Credit Cards With 0% APR & No Balance Transfer Fees (2020 Update)

We’ve had to update this a second time in 2020 due to the fact that so many of the nationwide credit card issuers pulled their 0% APR $0 balance transfer fee offers. If you notice any that are not included please let us know in the comments.

In the comments of our post “Master List of No Annual Fee, No Foreign Transaction Fee Cards”, reader Mark asked:

Could you come-up with a list of no-fee balance transfer, 0% APR cards (other than Slate)?

Originally, I thought this would be too difficult to do a post on, but I recently rededicated myself to my craft*, so here’s a big ole list to peruse. Targeted offers are not included, only publicly available ones.

* if by “craft” we mean “tediously compiling data from bank websites”.

Introduction

Since this is supposed to be more of a reference list, I will not touch on whether balance transfers are right for your situation, or whether they are better than a secured or unsecured loan, or their risk, or stoozing, or etc.

Banks, whether retail or credit union (CU), make money on balance transfers in two ways*: by charging a fee for a balance transfer and/or by having an APR on the balance you’re transferring (remember: balance transfers generally do not have any grace period and start accruing interest immediately). In the most general sense (there are many exceptions), there is a dichotomy between retail banks & CUs when it comes to balance transfer promotions: retail banks will give you “lengthy” 0% APR periods but charge a hefty balance transfer fee while CUs often do not charge a balance transfer fee but apply an APR to the balance transfer. (Due to the unique structure of CUs, it is much more common to see them not charge a balance transfer fee.)

Even though banks do not make money when they hand out no balance transfer fee and 0% APR offers (for the term of the introductory APR, of course—which is the catch), there are a surprising number of such offers available, mostly from CUs (as you’d expect).

Remember to always do your own research beforehand!

* this is an intentionally simplistic explanation that doesn’t consider people that fail to pay off a balance transfer before the introductory APR ends, banks hedging risk, etc.

Methodology

A minor amount of information is compiled from my own recollection & this Magnify Money post (which looks to be continuously updated). The bulk of the information—and the overarching methodology—comes from visiting the websites of all the credit unions in the US with more than ~$1 billion in assets (~285 CUs). As you might imagine, that takes quite a lot of time. I mention this specifically to segue into the fact that keeping this post up-to-date is impossible as a solo effort. If you have any updates or additions, please do drop them in the comments below! They’ll be appreciated 🙂

(Another reasonable cut-off would be CUs with more than $300 million, or maybe even $100 million, in assets. Alas, I lack the fortitude to go through ~796 or ~1,674 CUs looking for no-fee no-APR balance transfers!)

Tables

The tables below are organized by whether the balance transfer is offered by a (retail) bank or a credit union, then alphabetically. CUs have their state indicated, as CUs in different states can share names. (I originally organized the CUs by size & can re-organize it that way if readers have a strong preference for it!)

The “Months of 0% APR” column can mean different things depending on the bank (e.g. months since account opening date or number of billing cycles). Sufficient disambiguating information between different meanings is not indicated; that’s part & parcel of the research you’ll need to do when looking for a good balance transfer offer. Note that the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act requires that a promotional APR last at least 6 months, so 6 months is the minimum for this column.

The “Days for Transfer” column is how many days the bank gives you to complete a balance transfer before you are no longer eligible for one (or both) of (1) no balance transfer fee and (2) 0% APR. A “/” in this column indicates that the bank has not specified any time limit to complete a balance transfer, so any balance transfers performed during the introductory APR period should be subject to the introductory APR for the length of the introductory APR period. (It is possible that different terms indicating this are hidden behind application pages, so always confirm this beforehand.)

In the CUs section, some additional abbreviations are used as follows: FCU = Federal Credit Union; ECU = Employees Credit Union; CCU = Community Credit Union.

Banks

Issuer & CardMonths of
0% APR
Days for
Transfer
Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU)²1230
  1. Note this card also comes with a 25,000 point sign up bonus.
  2. Card has restricted membership, must use this link

Credit Unions

Though you may not see it on their site, the following CUs confirmed that they have no balance transfer fee: Landmark CU, Logix FCU, MSU FCU, and Washington State ECU.

