Discover Lowers Balance Transfer Fee from 4% to 3% On Two Very Popular Cards

Right now, the two most popular cards we recommend are both issued by Discover. They are the:

• Discover 18 Month Promotional Balance Transfer card, which offers 0% intro APR on transferred balances for 18 months, and zero intro APR on new purchases for 6 months
  
  
• Discover® More Card - 15 Month Intro Period card, which offers 0% intro APR on transferred balances AND new purchases for 15 months.

Transfer a balance to either card above, and you used to be subject to a 4% balance transfer fee. No longer. The transfer fee has been lowered to 3% for both cards. You have 6 months to take advantage of the 3% transfer fee -- plenty of time. After that, if you want to perform a transfer, the fee is 5%.

Obviously, the lower transfer fee makes these cards more competitive. But I think Discover is going to have to bring back their 24 Month Balance Transfer card, which offered zero intro APR on transferred balances for a full 2 years, if the company wants to stay ahead of Citi® in the balance transfer game (Discover pulled their 24 Month Promotional card from the market back May.)

Right now, Citi has no less than four credit cards that feature zero percent intro APR on both transferred balances AND new purchases for 21 months, with a transfer fee of 3%. Very competitive. These cards are:

• Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card
• Citi® Platinum Select® Visa®
• Citi® Platinum Select® MasterCard®
• Citi Simplicity® Card

So don't be surprised if Discover reintroduces an ultra-long duration, 0% balance transfer card, or a "no balance transfer fee" 0% card, or a card that combines both competition-trumping benefits, in the near future.

Chase recently upped the ante by introducing a version of its Slate card that features zero percent intro APR on transferred balances for 15 months, with no balance transfer fee. You can find this card at the top of this page.

Despite the increased competition, Discover remains the top choice for visitors who apply for credit accounts via this website. Discover's reputation for offering exceptional customer service ⁽¹⁾ is very appealing to all types of credit consumers. And it doesn't hurt that Discover has (arguably) the best cashback rewards program in the industry.

All of the above cards will be very popular from January through March, as Americans do their best to minimize debt related to holiday shopping. Christmas spending is great for the economy, and it's great for all the kids in your circle of family and friends. But try to take it easy. All things in moderation. The housing sector is still weak, unemployment still elevated and growth remains anemic. If your financial situation is great, then by all means spend away and enjoy all the juicy rewards that credit cards have to offer. If not, then please think twice hard before you upgrade that iPhone or that XBox 360.

As the economy slowly but surely thaws over the next three quarters, credit-card deals will get more and more consumer-friendly...no doubt. Stay tuned, and have yourself a superlative holiday season.

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New Balance Transfer Offer with My Citi Dividend Platinum Select Card

Since the peak of the credit crisis back in the fall of last year, I hadn't seen any favorable balance transfer offers from credit card accounts I already have open. Bank of America (BofA) has been sending me lots of offers, but each of these BofA offers left a bad taste in my mouth. BofA wants me to pay a balance transfers fee and pay finance charges on the transfer fee. No thanks!

I'm happy to report that Citi® is now offering a somewhat decent balance transfer offer with my Dividend Platinum Select® card. Here it is:



Back in early 2007, before the credit crunch, I used to login to this Citi account and I'd be presented with at least 4 unique offers. During the roughest part of the credit crisis, however, the balance transfer section of my online account management interface contained no offers. Today I found one offer: 0% intro APR for 6 months on transferred balances, with a $75 cap on the balance transfer transaction fee. $75 is not very consumer-friendly, but when you consider that many other balance transfer deals have no cap on the transfer fee (like with the Citi® Platinum Select® MasterCard®), it's not so terrible. Will I take advantage of this offer. Nah.

We are not recommend any Citi credit cards at the www.BalanceTransfer.cc website now, for the simple reason that we believe Citigroup is a zombie bank. However, if you really must have a Citi card, visit the www.citicards.com website and you can browse all the personal, business, secured, airline, gas, student and store-branded cards they have available.

We may recommend Citi cards at some point in the future, if Citi reorganizes and becomes a responsible and commercially sound retail bank.

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Preparing For Rough Times Ahead

Credit Crunch

The global credit crunch that began last year and has caused misery in financial markets around the world is not over. In fact, many economists believe that we haven't even reached the beginning of the end. That spells trouble for many consumers and business owners looking for credit these days -- and possibly for the rest of 2008.

