citi tends to send out offers for the Diamond Preferred for 0% APR for 12 months and 18 months. While it's no 21 months, it's nice to always have a 0% APR card on hand with a lender that likes consumers who carry balances

@Anonymous wrote:
Agreed, I can't believe that I'm still within that 21 months of 0%!
I should be using it more for purchases and balance carrying, but I have too many other cards requiring SUB attention ATM.
Gonna be sad when it ends though. lol

Re: Best Balance Transfer Cards

Anonymous — Tue, 29 May 2018 21:24:02 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Hi everyone. I'm planning to do a balance transfer but I am having trouble deciding if I should just do it to my Discover IT (limit is 34.5k with 0 balance) or if I should open another card to put about 10k from other cards on. I would like to know which cards are better for balance transfers and also offer good initial limits. I also have an offer from PenFed for a personal loan up to 25k with 12.99 % APR and it expires on May 31st. That would be my last resort because, well, it's a loan and I don't particularly like that interest rate. I asked for a lower rate, they ran my credit and said that they don't want to go lower than 12.99%. My scores right now are all between 745 and 765. So far I was thinking about:

Citi Simplicity (I have no accounts with Citi so far)
PenFed Pathfinder or Promise maybe? I currently have the Platinum Rewards with a 18k limit with a 0 balance and a car loan with 9k left.
Chase Slate (I opened a CSR with a 27.5 k limit earlier this month and I currently have a Marriott with 15k limit and a 3k balance and a Freedom card with 7k limit a 0 balance).

Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.
1. Generally speaking I prefer credit union non-rewards platinum cards with no balance transfer fees and fair interest rates: examples PenFed Promise, Langley Select, Vantage West Connect.

2. My Discover card usually provides 2 options: a zero interest balance transfer with a 3% fee, and a zero fee balance transfer with 4.99% interest. So if either of those are good for you go with it (my preference is the no-fee version).

3. I would not go for the Simplicity because it has a balance transfer fee and probably has too low a starting limit.

4. I would not go for the Slate because it doesn't offer any value, except for the initial balance transfer, and it usually gives you too low a starting limit to be worth anything.

Discover gave me the same two options. When you say your favorite is the no fee version did you mean option 1 with zero interest and 3% transfer fee or option 2 with 4.99% interest and zero balance transfer fees? Thanks for your input on the other cards; duly noted.

Re: Best Balance Transfer Cards

SouthJamaica — Tue, 29 May 2018 22:19:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Hi everyone. I'm planning to do a balance transfer but I am having trouble deciding if I should just do it to my Discover IT (limit is 34.5k with 0 balance) or if I should open another card to put about 10k from other cards on. I would like to know which cards are better for balance transfers and also offer good initial limits. I also have an offer from PenFed for a personal loan up to 25k with 12.99 % APR and it expires on May 31st. That would be my last resort because, well, it's a loan and I don't particularly like that interest rate. I asked for a lower rate, they ran my credit and said that they don't want to go lower than 12.99%. My scores right now are all between 745 and 765. So far I was thinking about:

Citi Simplicity (I have no accounts with Citi so far)
PenFed Pathfinder or Promise maybe? I currently have the Platinum Rewards with a 18k limit with a 0 balance and a car loan with 9k left.
Chase Slate (I opened a CSR with a 27.5 k limit earlier this month and I currently have a Marriott with 15k limit and a 3k balance and a Freedom card with 7k limit a 0 balance).

Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.
1. Generally speaking I prefer credit union non-rewards platinum cards with no balance transfer fees and fair interest rates: examples PenFed Promise, Langley Select, Vantage West Connect.

2. My Discover card usually provides 2 options: a zero interest balance transfer with a 3% fee, and a zero fee balance transfer with 4.99% interest. So if either of those are good for you go with it (my preference is the no-fee version).

3. I would not go for the Simplicity because it has a balance transfer fee and probably has too low a starting limit.

4. I would not go for the Slate because it doesn't offer any value, except for the initial balance transfer, and it usually gives you too low a starting limit to be worth anything.

Discover gave me the same two options. When you say your favorite is the no fee version did you mean option 1 with zero interest and 3% transfer fee or option 2 with 4.99% interest and zero balance transfer fees? Thanks for your input on the other cards; duly noted.

Option 2, with 4.99% interest and no balance transfer fee.

Re: Best Balance Transfer Cards

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 12:08:27 GMT

The Citi Simplicity is now charging a wild 5% for balance transfers so you may wanna reconsider that option.