Balance Transfer Credit Card Offers Comparison Service
Compare Balance transfer credit cards
| Credit Card | Card Details | Interest Rate p.a. | Cash Advance Rate p.a. | Balance Transfer Rate p.a.
| Annual fee
| Interest free days (up to) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Bankwest Lite MasterCard |  Editor's Choice:Best Card & Low Interest The lowest stress mastercard, with Australia's lowest MasterCard purchase rate of just 9.99% p.a. | 9.99% | 20.99% | 1.99% for 12 months | $59 | 55 |   |
 | Competitive 11.74% p.a. interest rate from one of Australia's most respected banks. | 11.74% | 20.49% | 2.99% for 6 months | $55 | 40 | |
 Citibank Clear Platinum Visa | A low interest rate credit card that has platinum rewards and premium benefits, currently offering 50% off the annual fee! Min. Income to apply is $50k per year | 11.49% | 20.99% | 0.99% for 6 months | $42 (1st year, save $43!) | 55 | |
 Aussie MasterCard | 2.99% p.a on balance transfers for the 1st 6 months + 2.99% p.a. on purchases for the 1st 6 months. Reverts to just 12.29% p.a. | 2.99% for 6 months (normally 12.29%) | 18.79% | 2.99% for 6 months | $49 | 55 | |
 ANZ Low Rate MasterCard | Editor's Choice: Balance Transfer Save with low interest rate on purchases and enjoy 0% p.a. on balance transfers for the first 6 months. | 12.49% | 20.74% | 0% for 6 months | $58 | 55 | |
| ANZ Low Rate MasterCard | Limited Time Only Turn your New Years resolution for 2010 to reduce credit card debt in to a reality by applying before 27 February 2010. | 12.49% | 20.74% | NEW!2.9% for 12 months | $58 | 55 | |
 Bankwest Zero Platinum MasterCard | Editor's Choice: No Annual Fee Voted Best Transactor Credit Card for 2010 by Money magazine with No Annual Fee for Life and 1.99% p.a. for 12 monthsbalance transfer | 15.99% | 15.99% | 1.99% for 12 months | $0 | 55 | |
 HSBC Credit Card | $0 annual fee for the life of the credit card and a 5.99% p.a. for 6 months balance transfer offer. | 16.99% | 19.99% | 5.99% for 6 months | $0 | 55 | |
 Woolworths Everyday Money Card | Receive a bonus $50 shopping card if you apply by 31 March 2010, and make a minimum of 3 purchases on your new card by 31 May 2010. | 18.49% | 20.99% | 5.99% for 6 months | $0* | 55 | |
 Citibank Platinum | Editor's Choice: Rewards Program - Special Offer Simply spend $500 between 1 January and 30 June and receive 20,000 points to fly any airline, any time! Good credit rating required for application approval. | 20.49% | 20.99% | 4.9% for Lifetime months | $250 | 55 | |
 Citi Silver | Features a free rewards program along with no point expiry. Min. required income only $20,000. | 20.49% | 20.99% | 2.9% p.a. for up to 12 months. | $69 | 55 | |
 Citi Gold | Rewards program and a 1.9% p.a. for 9 months on balance transferred - a great all-in-one card. Generous credit limit of up to $25,000. Min. required income of $35,000. | 20.49% | 20.99% | 1.9% p.a. for up to 9 months. | $119 | 55 | |
 ANZ Balance Visa Credit Card | For people interested in a reward’s program after they’ve repaid their balance. | 13.49% | 20.74% | 0% for 6 months | $79 | 55 | |
Featured Balance Transfer Credit Card:ANZ Low Rate MasterCard
Transfer your non- ANZ store and card charges to the ANZ Low Rate MasterCard. Save with a competitive 12.49% p.a on purchases and a 0% p.a. for 6 months balance transfer offer. The ideal balance transfer credit card for Eftpos and ATM transactions anywhere in the world.
- 0% p.a. for 6 months on balance transfers.
