Credit Building > Which are the best 0% balance transfer cards?

Which are the best 0% balance transfer cards?

Wollit Team2 minute read · Updated 3rd July 2024

Zero-interest balance transfer credit cards are a great option if you’re struggling to stay on top of interest payments from other credit cards.

They let you save money on interest charges, simplify repayment, and provide some much needed breathing room to pay off debt.

But 0% balance transfer credit cards are also great for your credit rating. This is because they can help improve or maintain your credit score by helping you pay down debt and lowering your credit utilisation ratio, as well as saving you from potential missed payments from other cards.

When it comes to the best 0% balance transfer cards in the UK, several options stand out. Let’s look at them one by one, and see which one is for you.

Which is the best 0% balance transfer card?

Depends on what you’re looking for.

If you’re looking for the longest period of interest-free balance transfers, then consider the Tesco Bank 29 Month Balance Transfer card.

This card offers an impressive 29 months of 0% interest on balance transfers, making it ideal if you need a longer period to pay off your debts without incurring interest charges.

The card also comes with a reasonable representative APR of 24.9%. However, it does charge a fairly high balance transfer fee of 3.49%.

On the other hand, if you want to avoid balance transfer fees altogether, then look at the NatWest 13 Month Balance Transfer Card.

This card is great because it provides 0% interest on balance transfers for up to 13 months with no transfer fee, making it a cost-effective choice if you can pay off your newly consolidated debt within a year. The card has a similar representative APR of 24.9% variable.

However, these cards require a better than average credit score to qualify.

If that’s not you, don’t despair – there are still balance transfer credit card options for bad credit out there. You just need to do a bit of digging.

Our top picks for bad credit balance transfer credit cards are:

Virgin Money 16 Months Balance Transfer Card. It gives you the longest zero-interest period for a "bad credit" balance transfer card, but does charge a balance transfer fee of 3%.
Zopa Balance Transfer Card. This offers only 6 months of 0% interest balance transfer, but charges no balance transfer fee, and it also has some of the most flexible eligibility requirements.

Both of these cards accept people who’ve had CCJs or defaults in the past, as long as they have some credit history and a minimum personal income (£15,000 for Virgin, £10,000 for Zopa).

This doesn’t mean that they’re great options. Both have higher than average APRs and fairly short interest-free periods, at least compared to NatWest, Tesco, or Barclaycard. You’ll need to keep a close eye on your repayments if you don’t want to end up in even more debt.

How can I qualify for a great 0% balance transfer credit card?

To qualify for a great 0% balance transfer credit card (meaning one with a long zero-interest period), you'll need to have good to excellent credit.

Luckily, now many apps can help you build and improve credit.

One such app is Wollit. Wollit is an app available both on Android and iOS, and it works by reporting a fixed-fee monthly subscription as a loan repayment to all three credit reference agencies.

It can even report your monthly rent payment to Experian, adding another line in your credit report that shows lenders you’re responsible and pay your bills on time.

Eventually, having a better credit history will improve your credit score, and you’ll find yourself eligible for better and balance transfer cards which will give you the breathing room you need.