Best 0% APR Credit Cards

A 0% APR is good for your credit if you take advantage of the introductory period to pay off your debt in full. While credit card APRs don't directly affect your credit scores, you can bring down a large balance faster if you don't have to pay interest, which will ultimately help your credit score. Using a 0% APR credit card irresponsibly, however, can have the opposite effect.

With a 0% APR credit card, you don't pay any interest on new purchases and/or balance transfers for a certain amount of time. The average length of 0% interest is 12 months on purchases and 12 months on balance transfers. A 0% APR credit card can have a positive effect on your credit, but it all comes down to how you use it.

Things to Consider When Building Credit with a 0% APR Credit Card

• Choose a 0% APR credit card that suits your financial needs. It is usually best to apply for a card with a long 0% APR offer, because it will give you more time to pay off your balance. And if you keep your account in good standing, it will eventually help you build credit.
• A new credit card might affect your score. Keep in mind that regardless of the card’s APR, a new credit card application will result in a hard pull of your credit report. This inquiry may create a short term drop of your credit score.
• Avoid the urge to overspend. It goes without saying that you'll still have to repay everything you charge to your card. Rather than buying on impulse, come up with a reasonable spending plan that takes full advantage of the 0% APR on purchases.
• Bring your balance down to zero by the end of the 0% APR period. Cards with 0% intro APRs tend to have high regular interest rates. Regular APRs go into effect as soon as the promotional period expires, and they usually apply to any balance remaining at that time. Some retailers offer deferred-interest financing, which means you will retroactively owe interest on the entire original purchase amount.
• Remember to make monthly payments. Regardless of whether your balance is accruing interest, you still owe minimum monthly payments. Missing payments can considerably damage your credit score, and it also puts you at risk of losing the 0% APR period altogether.
• Keep your credit utilization rate low. It's generally a good idea to charge large purchases to a 0% APR credit card so you can pay back the debt over time while avoiding interest. However, a credit utilization rate over 30% will temporarily impact your credit score in a negative way.

How 0% Loans Affect Your Credit

Installment loans, such as car loans, also offer 0% deals, but they don't affect your credit score in the exact same way. Installment loans are not factored into your credit utilization score, as credit utilization only measures your use of credit cards and other revolving lines of credit. That said, a loan - and your payment record on a loan - will impact your credit score overall, so make timely monthly payments.

To keep track of your credit score while repaying a debt with a 0% interest deal, you can sign up for a free WalletHub account.

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.

Credit card companies generally make money off of fees and interest. So it’s understandably confusing that they would sacrifice the interest part of the equation, if only for a limited time, especially since most 0% cards don’t charge annual fees. But there are three main reasons why banks and credit unions offer 0% APR credit cards:

1. To entice new customers. Zero percent intro rates are eye-catching, and banks can market their other products to new cardholders in order to make money.
2. To encourage more spending. Credit card companies make money from so-called interchange fees every time you make a purchase. And the more debt you rack up, the less likely you are to repay your full balance within the 0% term.
3. To make money from interest. This might seem a bit counterintuitive, but issuers know that many people will carry a balance for longer than their 0% intro rate is available. And that’s when they hit you with a high regular APR. The current average is 17.86%. In other words, credit cards with no interest whatsoever don’t actually exist.

These reasons also help to explain why credit cards don’t have permanent 0% rates. And the fact that issuers offer 0% APRs to make money, not just out of the goodness of their hearts, is why you should always be on the lookout for hidden costs and deals that seem too good to be true.

“If consumers actually routinely borrowed at 0% without paying any fees or interest, it would be difficult for credit card companies to earn a profit on these deals,” said Michael Simkovic, an associate professor at the Seton Hall University School of Law who studies the credit regulations. “Customers just really have to read the fine print, compare the total cost of borrowing the amount they need for the time they need it (including interest and fees) and be very, very careful.”

You need a good to excellent credit score of 700 or higher to get 0% interest in most cases. The higher your credit score is, the more likely you are to be approved for a credit card with a 0% introductory APR, though people with less-established credit can sometimes qualify, too. For example, some Bank of America student credit cards offer introductory 0% APRs to students with limited credit history.

