Are there any 0% interest credit cards for 36 months?

There are no 0% interest credit cards for 36 months on the market right now – at least among Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover offers. The longest 0% interest period for purchases is 20 months, with the U.S. Bank Visa Platinum Card. And the longest 0% period for balance transfers is 21 months, with the Citi Simplicity Card. It’s much more common to see 0% interest offers of 12 to 18 months.

Some store credit cards offer 0% interest for 36 months or even more. But there’s a catch called deferred interest. If you don’t pay the balance off within the 0% promotional period, interest is applied to the original balance – like it was there from the start. That means you owe all the interest you would have owed since the date of purchase. That said, if you can make a plan to pay everything back before the intro period ends, some store cards with deferred interest are decent.

The JCPenney Credit Card gives 0% interest for 12-60 months, depending on the item and amount spent. You also get 1 reward point per $1 on all JCPenney purchases. Similarly, the Newegg Store Card has 0% interest for 6 to 36 months on expensive electronics. Both use deferred interest, so be careful.

While there aren’t any traditional 0% APR credit cards with no interest for 36 months, there are plenty of attractive alternatives.

Here are the longest 0% interest credit cards right now:

• U.S. Bank Visa Platinum Card: 0% for 20 months on purchases and balance transfers. 3% transfer fee (min $5).
• Wells Fargo Platinum Visa Card: 0% for 18 months on purchases and balance transfers. 3% transfer fee for 18 months.
• Discover it Balance Transfer Card: 0% for 18 months on balance transfers and 0% for 6 months on purchases. 3% transfer fee.
• Citi Simplicity: 0% for 21 months on balance transfers and 0% for 12 months on purchases. 5% transfer fee (min $5).
• Chase Slate: 0% for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers. $0 transfer fee for the first 60 days.
• JCPenney Credit Card: 0% deferred interest for 12-60 months, depending on the type and amount of the purchase.
• Newegg Credit Card: 0% deferred interest for 6 or 12 months on purchases of $199+ and $499+, respectively. 0% interest equal monthly payment financing for 24 or 36 months on select items.

Credit card companies make money off of consumers paying interest, so a 0% interest credit card for 36-months is like the bigfoot of credit cards. In other words, you won’t find one now and you probably won’t in the future. You’re much more likely to see 36-month terms on personal loans, auto loans, and deferred interest.

If you need to borrow money for an extended period of time, such as 36 months, then a personal loan might be a reasonable alternative. While you won’t find a zero interest offer for 36 months on a loan, you could pay an APR as low as 5%, depending on your creditworthiness. And you might even be able to get longer repayment terms.