- An interest rate of 12.49% p.a on purchases
- Low annual fee of $58.
- Up to 55 days interest free on purchases.
- Get a response in 60 seconds after you complete your application.
- You don't even need to be an ANZ customer to apply.
Balance Transfer Credit Card Guide
If you have existing credit card debts which you can not afford to pay off in full, then you have come to the right place. You could save 100's of dollars by Balance Transfering your credit cards, so read on!
What is a Balance Transfer?
A Credit Balance Transfer (BT) is the process of moving debt from an existing credit card to a new one. So why would you do that? Very simply, you would do that to reduce the cost of your debts, saving you 100s if not 1000s of dollars in the process. The credit card industry is very competitive, so card issuers are keen to steal business from their competitors. To do this, they offer deals to attract customers away from other lenders. One of the biggest enticements that they offer is the Balance Transfer card where they let you move an existing debt to their card and charge you a much lower interest rate than you are currently paying.
How much could I save?
This depends on your existing debts and what credit card offers are available at the time, but here is an example. If you have $10,000 of debt on a credit card with an interest rate of 18.9% APR and you move it to a new card that is offering 0% interest on balance transfers for 12 months, then you would save nearly $1400 in interest in one year!
(these calculations assume that there is a 3% BT fee payable on the new card and that you pay $200 off your bill each month). To work out exactly how much you would save, check for yourself using our Balance Transfer Calculator.
But What is the Catch?
There is no 'catch' as such. The lenders just hope that you will become profitable for them over time, but your job is to ensure that you use the deal to your advantage by reducing the cost of your debts. Although there is no catch, there are a couple of important points you need to know.
- Most credit cards charge a fee for doing the BT - typically 2 to 3% of the balance you move. When working out how much you will save, don't forget to take this into account. One or two cards have no fee, a handful more have capped fees, but most now have uncapped fees.
- Never make purchases on a BT card! This is very important. If you do make purchases on a BT card they will be charged at the normal purchase rate and you will get charged interest each and every month. Any payments you make go towards paying off the 0% BT debt and not the purchases, so you can not pay it off without paying off your BT debt too!
- As with any credit card, you must continue to make your minimum monthly payments on time. Ideally you should use your 0% interest period as an opportunity to pay off your debts as quickly as possible, so pay as much as you can each month.
- Making many credit card applications can have a negative impact on your credit score. For more details, please read our guide to Credit Scoring.
- Make sure you know when the 0% offer period ends so that you can pay off your debt before the lender charges you interest.
How do I choose the right Balance Transfer Card?
To choose the right card, select which of the following best describes you and your situation.
I can pay off my credit card debt within 9 months
If you can pay off your debts in less than 9 months then you will have a great choice of cards. Try to choose one that has no Balance Transfer fee or choose one that has a capped fee. Check out the top two sections here
I can pay off my credit card in 9 to 14 months
If it will take you 9 to 14 months to pay off your debts, then you will probably have to pay an uncapped BT fee. Despite this, you will still make great savings by transferring your balance to another card. Check out our 0% balance transfer tables to find a 0% deal that is at least as long as your debts will take to pay off.
My debts will take longer than 14 months to pay off but I am happy to move money around to the best deals
Someone who regularly moves debts around from one 0% credit card deal to another is known as a rate tart or card tart. It can be a great way of reducing the cost of your debts over a longer period of time, but does require some effort and care. Choose the cards from our table which have low BT fees and/or long 0% offer periods.
My debts will take longer than 14 months to pay off but I don't want to move my money regularly
In that case, choose a card that offers a low balance transfer rate until you pay off the balance. This is known as a Life of Balance (LOB) card. They typically offer BT rates in the region of 3.9% to 6.9% either for life, or for a period of 3 to 4 years. This is a good way to benefit from lower interest rates while minimising the amount of effort. However, it is more costly than using 0% cards. Choose an appropriate card from our Life of Balance card table.