Top balance transfer cards compared

About Top balance transfer cards compared

A balance transfer card only earns its place if the interest you stop paying outweighs the fee you pay to move the money, so this ranking puts the transfer fee, the length of the interest free window and the rate that follows side by side for every card. 32 brands appear here, drawn from a wider set of 670 cards, and all of them are credit cards, with 100% of the group falling into that kind. The main trade-off runs through the list: a longer window usually costs more to set up, and a card that rewards everyday spending gives you a reason to keep it once the balance is gone. The spread is wide. Representative APRs in this group run 0% to 45%, with the median at 24.9%. Interest free windows in this ranking reach 38 at the longest end, and transfer fees sit between 2% and 5%. Support is uneven too, with help centres on 95.8% of the group and phone lines on 79.2%.

How we picked

Each card's place in the list comes from a weighted score. Trust carries the most weight at 40%, which looks at who stands behind the account and how it is run. Cost accounts for 35% and covers the balance transfer fee, the length of the interest free window, any annual fee and the representative APR that applies once the window closes. The offer weight of 25% covers the rewards, purchase perks and support you get for keeping the card open after the balance is gone. Figures are drawn from official product pages published by each issuer, from financial reference and comparison services, and from the bank's own summary documents, so costs and the legal entity behind each card can be traced to a published source. Where a figure is published as a range, it is reported as a range rather than a single figure. Cards are then ordered by score, and partner cards are listed first ahead of everything else, which is why the top pick sits at the head of the list. Site wide averages for monthly fees, foreign exchange fees and annual fees are published alongside the criteria below, so you can see how an individual card sits against the wider database.

Our top picks

1. 2. Virgin Money

   Third in this ranking, and the case sits in the cost column. The balance transfer offer is 21 of interest free for a fee of 2.95%, on the same terms as the top pick, with cash back in the app and a money transfer option alongside it. Foreign spending costs 0%, and support covers phone, email and help centre, so you can reach someone by phone or email rather than only in the app. The card is issued by Nationwide Building Society trading as Virgin Money. Against that, the window is shorter than Sainsbury's above it, and the representative APR of 27.9% is among the higher figures here. TSB, ranked next, stretches the window further but charges more to set it up.

   • Monthly fee: £0
   • Currency conversion fee: 0%
   • Card type: Debit

   Pros

   • The current account carries a monthly fee of £0 and a currency conversion fee of 0%, so holding it and spending abroad are both free.
   • Balance transfers run interest free for 21 with a fee of 2.95%, a cheap way to clear old card debt.
   • Support runs on phone, email and help centre, and the card side adds round the clock in-app chat support with Redi.
   • The card pays cashback rather than points or miles, and lists a money transfer option among its perks.
   • The account is flagged for travel, and the currency conversion fee of 0% is the reason that works.

   Cons

   • The credit card charges 27.9%, so a balance left past the interest free window of 21 is expensive to clear.
   • Cashback belongs to the credit card, so debit account holders lean on Virgin Money Rewards and Virgin Red offers instead.
   • A monthly fee of £0 and a currency conversion fee of 0% apply to the current account, while the card side runs on 27.9%, so the two halves need judging separately.

2. 4. Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card: best for top-pick

   It leads this ranking because the interest free balance transfer window of 21 comes with a transfer fee of 2.95%, and the same card pays cash back and offers a money transfer option, so a cleared balance does not leave you holding an empty card. Support runs on chat, help centre and phone, the issuing entity is Nationwide Building Society trading as Virgin Money, and foreign spending costs 0%. The catch sits after the window: the representative APR of 27.9% runs well above the median in this ranking, so clearing the balance inside the period is the whole game. Sainsbury's, ranked next, stretches the window further but pays points rather than cash back and charges more to transfer.

   • APR: 27.9%
   • Currency conversion fee: 0%
   • Rewards type: Cashback

   Pros

   • The listed Up to 21 months 0% interest on balance transfers, Up to 21 months 0% interest on purchases and Money transfer option put an interest free period on purchases alongside the balance transfer offer, so everyday spending can run interest free too while an old balance is being cleared.
   • Help runs through chat, help centre and phone, with chat with Redi in the card app day and night for a quick answer on a charge or a transfer.
   • The issuer is Nationwide Building Society (trading as Virgin Money), regulated in the UK by the Prudential Regulation Authority under reference 106078.
   • A balance transfer costs 2.95% against 21 of interest free running, and the same account pays cashback on everyday spending while that happens.

   Cons

   • Purchases run at 27.9%, above the typical 20.97% across the site, so a balance carried beyond the interest free window is costly to keep.
   • It sits at position 105 of 133 brands on APR, which leaves less expensive rates sitting elsewhere in the comparison.
   • Transfers cost 2.95% each, and 21 is the maximum interest free window offered rather than a fixed run for every applicant.
   • The reward is cashback alone, with no points or miles scheme listed among the Up to 21 months 0% interest on balance transfers, Up to 21 months 0% interest on purchases and Money transfer option for anyone who prefers a points balance.

What to look for

The rate after the window ends

Every card here starts charging interest once the interest free window closes, and the spread is wide. Representative APRs run 0% to 45%, with the median at 24.9%. The practical test is whether you can clear the balance inside the window, because if you cannot, the lower APR card costs less in the end.

The transfer fee and the window it buys

The fee is charged for moving the balance and the window is what it buys, and the two rarely move together. Read them as a pair: a long window with a higher transfer fee can still be the cheaper route on a large balance, while a short window with a small fee leaves you paying interest sooner. Check the payment terms too, since a longer window means smaller monthly repayments.

Fees that keep running

Most cards in this ranking are no annual fee models, and the median annual fee across the group is €0, although the top figure reaches €86.82. Foreign spending is the other quiet cost, with a median of 2.95% and a high of 3.4%. A card can be free to hold and still costly to use abroad.

What you are paid for using it

A transfer card that also rewards you is easier to justify once the balance is gone. Cash back dominates this group at 60.7%, while 25% pays nothing on spending at all. Points schemes tie you to one retailer or one airline, so they are worth less to most people than plain cash back.

Support when the balance is not moving

A transfer that stalls is when support matters, and channels are uneven here. Help centres appear on 95.8% of the group, phone lines on 79.2% and live chat on 37.5%. If an online help centre is your only route, weigh how quickly it answers before you commit.

The credit check you will face

Opening a transfer card is a credit application in its own right. Most of this group is aimed at applicants with good credit at 64.3%, while 28.6% of the group is open to poorer credit histories. A rejection here narrows the field quickly, so check the credit requirement before applying.

Frequently asked questions

Top balance transfer cards compared by country

• Australia
• India
• Ireland
• United Kingdom
• United States

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• NHL® Discover it® vs Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card

The data behind this ranking

All data and the CSV