Balance Transfer APR

If you were to obtain one of these credit cards, you would be allowed to transfer existing credit card debt to your new card. This is known as a balance transfer and offers a specific interest rate for the money that is transferred onto the card. In a few cases, such as the Egg Card, outstanding monies from loans, overdrafts and other forms of debt can be balance transferred to the credit card.

This interest rate, known as the balance transfer APR is usually the lowest interest rate available on credit cards and is commonly used to encourage consumers to transfer their debt (and their repayments) from one card to another. When you see 0% adverts, it usually refers to this balance transfer APR.

Please note that sometimes the low interest special offers can also apply to purchase APR, such as the Capital One Platinum, which offers a fixed low interest rate for the life of your balance transfers and 0% on purchases (purchase APR) for 6 months.

For more information on balance transfers, please take a look at the balance transfer section of the key credit card features area of the site.

Composite APR - A warning!

This figure is quoted to show the combined APR that you are likely to pay over the course of your first year with a new credit card, when an introductory 0 % balance transfer offer is made. For example, if you have six months interest-free followed by a standard rate of 15%, the composite APR is 7.5%.

Be careful when reading leaflets which are promoting the composite APR and labelling it as the "long term APR". Capital One are known for playing this trick.