A Brilliant Way To Pay Down Your Credit Card Balances

This article is about using a simple but powerful tool to help pay down credit card debt as quickly as possible while spending as little as possible on interest charges. The tool is readily available to anyone with good credit, and more and more Americans are learning about it, and using it to their advantage. First, a little context. Banks have become so competitive with one another in order to win new customers for their credit cards, that they have started offering better and better incentives in order to attract new customers to their cards. It began when a few banks started offering extremely low interest rates for a brief period in order to get new customers to transfer over their balances. Then other banks upped the ante, and dropped rates to 0% for 6 month periods. That grew to 8 months. Very competitive banks started offering a full 12 months uickly no interest. Now banks are offering such long 0% intro APR periods that using these offers have become a potent part of the personal finance toolbox. There is a card offering 0% for a full 15 months with no balance transfer fee. There is even a card offering an incredible 18 months of zero interest on transfers. One can really think of these offers as getting an interest-free "loan" during the long intro period. So how impactful can transferring a balance over to a card with an ultra-long 0% intro offer be? Lets take an example: If your current card charges 18% APR, you would save $2,522 over 15 months by transferring a $10,000 balance to the Slate, and $2,798 over 18 months using the BankAmericard* That's a lot of money. Now for the second part, paying off your balances more quickly. Take the same $10,000 example. If you're paying $250 per month on that balance, most of that payment goes toward just paying the interest, leaving very little to pay down the balance. It would take you 62 months (more than 4 1/2 years!) to pay that down at that rate. Now watch what happens when you stop the interest by transferring the balance, but continue paying the $250 every month. 100% of that money now pays off balance, and at the end of the 15 month period, your $10,000 balance would only be $6,250. The entire amount would be repaid in 47 months instead of the 62 months, saving you well over a year of payments. That's getting out of card debt a full 15 months earlier, while also saving thousands of dollars to boot. So here's the question. If it costs nothing to apply but a few minutes, and it costs nothing to transfer over the balance once you've been approved, why would anyone carrying a balance continue to pay interest every month? We hope we can help spread the word so that more Americans can use this incredible tool to cut out their card debt, and that if you are carrying a balance, that you can put these principles we've identified to work for you. Below are our top-rated balance transfer cards offering the longest 0% intro APR periods, or the best combination of 0% intro APR and other incentives (cash rewards, no fees etc): The No Transfer-Fee Card Chase Slate 15 Months of 0% Intro APR. No balance transfer fee. No annual fee. The Chase Slate is tied as our highest-rated balance transfer card, and for good reason. It charges no fee for transferring your balance to it in the first two months, no annual fee, and no interest on balances transferred for a full 15 month 0% intro APR period. This makes it a phenomenal tool to gain control of your credit card debt, as you can make a costless balance transfer, then use the 15-month interest grace period to pay down your balance. The Verdict: If you don't need the entire 18 months offered by the BankAmericard, this can be efficient since it doesn't have a balance transfer fee. No transfer fee and no annual fee, combined with the 0% intro APR means that this is really free money for the 15 month term, no catches. Most Appropriate For: Those who want a no-fee way to stop paying interest, and possibly pay off the cards during that breather. Those with good rather than excellent credit. Least Appropriate For: Those who pay off their balances every month would be better served getting a card paying high rewards. Credit Required: Good More Details > The Ultra-Long 0% Intro APR Card BankAmericard® Credit Card 18 billing cycles (months) of 0% Intro APR. No annual fees. The BankAmericard is tied as our highest rated balance transfer card, featuring an unbelievable 18-month 0% APR intro period. This means that if you were to roll your balance over onto the card today, you wouldn't have to pay interest until well into 2017. The card does charge a 3% balance transfer fee, but if you’re looking to avoid paying any interest on your credit card balances for as long as possible, the BankAmericard could be your card. The Verdict: Getting a loan this cheaply for this long is pretty amazing. If you're carrying a balance, and realistically you know you will have to carry that balance for a while, this card becomes a no-brainer. As an example, assume you have a $10,000 balance on your current cards at a 18% rate. Over the 18 month term, you would have paid $3,098 in interest.* Switching to this card would cost $300 in fees, but then nothing the rest of the way, for a net savings of $2,798. Not bad, you could do a lot with that extra cash. Most Appropriate For: Those who have large balances and and want as much interest-free time as possible to pay the principle down. Least Appropriate For: Those who pay off their balances every month or every few months. Credit Required: Excellent More Details > The Cards With Long 0% Intro APR AND Cash Rewards Programs. Chase Freedom Card 15 Months of 0% Intro APR, 1% Cash Back Rewards Program, $100 bonus. No annual fee. Pros: Chase is temporarily offering a fantastic deal on this card. If you charge $500 on it in the first 3 months, you'll earn a $100 bonus. Combine that with the 1% standard cash back feature, plus 5% cash back in certain rotating spending categories per quarter (at the time of this writing it includes restaurants) and this card really starts to pay. All this and you get 15 months of 0% intro APR, and it requires good, not excellent credit, making it easier to get in. Cons: Charges a 3% balance transfer fee. The Verdict: A great combination of 0% intro APR, solid cash-back rewards, an attractive limited-time bonus offer while only requiring good credit. Most Appropriate For: Those with good credit seeking a daily-use card offering great cash back rewards and 0% intro APR. Best for new charges. Least Appropriate For: Balance transfers, as it charges the 3% fee while offering no more free term than the Slate (which has no transfer fee) and not as much as the Simplicity (if you were to pay a fee, you might as well get the full 21 months of the Simplicity) Credit Required: Good More Details > Citi Double Cash Card 15 Months of 0% Intro APR, 2% Cash Back Rewards Program. No annual fee. Pros: Offers a really nice balance between a 15-month 0% intro APR term and a very solid cash-back rewards program. Even during the 0% intro period, you'll receive 1% cash back when you make a purchase, and another 1% on any balance you pay off. Cons: Does charge a 3% balance transfer fee. Requires excellent credit to get in. The Verdict: If you are looking to make some purchases, want to defer paying interest on them, AND earn cash rewards, this is a great option. Most Appropriate For: Anyone who might make some large purchases in the near future, or regularly charges a lot on their cards. Making the charges here would earn cash back but not require any interest during the 15 month intro. Least Appropriate For: Those looking to make balance transfers of current balances onto 0% intro APR cards. The Slate and Simplicity would be better for that use. Credit Required: Excellent More Details > Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This content was accurate at the time of this post, but card terms and conditions may change at any time. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer Affiliate Program. Shop at bjewelu.com where the smart woman over 50 shop