Best 0% Interest Credit Cards

You can check your credit score for free on WalletHub and get a better sense of what cards you’ll have favorable approval odds for.

The best way to use a 0% APR credit card is with a clear plan. Interest-free credit cards aren’t always available. So, you can’t just assume that you’ll be able to transfer whatever balance remains at the end of your new card’s 0% intro term to yet another 0% credit card. And exposing much of a balance to a card’s regular interest rate is a costly proposition. The average 0% credit card has a 18% regular APR, according to WalletHub’s latest Credit Card Landscape Report.

Here’s the best way to use a 0% APR credit card:

The first thing to keep in mind is that using a 0% card correctly starts with calculating how long it will take you to repay your debt (without interest). This will tell you how long of a 0% intro period you’ll need and how important each card’s regular APR will be.

The second step is to check your latest credit score, which you can do for free on WalletHub. This will tell you which, if any, zero-interest credit card you can qualify for.

Next, you’ll need to compare whatever eligible offers remain. In doing so, consider all of the various account terms that could affect your overall financing costs. That includes the length of the 0% period, the annual fee, the regular APR and if you’re trying to reduce the cost of existing debt, the balance-transfer fee. And WalletHub’s Credit Card Payoff and Balance Transfer calculators are perfect for the task.

After you find the best 0% APR card for your needs, submit an application and, hopefully, get approved, your focus should shift to making on-time monthly payments and reaching debt freedom as quickly as possible. And the best way to accomplish those goals is to set up automatic monthly payments for your budgeted amount.

Many people assume credit cards with 0% APRs are always around. But they’re actually just limited-time offers. They tend to be plentiful when the economy is strong and scarce when credit card companies believe the risk of nonpayment is too high.

That’s why it’s best to act as if another 0% card will not be available to bail you out. It’s also why you should consider a 0% card’s regular APR if there’s a chance you won’t be debt-free by the end of the intro period. You never really know when the economic tides or issuer policies will shift, after all. And a lot of 0% credit card users learned a costly lesson about not planning for the worst during the Great Recession.

It’s also worth noting that even when 0% APR credit cards are available, their terms still fluctuate over time. For example, the average 0% credit card offer had a 7.29-month intro period at the end of 2010. And that grew to 10.27 months in Q3 2013, before dipping to 9.85 months at the end of 2016. So getting the best 0% credit card deal is part good timing and part opportunism.

Yes, there are some 0% APR credit cards for 21 months. One of the best is the Wells Fargo Reflect® Card that offers an intro APR of 0% for up to 21 months from account opening on both purchases and qualifying balance transfers. The Wells Fargo Reflect’s regular APR is 17.24% - 29.24% Variable. There’s also a balance transfer fee of 3% intro for 120 days, then up to 5% (min $5).

It’s worth noting that credit cards offering a 0% intro APR for 21 months aren’t that common. However, there are several good 0% APR credit cards on the market to choose from.

Some of the Best 0% APR Credit Cards

The Wells Fargo Reflect card offers an intro APR of 0% for up to 21 months from account opening on both new purchases and balance transfers. The card’s regular APR is 17.24% - 29.24% Variable. There is also a balance transfer fee: 3% intro for 120 days, then up to 5% (min $5).

The Citi Diamond Preferred card offers an intro APR of 0% for 12 months on new purchases and 0% for 21 months on balance transfers. The card’s regular APR is 17.24% - 27.99% (V). There is also a 5% (min $5) balance transfer fee.

The BankAmericard credit card offers an intro APR of 0% for 21 billing cycles for purchases, as well as balance transfers made in the first 60 days of account opening. After the card’s intro APR period ends, the regular APR is 16.24% - 26.24% Variable. There is also a 3% (min $10) balance transfer fee.

The Chase Freedom Unlimited card offers an intro APR of 0% for 15 months on both new purchases and balance transfers. The card’s regular APR is 19.24% - 27.99% (V). There is also a balance transfer fee: either $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater in the first 60 days (5%, min $5 after). This card also offers 1.5 - 5% cash back, depending on the type of purchase.

Ultimately, you can check out our editors’ latest picks for the best 0% APR credit cards and see which one suits your needs.