The Balance Transfer Offers From Citibank Keep Coming, and They Keep Getting Better!

The good folks at Citibank sent me an email today offering me yet another great deal on a credit card balance transfer: 1.99% annual percentage rate (APR) on transferred balances until the transferred balances are paid in full! Another great offer from Citibank, and I take my hat off to them for presenting it to me. This time, however, there's a fee involved--which is almost expected because the promotional APR is so low. Here's the catch:

"A fee of 3.0% (minimum $5.00, maximum $75.00) of each balance transfer amount applies to this offer"

What to do...What to do?

None of my other credit cards have a high balance, thanks to all the great balance transfer offers that have come my way. I currently have a $600+ balance on my BJ's MasterCard (it's a Chase card) because of a charge I couldn't avoid: the chair that I use all day for work fell apart, and I needed a quality replacement chair, and fast. I could use the Citibank offer to transfer this debt, but I'll most probably be able to pay this balance down to zero next week, so transferring this balance wouldn't be a smart move.

Then again, Prime Rate experts are predicting a prime rate of 8% by the time summer 2006 arrives, and most of my credit cards have a variable APR that's tied to the prime rate, so maybe I should think about a big ticket item that I know I'll need in the near future, charge it to one of my cards, then transfer that balance with the above Citibank offer. I won't try to "force it," of course, because that would be mindless consumerism, so I guess I'll see what comes to mind over the next couple of weeks.

Another concern: I'm already past the halfway mark on my credit line because of the 2 previous balance transfer offers I decided to accept on this particular Citibank credit card, so any transferred balance may cause my credit score to drop to an unacceptable level.

I have until April 11, 2006 to accept, so I can let this one marinate for a while as I decide if I want to use it.


I'm still waiting for a 0.99% APR balance transfer offer from one of the credit card companies with which I have a relationship. Anyone ever get a 0.99% offer? Please post a comment if you have. Thanks!