What are the best easy approval balance transfer credit cards?

The best easy approval balance transfer credit cards do not exist. Unsecured credit cards that are easy to get generally don’t allow balance transfers. Secured credit cards such as the Discover it Secured card and the Capital One Secured Mastercard do allow balance transfers. While they’re among the best secured cards in their class, that doesn’t necessarily mean that easy approval balance transfer credit cards are a good idea.

Easy approval generally means being able to qualify for a credit card with fair, bad, or limited credit. It also means your options for a balance transfer credit card are limited and don’t make financial sense.

The point of a balance transfer is transferring debt from other credit accounts to your credit, presumably at a lower interest rate. It’s highly unlikely you’ll be offered the introductory low or 0% interest rates that come with cards for people with good credit or better.

Also, you will be saddled with a low credit limit, which won’t leave you much room to transfer debt, especially if the card comes with an annual fee. You’ll also risk maximizing what little credit you have on the balance transfer. A high debt-to-credit ratio would end up worsening your already shaky credit.

The other caveat is that many of the best easy approval balance transfer credit cards are secured cards. A secured card requires a deposit, usually starting at $200 to establish your credit limit. It would probably make more sense to apply those funds toward your debt rather than waste it on balance transfer fees (usually 3%-5% of the balance transferred).

While not recommended, there are a number of easy approval balance transfer cards for which you should be able to qualify.

Here are the best easy approval balance transfer credit cards:

• Discover it Secured: Introductory 10.99% (V) APR on balance transfers, with a 3% transfer fee. Regular APR: 26.74% (V). $200 minimum deposit. No annual fee
• Capital One Secured Mastercard: Regular 24.99% (V) APR on balance transfers, with a minimum $10 or 3% transfer fee. $200 credit limit with deposit as little as $49, based on creditworthiness. No annual fee.
• UNITY Visa Secured Credit Card: Introductory 9.95% APR for 6 month on balance transfers, with a minimum $10 or 3% transfer fee. 17.99% fixed APR.  $250 minimum deposit. $39 annual fee
• BankAmericard Secured Credit Card: Regular 26.74% (V) APR on balance transfers, with a minimum $10 or 3% transfer fee. $300 minimum deposit. $39 annual fee.

You may find easy approval balance transfer credit cards, secured or unsecured, with slightly better terms through a credit union, but you’ll have to meet certain membership requirements in order to apply.

If you’re a student, a good easy approval balance transfer credit card is the BankAmericard Credit Card for Students. It’s an unsecured card, which means there’s no security deposit, and you only need a minimum fair credit to qualify. You’ll get 0% for balance transfers for 15 months (14.74% - 24.74% (V), after) and no balance transfer fees. You will have to post your transfer in the first 60 days. There’s also no annual fee.