CUMonths of
0% APR
Days for
Transfer
Specific Cards?
Advancial FCU (TX)12/All (Dinero, Rewards Plus, Savings Secured)
Andigo (IL)6/All (Visa Platinum, Platinum Cash Back,
& Platinum Rewards)
Boeing ECU (WA)1290All
DuPont CCU (VA)690All (Platinum Rewards, Platinum Cash Back)
Elements Financial (IN)6/Cash Rewards, Platinum, Signature Rewards
Evansville Teachers FCU (IN)6/All (Platinum Prime Plus, Platinum Rewards)
Justice FCU (VA)6/All (Classic, Gold, Platinum Rewards,
Student Rewards)
La Capitol FCU (LA)12/All (Prime Plus, Rewards)
Landmark CU (WI)6/Cash Back & Rewards Visa
OE FCU (CA)6/Steel, Steel Secured
Patelco CU (CA)690Pure MasterCard
Premier America CU (CA)6/Premier First, Premier Privileges Platinum,
Standard, & Student Standard
RBFCU (TX)1290CashBack, Premier Rate
Redstone FCU (AL)630All (Visa Signature, Rewards, & Traditional)
Scott CU (IL)6/Visa Platinum & Preferred,
MasterCard Platinum Plus
Space Coast CU (FL)6/Platinum Visa
U of I CCU (IA)6³/Platinum, Platinum Rewards, World
ESL (NY)12/Rewards Visa Signature
  1. The introductory APR on balance transfers (and purchases) is 0.00% to 5.99% depending on creditworthiness.
  2. All credit cards except for the Platinum Secured MasterCard, including: Odyssey Rewards World Elite MasterCard, Platinum MasterCard, Platinum Rewards MasterCard, and Choice Rewards World MasterCard.
  3. The introductory APR on balance transfers (and purchases) is 0.00% to 11.9% depending on creditworthiness.
  4. All credit cards, including: Buc-ee’s MasterCard, Onyx Platinum MasterCard, Platinum MasterCard, Family Platinum MasterCard, & Classic MasterCard.

Limited-Time Offers

To make managing the tables easier, CU offers with explicitly indicated end dates are placed here.

CUMonths of
0% APR
Transfer BySpecific Cards?
American Airlines CU (TX)603/31/17All (Visa Platinum, Rewards, & Secured)
Fort Knox FCU (KY)1203/31/17Platinum, Gold, Classic
Goldenwest FCU (UT)603/31/17All (Aggie, Rewards, Simply Platinum)

Which Credit Unions are Easiest to Join?

A big list of CUs doesn’t do much good if you can’t join any of them. I won’t produce an exhaustive list, but here is a small list of credit unions from the above table that are easy to join:

  • Alliant CU, anyone who donates $10 to Foster Care to Success
  • Evansville Teachers FCU, anyone who donates $5 to the Mater Dei Friends & Alumni Association
  • FirstTech FCU, anyone who is a member of the Financial Fitness Association ($8)
  • Logix FCU, anyone who lives in AZ, CA, DC, MA, MD, ME, NH, NV, or VA

(I will add to this list if any commenters indicate more that are easy to join; I only did cursory research on this front.)

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220 Comments
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John
John (@guest_1806656)
March 2, 2024 13:07

Can you please update this list for 2024?

Sly one
Sly one (@guest_1730499)
November 5, 2023 00:50

The Citibank Simplicity card is currently one of the best 0% balance transfer offers: https://www.citi.com/usc/LPACA/Citi/Cards/Simplicity/ps/index.html?cmp=knc|acquire|2006|CARDS|Google|NBR&targetid=kwd-16832801&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiPLpsoSsggMVDObICh1ECgy4EAAYAiAAEgLeBfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&ProspectID=PRMTLuPsACs9nMcLRfRQ1CIA2DXIoqDI

It has a 3% balance transfer fee but it’s a 21 month 0% balance transfer so the fee actually works out to only a 1.7% bt fee per year. So this deal could actually make you more money than a 0% no fee bt for 12 months(if you can find one) with today’s interest rates.