Banks are cutting back, even on accounts held by their most credit worthy customers. Credit lines are being reduced, and interest rates are being raised, even for certain borrowers who've never been late with a payment. The excuses the banks are using these days include, "You aren't paying down your credit card balance down fast enough," and, "Your debt to credit limit ration is too high." Banks are even looking at the what consumers are buying when determining whether or not the consumer is going to be hit with an unfavorable change in terms. In other words, your credit card company may change the terms and conditions on your credit card account simply because it doesn't like what you are buying!

I have about $4,000 worth of business-related credit card debt on one business credit card; it's an account with which I'm still riding out a introductory zero APR period, so I'm not getting slammed with interest charges. I'm worried about the state of the U.S. economy and the state of my business. Business has been slow, and I'm thinking that I may have to tap into more credit lines to keep things going. I receive a lot of snail-mail credit card offers each and every week, and many of these offers are for business credit cards. I usually glance through these offers quickly then dump them into the shredder. Lately, however, I've been paying very close attention to these offers, since I just might open up one or two more credit accounts.

I'd like to transfer the $4,000 balance on my current business credit card to a new card with a 0% balance transfer offer, so that I can continue to finance my operations without paying any interest. However, lately, the deals I've been getting via snail mail haven't been that great, and I'm certain the reason these recent offers have been lousy is due to the weak economy in cahoots with the credit crunch. This is very disappointing to me, because, historically, those snail mail credit card offers included the most consumer-friendly credit terms and conditions. It was not too long ago that I was seeing offers of 0% intro APR on transferred balances for 15, with no balance transfer fee. Here's what I've been seeing lately:

• A business credit card offer from Bank of America - 0% intro APR on transferred balances and balance transfer convenience checks until December 31, 2008, with a balance transfer fee of 3% (minimum transfer fee is $10.) Once the interest-free period ends, the APR converts to the standard purchase APR on this particular account, which is fine. But here's the kicker: the balance transfer fee "will post to your account as a cash advance fee and will receive the Standard cash advance rate." So, in other words, if I transfer $4,000, I'll be charged a balance transfer fee of $120, and that $120 will be treated as a cash advance. You probably already know this but cash advance fees are always very, very high. For this particular card it's a minimum of 19.99%. This offer was shredded real fast.
  
• Snail mail business credit card offer from Washington Mutual Bank (WaMu) - 0% intro APR on transferred balances until August 1, 2009 -- that's 13 months! The balance transfer fee is 3% of each transferred balance, with a minimum transfer fee of $5. The "go to" APR -- the APR the remaining transferred balance would be subject to once the interest-free period ends -- would be the Standard purchase APR, which happens to be a reasonable and competitive 9.99%. And, once again, here's the ugly part: "Balance transfer fees are added to the purchase balance and are subject to the APR for purchases." OK, granted, this is better than the Bank of American offer I described above where the balance transfer fee is treated as a cash advance, but I'm still not buying it. My credit rating is very high and I see no reason why I should have to pay finance charges on a balance transfer fee, like I'm some sort of subprime borrower. If the offer is stellar, then I don't mind paying a balance transfer fee, as long as the fee is a one-time, flat fee with no finance charges attached.

I'm not interested in transferring my business card balance to a consumer card, even though I'm very confident that I could find a better deal than the recent business credit card offers I've seen. I've worked very hard to get my FICO® credit score above 800, and transferring thousands of dollars to a new or existing consumer credit card would bring my score down.

That's all I have to report from the wonderful yet perilous world of credit card balance transfers for now. Stay tuned!

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Import News About The Bank Of America® Money Return® Visa® Platinum Plus® Credit Card

Bank of America

The terms and conditions of the Bank Of America® Money Return® Visa® Platinum Plus® credit card have been modified; this card now charges a fee for any type of balance transfer: 3% of each transfer, with a minimum charge of $10.

The good news: Bank of America (BofA) still has 5 (five) credit cards to which you can transfer your non-BofA credit card balances at 0% intro APR, and pay no transaction fee on introductory balance transfers. On our feeless balance transfer page, you will also find cards from American Express and Pulaski Bank (you should only consider applying for a Pulaski Bank credit card if your credit history is spotless.)

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