Balance Transfer Credit Card Offers Comparison Service

Compare Balance transfer credit cards

Balance Transfer Credit Card is Australia's leading online balance transfer credit card comparison service. We differentiate ourselves from other online credit card comparison websites by focusing only on credit cards with a balance transfer feature.

Latest RBA statistics reveal that Australian's are currently $47.1 billion in credit card debt and owe an average credit card account balance of $3,141. Therefore one of the most important credit card features Australian consumers look for is the ability to transfer an existing credit card balance onto a lower or 0% balance transfer credit card.

So if you want to consolidate your credit card debt then you have come to the right place. We can help match you up with one of the many types of balance transfer credit card offers which is best suited to you including:

• 0% balance transfer
• balance transfer for life
• low balance transfer credit cards
• 0 balance transfer 12 months
• no balance transfer fee credit card

We also make the balance transfer comparison process simple by providing 100% transparent credit card comparisons and reviews so you can quickly search, compare and apply for the best balance transfer credit cards with the lowest rates and most appropriate repayment period so you can save.

Best Balance Transfer Credit Cards:

	Interest Rate (p.a.)	Balance Transfer Rate (p.a.)	Annual fee	Cash Advance Rate (p.a.)
Citibank Clear Platinum Card	11.99%	0% for 12 months with 3% handling fee	$99	21.74%
Bankwest Breeze MasterCard	0% for 6 months (reverts to 10.99% )	4.99% for 9 months	$49	21.99%
ANZ Platinum Credit Card	0% for 6 months (reverts to 19.39% )	0% for 6 months	$0 annual fee for the first year ($87 thereafter)	20.99%
HSBC Credit Card	17.99%	0% for 8 months with 2% handling fee	$0	21.99%
Commonwealth Bank Low Fee Credit Card	1% for 5 months (reverts to 20.24% )	5.99% for 5 months	$0 Annual Fee for the first year ($24 thereafter)	21.74%
Virgin Flyer Credit Card	20.99%	1.9% for 12 months	$50 (for first year thereafter $99)	20.99%
St.George Vertigo	13.24%	0.99% for 6 months	$55	21.49%
Bank of Melbourne Vertigo Credit Card	13.24%	0.99% for 6 months	$55	21.49%
Bankwest Zero Platinum MasterCard	0% for 6 months (reverts to 17.99% )	4.99% for 9 months	$0	18.99%
NAB Low Rate Visa Card	12.99%	4.99% for 6 months	$59	21.74%
Commonwealth Bank Low Rate Credit Card	13.49%	5.99% for 5 months	$78 ($48 for qualifying customers)	21.74%
Westpac Earth Classic	19.99%	0.99% for 6 months	$75	21.49%

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 balance transfer for life 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.

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