Are there any low interest balance transfer credit cards for life?

No, balance transfers do not hurt your credit score directly, though transferring a balance can indirectly lead to credit score damage. When you apply for a balance transfer credit card, for example, it will generate a hard inquiry on your credit report, causing a slight dip in your credit score.

If you transfer a balance to an existing credit card account, however, there is no hard inquiry and no credit score damage. A balance transfer could still result in high credit utilization, though, and allow you to rack up more debt than you can afford to repay. Both of those things can hurt your credit score.

So, the act of transferring a balance itself won’t affect your credit, but it will indirectly alter several key components of your credit profile, from utilization to the age of your accounts. These changes might lower your score a bit in the short term. But over time, interest savings and the ability to pay off your debt faster should make transferring a balance a net positive for your credit score.

You can use WalletHub’s free credit score simulator tool to get a sense of how a balance transfer might affect your credit score.

How Balance Transfers Can Help or Hurt Your Credit Score

• Credit Inquiries Hurt: If you apply for a new balance transfer card, the resulting hard inquiry will likely cause a slight dip in your credit score for up to 12 months.
• Lower Account Age Hurts: Adding a new balance transfer card will reduce the overall age of your accounts, which can have a slight negative impact on your score.
• Increased Utilization Hurts: Keep an eye on how the transfer affects your account’s credit utilization. Making a transfer will usually add 3%-5% to your debt due to balance transfer fees. If your utilization is over 30% of your credit limit, that’s not good for your score.
• Missed Payments Hurt: If you don’t continue to make payments to your original creditor while the balance transfer is being processed, your credit score will suffer. Balance transfers can take up to three weeks, or be completed in just a few days, after you make a request or apply for a card.
• Reduced Utilization Helps: If you leave your old credit card(s) open, adding a new card will reduce your utilization ratio across all accounts, assuming no additional spending. The utilization on the card you transferred the balance from will drop, and it will increase on the card you transferred the debt to.
• Low Interest Helps: Balance transfer cards often have 0% introductory APRs. This gives you the chance to pay off your balance faster, since the full amount of your payments will go to the principal rather than interest. This is good for your score long-term.
• Less Debt Helps: A balance transfer can help you reduce your debt load. That’s important because how much debt you owe is a key ingredient in your credit score. The less, the better, since people with little-to-no debt are in a more stable position financially.

Bottom Line

Balance transfers won’t hurt your credit by themselves. But they affect other elements of your credit that could bring your score down a little temporarily. Still, the benefits will outweigh the negatives in the long run, as long as you plan to repay most, if not all, of your balance during your card’s low introductory APR period.

Where people get into trouble is trying to use a balance transfer to support unsustainable spending habits, thinking 0% balance transfer credit card offers are always available. They’re not, and learning that the hard way is a very expensive mistake. So make sure to use a balance transfer calculator to make a payment plan.

You can potentially extend a 0% APR on a credit card by calling the credit card company and asking them if they can extend the promotion. Success could depend on which credit card company it is, your relationship with them, your current account balance, and other factors that the credit card company won’t publicly disclose. There is no exact science to getting an extension on a 0% APR period, and it’s unlikely to work. So it’s important to remember that your mileage may vary.… read full answer

How card issuers determine who gets a 0% APR extension

Think about it from the card issuer’s perspective. Promotional 0% APR periods aren’t a product of a card issuer’s kindness - they’re business decisions. And granting a 0% APR extension is also a business decision.

The current balance on your credit card may play a part in whether or not you’ll receive a 0% APR extension after you ask. If you have been racking up a big balance over the course of a long 0% interest period and you want more time to pay off the debt with no interest, you’re unlikely to fit the criteria for an extension. The card issuer stands to make more money from your high balance by charging interest. That’s why card issuers offer 0% APR periods in the first place.

On the other hand, if your balance is $0 when you call for an extension, you’re more likely to get one. That’s because the issuer will earn more in processing fees from your future purchases than they would by charging you interest on a $0 balance. Plus, the card issuer has another chance that you’ll spend more than you can afford to pay off before the end of the zero-interest period.

Threatening to close your account

Some users in forums online have had success with threatening to cancel their credit card unless the 0% APR promotion is extended. This could be a good idea, because you may get sent to a retention representative who is able to offer an extension or some other promotion.

However, other reports suggest that if your account doesn’t meet certain criteria, the card issuer may simply take your threat as an order to close your account, and send you a bill for the remaining balance on your card. If your account is closed, your credit score could take a hit, and you’ll still owe any balance on the card plus the interest that accrues while you pay it off. This is clearly a risk, so it’s important to weigh out other options before you call with a threat.

Other options for extending a 0% APR period

Consider actually taking your business elsewhere. There are lots of credit card companies out there, and many have 0% APR periods for purchases and balance transfers. Some don’t even have balance transfer fees. If you have a balance on your credit card and your credit is good, consider applying for a balance transfer credit card with a 0% interest period and no transfer fee.

Keep in mind, however, that 0% APR offers won’t always be readily available, and may be less available in an economic downturn, for example. So it’s a risky move to rely on this as a future strategy.

There’s no hard-and-fast rule about how many balance transfers you can do. But individual issuers may have their own policies. For instance, you can request up to three balance transfers when applying for the BankAmericard® credit card. Your credit line will also limit the number of balance transfers you’re able to do. The total dollar amount that you can transfer to a credit card can’t exceed the credit limit you’re approved for. You won’t be able to transfer a $10,000 balance to a credit card with a $5,000 limit, for example.… read full answer

It’s also worth noting that even the best balance transfer credit cards offer money-saving terms only for a limited time. Zero percent transfer deals, and other low introductory APRs, expire after a certain number of months following account opening. And fairly high regular APRs tend to take their place. Some cards have promotional balance transfer fees, too, requiring you to transfer your balance within the first 60 days to maximize your savings. So you don’t want to space out your balance transfers too much because the longer you wait, the less you’re likely to save.

Finally, you can’t count on another 0% balance transfer credit card being available to bail you out at the end of your current card’s interest-free intro period. That means you should only transfer an amount that you can afford to pay off before regular rates kick in.