Credit Cards-Best Balance Transfer Rates

Halifax/Bank of Scotland Plastic Card

6 months interest free (APR thereafter is 9.5%) on balance transfers and purchases.

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Ulster Bank Zinc Card

9 months interest free (APR thereafter is 13.4% on purchases) on balance transfers and purchases.

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First Active

9 months interest free (APR thereafter is 12.9% on purchases and 20.1% on cash advances) on balance transfers and purchases

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Tesco (provided by RBS)

6 months interest free (APR thereafter is 14.9%) on balance transfers.

Further information

National Irish Bank VISA (doesn't require a NIB Package)

5 months interest free (APR thereafter is 14.9%) on balance transfers and purchases.

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For further information, please click the links above. The terms and conditions attaching to interest free periods on balance transfers may vary among card providers. Further details can be obtained from the various providers. Some information may only be furnished on application. Not all applicants will be able to avail of the above rates as certain criteria apply. Information will be reviewed and updated regularly. Askaboutmoney does not accept any responsiblity for inaccuracies in the information.

Re: Key Post: Credit Cards-Best Balance Transfer Rates

Has anyone else done this research on one or all of the above cards?

I gather that "interest free" does not mean the same on each card.


Brendan

Re: Key Post: Credit Cards-Best Balance Transfer Rates

In today's Sunday Business Post, Bank of Scotland claimed that they were the only one to provide an interest free period on purchases and transfers.

This seems to conflict with the above.

Brendan

Re: Key Post: Credit Cards-Best Balance Transfer Rates

Oh well, paper never refused ink!

Marion

Re: Key Post: Credit Cards-Best Balance Transfer Rates

Most companies will also charge you a percentage of what you are transferring over aswell, they dont include this in their big flashy low interest rate ads however.
I used to work for MBNA and although i am not sure what their policy is now, they used to have a 2% charge on the amount you were transferring, and I think it was capped at about 50 pounds (sterling)

I have a MBNA gold card now with a 10.9 interest rate on all transactions for the life of the card which is quite low in comparasin to some of the outrageous rates I have seen people with.

When working for MBNA you'd get all types of people calling up asking about their accounts and some really just didnt have a clue, Id be looking at the screen and their 24.9% rate and their big balances and would just love to tell them to close their accounts, couldnt though. Had to let MBNA rip them off.

Be very weary of all the ins and outs when it comes to credit - to state the obvious.

Re: Key Post: Credit Cards-Best Balance Transfer Rates

Naked Lepper said:

Most companies will also charge you a percentage of what you are transferring over aswell, they dont include this in their big flashy low interest rate ads however.
I used to work for MBNA and although i am not sure what their policy is now, they used to have a 2% charge on the amount you were transferring, and I think it was capped at about 50 pounds (sterling)

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I have never heard of this operating in Ireland. Are you saying there is/was a fee charged to customers transferring their balance to MBNA?

None of the cards mentioned above charge such a fee.

If you want to start a thread on fees and interest rates charged MBNA, please do so in the Borrowing, Banking and Credit Cards thread.

Thanks

Re: Key Post: Credit Cards-Best Balance Transfer Rates

MBNA were definetly charging a fee to transfer a balance and when I worked there we were told to tell customers that all other companies operate similar policys and that if they didn't at the moment that they would be soon - due to increased competition in interest rates on b.ts

Re: Key Post: Credit Cards-Best Balance Transfer Rates

Naked Lepper said:

MBNA were definetly charging a fee to transfer a balance and when I worked there we were told to tell customers that all other companies operate similar policys and that if they didn't at the moment that they would be soon - due to increased competition in interest rates on b.ts

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None of the cards mentioned in the first post above charges any fee or interest on balance transfers for the introductory period. Some other cards, e.g. ptsb ICE charge interest (at a lower rate than usual) on balance transfers, but none charge a fee.

The MBNA Pigsback.com card carries an introductory interest rate of 1.9% on balances transferred, but I see no info on a fee.

There is no mention on MBNA in the first post on the best value balance transfer rates, and none othe cards charge a fee or interest for the introductory period.

The key difference here is what is paid off when a balance transfer is outstanding.

AIB are the only bank to take away the highest interest bearing portion of a balance first.

If you transfer €5,000 to most banks, then make purchases of €500 and pay €700 off; your balance transfer level will drop to €4,300 and you will be charged interest on the €500 and all subsequent purchases untill after the €5,000 is cleared.

With AIB in the same situation, the €700 payment would take away the €500 of the purchases and €200 of the balance transfer.

I was stung by this on several balance transfers in England so things are not always what they seem.

That is why I got an AIB Be card.

This was my experience of the AIB Platinum Card as well. I'm not sure if it is the same with other cards (there was a discussion about this on AAM before). It certainly makes good sense to use AIB if you intend using the balance transfer facility and making purchases while the balance remains to be paid off.

However, you will get pretty much the same deal where a card offers 0% on balance transfers and purchases for initial 5/6/9 months. As all the cards in the first post above offer this, they are in effect giving you the same benefits as the AIB card.

For the credit cards with 0% interest on transfers on transfers and purchases for e.g. 6 months does this mean you have absolutely nothing to pay for the first 6 months (except perhaps the €40 Gov duty) or do you still have to pay the minimum amount every month?

MBNA offer a low interest balance transfer to new customers but not 0% and not for purchases either. Being a MBNA customer myself, I have asked for low interest rate balance transfers to pay off other credit card bills/loans and they are always happy to do this. Though beware, once the 6 months is up you will be paying the normal rate again, so it is in your best interest to pay off most if not all of this amount back within this time

Joe Nonety said:

For the credit cards with 0% interest on transfers on transfers and purchases for e.g. 6 months does this mean you have absolutely nothing to pay for the first 6 months (except perhaps the €40 Gov duty) or do you still have to pay the minimum amount every month?

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This does not mean you pay nothing for 6 months. You still have to pay the minimum amount and yes the €40 duty in April. As I already mentioned in my last post; it would be in your best interest to have paid up the total amount by the end of the 6 months or else you wil be paying normal interest (up to 21% in some cases)

Please ask other questions in the Borrowing, Banking and Credit Cards forum.