Yellow Lamp
Yellow Lamp (@guest_1671197)
August 12, 2023 18:02

Evansville Teachers FCU is now Liberty FCU and still offers no fee balance transfers with a 0% interest period.

Sly one
Sly one (@guest_1730497)
November 5, 2023 00:42

True but their balance transfer offer is only 0% for 6 months with no bt fee which makes it about the same as a 12 month offer with a 3% bt fee. Assuming you are earning 6% APY on the borrowed cash.

Yellow Lamp
Yellow Lamp (@guest_1671194)
August 12, 2023 17:58

DuPont no longer offers no fee balance transfers

Yellow Lamp
Yellow Lamp (@guest_1671190)
August 12, 2023 17:55

Andigo has merged with Consumers Credit Union and no longer offers no fee balance transfers

Sam
Sam (@guest_1643069)
June 28, 2023 00:15

Has anyone tried BECU?

ieatdogfood
ieatdogfood (@guest_1570438)
March 6, 2023 22:51

M&T

Ryan
Ryan (@guest_1591105)
April 3, 2023 23:00

M&T?

Ken
Ken (@guest_1560022)
February 20, 2023 00:55

Anybody get a 0% APR and 0% fee offer for balance transfers until June 2024 on an existing BofA card? Surprised at the 0% fee part and wondering if it is a mistake.

pp65
pp65 (@guest_1560577)
February 20, 2023 22:27

I got the offer. I got 2 checks with 3% fee, but when login my BoA account, I see no fee.
The problem is I do not have high balance on other credit cards. I am not sure if I can transfer to a card to make high negative balance and then request a check – which banks allow this?

Ken
Ken (@guest_1560694)
February 21, 2023 04:04

Looks like the fee is back up to 3% online. Do you still have it?

Should have pulled the trigger sooner. Was greedy and planning to consolidate my credit lines onto one card to maximize the offer.

I see the option for a direct deposit cash advance online to deposit cash into a checking account to avoid a big credit balance on another credit card.

pp65
pp65 (@guest_1560757)
February 21, 2023 08:25

now I see 3% fee.

Sly one
Sly one (@guest_1458524)
October 4, 2022 22:55

The GM card has a 12 month 0% no fee balance transfer.
https://experience.gm.com/rewards/card/my-gm-rewards-card

Casey
Casey (@guest_1459633)
October 6, 2022 16:05

Do you know what kind of limit is typical on this card?

Sly one
Sly one (@guest_1461808)
October 10, 2022 10:28

Sorry not sure about limits but the card is issued by Goldman Sachs bank…..one of the few banks that I have not done business with….yet. lol I was thinking about using this card to pay off another 0% no fee balance transfer I did last year. Oh Union bank has a better offer 0% no fee 15. mo. and I got a high 30k CL to boot. ; ) Here is the link: https://www.unionbank.com/personal/credit-cards/platinum-visa

Michael
Michael (@guest_1500319)
December 2, 2022 06:44

Union Bank offer looks good, but appears that you must apply in a branch.

Michael
Michael (@guest_1500317)
December 2, 2022 06:43

That card has a 0% 12-mo purchase APR and a 0% balance transfer fee, but there is no mention of an introductory balance transfer apr:

“APR for Balance Transfers: 17.99% to 27.99% variable based on your creditworthiness [and other factors].

This APR will vary with the market based on the Prime Rate.”

Sly one
Sly one (@guest_1539832)
January 22, 2023 15:32

Sorry guys it looks like they changed the terms on both of these cards or I misread the GM card terms the first time. I actually have the Union bank card balance transfer going and I didn’t have to apply in branch either. These term can change quickly for the good deals.

Sly one
Sly one (@guest_1454463)
September 28, 2022 22:45

This page needs to be updated badly there are several new 0% no fee balance transfer cards again and interest rates are increasing quickly. https://www.lendingtree.com/credit-cards/best/no-balance-transfer-fee-credit-cards/