What's the Chase Freedom Unlimited 0% APR offer?

A 0% APR means that you pay no interest on new purchases and/or balance transfers for a certain period of time. The best 0% APR credit cards give 15-18 months without interest. But the average 0% APR intro period is about 12 months for cards offering 0% purchases. And it’s around 13 months for the average card with 0% on transfers.… read full answer

A 0% APR does not keep you away from monthly payments, nor does it completely remove interest out of the equation. You still have to make monthly minimum payments to keep your 0% APR. And if you don’t pay off your balance by the end of the 0% intro period, you’ll have to pay interest on whatever balance remains. The penalty is even worse with many retailers’ 0% financing offers. If you don’t pay off your full balance in time, interest will retroactively apply to your entire original balance – as if the 0% APR was never there.

There are a few other things you should keep in mind when thinking about 0% APRs, too.

Here are some 0% APR key takeaways:

• You pay no interest on your purchases and/or balance transfers for the duration of the introductory APR period, which depends on the card.
• 0% APRs make debt cheaper to pay off, which helps you get out of debt faster.
• A 0% APR does not free you from the responsibility of making monthly payments. You must pay at least your monthly minimum to avoid being classified as late. Late payments damage your credit score.
• 0% credit cards tend to have fairly high regular APRs. So, you should strive to bring your balance to zero by the end of the 0% APR period, when regular rates take effect.

It’s also important to note that you won’t only find 0% APRs on credit cards. You may see auto loans with them, for example. Just be sure to always read the terms in detail before signing. You don’t want to end up with deferred interest instead of a true 0% APR.

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 billing cycles, with the U.S. Bank Visa® Platinum Card. And the longest 0% period for balance transfers is 18 months, with the … read full answerCiti Simplicity® Card - No Late Fees Ever. 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 18 - 48 months months, depending on the item and amount spent. You also get 1 point per $1 on all JCPenney purchases. Similarly, the Newegg Credit Card has 0% interest for 6 - 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 billing cycles on purchases and 0% for 20 billing cycles on balance transfers. 3% (min $5) balance transfer fee.
• Wells Fargo Platinum card: 0% for 18 months on purchases and 0% for 18 months on qualifying balance transfers. Balance transfer fee: 3% intro for 120 days, then up to 5% (min $5).
• Discover it® Cash Back: 0% for 14 months on balance transfers and 0% for 14 months on purchases. 3% intro balance transfer fee, up to 5% fee on future balance transfers (see terms)*.
• Citi Simplicity® Card - No Late Fees Ever: 0% for 18 months on balance transfers and 0% for 18 months on purchases. 3% (min $5) balance transfer fee.
• JCPenney Credit Card: 0% deferred interest for 18 - 48 months, depending on the type and amount of the purchase.
• Newegg Credit Card: 0% deferred interest for 6 - 36 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.