Minimum Repayments For 0% Balance Transfer Cards
April 5th, 2011
Why Switch To A 0% Balance Transfer Card?
There are several reasons why it makes sense to switch to a 0% balance transfer card. If you have a large amount of credit card debt, then you are probably paying a high amount of interest on your balance. Each time that you make a payment to the card, a large percentage of your repayment goes to pay your monthly interest and less goes into repaying your balance. This can make paying off a debt harder to accomplish and can make it take a much longer time.
A 0% balance transfer card allows you to transfer your debt to a card without paying a large transfer fee. This new card could have a lower interest rate, better rewards or a interest free period. Paying less in interest could mean that you will able to pay off your debt faster.
What About Minimum Repayments?
To make your life easier, most credit card companies will allow you to make a minimum repayment on a 0% balance transfer card. This minimum amount is usually about 2 to 3% of the total balance and you are usually required to pay at least this much each month to avoid violating the contract. If possible, your debt will be paid off much faster if you pay off as much as possible as soon as possible. The more you pay off, the less interest can accrue on the balance and the more money you will save.
What To Look For In A 0% Balance Transfer Card
The first thing that you should look for in a 0% balance transfer card is a lower interest rate than your current card. Determine if this lower interest rate is an introductory rate or a standard rate. Introductory rates are great as they let you pay off as much of your debt with a lower rate of interest as possible, but be sure that after this time period the interest rate doesn’t jump significantly.
Also look for interest free periods. These periods charge no interest for a certain amount of time, meaning your balance amount will not change. (Provided that you are not making more purchases on the card, which you should always avoid doing when you are paying off a debt.) This means that you can pay off more than just your minimum requirement each month.
A great choice for this type of card is offered by ANZ. Their 0% Balance Transfer Offer card requires that you only pay a monthly minimum amount of 2% of your balance and offers 55 days of no interest. This could certainly help you minimise your debt faster. The card also offers a low ongoing interest rate of 13.49% p.a. for 18 months. Make your repayments on time and you will be out of debt before you know it.
Related posts:
- Cards With Balance Transfer Rate Of 0%
- Free Balance Transfer Cards
- Saving Money With A 0% Balance Transfer Card
- Avoid the pitfalls of balance transfer credit cards
- 0% balance transfer credit cards –introduction
| Interest Rate (p.a.) | Balance Transfer Rate (p.a.) | Annual fee | Cash Advance Rate (p.a.) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 HSBC Credit Card | 17.99% | 0% for 6 months with 2% handling fee | $0 | 21.99% |
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