0% APR Credit Cards

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 10.5 months for cards offering 0% purchases. And it’s around 12 months for the average card with 0% on transfers.

A 0% APR does not mean you are excused from monthly payments, nor does it mean interest is completely 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’s what a 0% APR means for you:

• You pay no interest on your purchases and/or balance transfers for 2 to 21 months, depending 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.
• Zero percent 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.

Credit cards with 0% APR for 21 months used to be common, but there’s only one credit card with no interest for 21 months right now: the Citi Simplicity card. Citi Simplicity offers 0% for 21 months* on balance transfers only. That’s the longest interest-free period of any balance transfer card. But there is a transfer fee of 5% (min $5). And you have to transfer your balance within four months of being approved for an account to get the 0% rate. Citi Simplicity also offers 0% for 12 months* on purchases. Plus, there are no late fees or penalty APRs.

The easiest ways to avoid interest on a credit card are to simply not make any purchases and to pay your bill in full by the due date every month. You can’t owe interest if you don’t buy anything, and even a card with zero balance reports positive information to the bureaus. Alternatively, if you make purchases and pay off the balance listed on your monthly statement by the due date, you’ll avoid interest thanks to the so-called grace period that most cards have. That basically means people who consistently pay their bill in full get an opportunity to do so before interest applies to their purchases. 

But interest is most often a concern when you need to buy something now but won’t have all the money for a while. And in that case, the best way to avoid interest on a credit card is to get one with a 0% introductory APR. 

Here’s how to avoid interest on credit cards:

1. Don’t make purchases, balance transfers or cash advances. 
   Not using your card guarantees no interest, as long as you pay any annual or monthly fees it may charge. And you’ll still have positive information reported to the credit bureaus each month.
2. Schedule monthly payments for your full statement balance.
   As long as you pay the full balance listed on your monthly statement by the due date, the issuer won’t charge interest. So it’s a good idea to set up automatic monthly payments from a bank account. That way, you won’t have to worry about forgetting. Just make sure your bank account balance exceeds the amount you charge.
3. Use a 0% credit card, and get out of debt before the regular APR kicks in. 
   Lots of credit cards offer 0% intro rates on purchases, balance transfers or both for a certain number of months after account opening. Your balance won’t accrue interest during that period, so long as you make the minimum payment each month. The regular interest rate will start to apply to any balance remaining at the end of the intro period. 

If you’re in the market for a new card and need to finance a big purchase, getting a 0% card is the best option. If you already have debt, you can move the balance to a 0% balance transfer card and pay it off before the intro period expires. You can use WalletHub’s credit card payoff calculator to help you. 

Credit card refinancing is when you transfer credit card debt to another credit card with the goal of saving money on interest. In other words, credit card refinancing is a balance transfer. You can transfer a balance to another credit card with either a lower regular interest rate than you’re currently paying or a 0% introductory rate lasting anywhere from 6 to 21 months. The average 0% balance transfer period is just over 11 months.

The goal should be saving on interest to pay off your debt, but it’s easy to start a cycle of robbing Peter to pay Paul. You want to avoid kicking a balance from card to card since most balance transfers charge costly fees. There are few other things to keep in mind when considering credit card refinancing, especially if you want to get rid of the debt for good.

Here’s how credit card refinancing works:

• Ways to Refinance Credit Card Debt: Transferring your balance to another credit card for a lower interest rate is the best, most common approach. You could also use a personal loan to pay off your credit card, assuming it has a lower rate.
• Other Types of Credit Card Refinancing: You can use a credit card to refinance all common types of consumer debt. For example, some credit card companies will let you pay off a car loan or mortgage with a credit card balance transfer.
• Credit Card Refinancing Loans: Another option is to consolidate your credit card debt with a credit card refinancing loan. This is a great way to pay down credit card debt because you can’t add to the balance like you can on a credit card. You’ll be on a strict payment timeline but you can also save on interest with a fixed rate on a loan.
• Credit Cards for Refinancing: The average balance transfer credit card offers 0% for roughly 11 months and charges a balance transfer fee of around 2.7%.
• Best Credit Cards for Refinancing: Chase Slate and Amex EveryDay are among the top balance transfer cards available right now.
• Credit Card Refinancing Limits: Most of the balance transfer credit cards that disclose minimum starting credit limits offer at least $500. The amount you transfer, plus balance transfer fees, cannot exceed your assigned spending limit.
• Credit Score Needed: 0% credit cards for refinancing almost always require good or excellent credit for approval. So make sure to check your credit score.
• Required Info: The dollar amount you want transferred and information (e.g. account number) about the account you’re transferring the balance from.
• Timeline: Credit card balance transfers often need to be completed within 60 days of opening an account to get the best terms. The 0% period starts when the account is opened.

Credit card refinancing can be a smart move for saving money on interest. But don’t let it become a habit, or else you’ll be shuffling debt around endlessly.

Take a look at your existing credit cards and their balances. Larger balances with high interest rates are typically the best ones to transfer, since you can save the most on their interest. Then figure out what monthly payments you can afford and how long you’ll need to pay down the transferred balance. A credit card calculator can be very helpful in this regard, making it clear which credit card refinancing option will best meet your needs.

In general, the best credit card for refinancing will have a $0 transfer fee and a long 0% APR intro period. That will help get you down the path of being debt free for good.

The best 0% APR travel credit card is Discover it Miles. It offers a 0% APR on purchases for your first 14 months of card membership. And it also gives a reduced rate on balance transfers, with a 10.99% APR for 14 months. That’s about the longest introductory period you’ll see on a travel card, which focus more on rewards than financing. 

That said, there are other travel cards with 0% APRs on purchases. Some have 0% balance transfers, too, like the Frontier Airlines card. Other cards, like Amex Blue Cash Preferred, aren’t necessarily focused on travel but combine great rewards with 0% APRs and thus could be useful.

Here are the best 0% APR travel credit cards:

• Discover it Miles: 0% purchase APR for 14 months. 
  10.99% balance transfer APR for 14 months (3% fee). 1.5 miles per $1 on all purchases. First year’s miles matched. No annual fee. No foreign transaction fee. Good credit needed.
• Capital One VentureOne: 0% purchase APR for 12 months. 
  20,000 bonus miles for spending $1,000 in the first 3 months. 10 miles per $1 at hotels.com/venture, and 1.25 miles per $1 on all other purchases. No annual fee. No foreign transaction fee. Good credit needed.
• Bank of America Travel Rewards: 0% purchase APR for 12 months. 
  20,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days. 3 points per $1 at the Bank of America Travel Center, 1.5 everywhere else. 10% additional points if you have a Bank of America checking or savings account. No annual fee. No foreign transaction fee. Excellent credit needed.
• Frontier Airlines Credit Card with No Annual Fee: 0% balance transfer APR for 15 months (3% fee).
  10,000 bonus miles for making your first purchase (no required timeframe). 1 mile per $1 on Frontier Airlines purchases, 1 mile per $2 everywhere else. No annual fee. 3% foreign transaction fee. Miles don’t expire as long as you use your card every 6 months. Good credit needed.
• JetBlue Card: 0% balance transfer APR for 12 months (3% fee).
  10,000 bonus miles for spending $1,000 in the first 90 days. 3 points per $1 on JetBlue purchases, 2 at restaurants and grocery stores, 1 everywhere else. Share points with Family Pooling. 50% savings on in-flight purchases. No annual fee. No foreign transaction fee. Good credit needed.
  
• Amex Blue Cash Preferred: 0% purchase APR for 12 months. 0% balance APR for 12 months (3% fee). 
  $200 statement credit for spending $1,000 in the first 3 months. 6% cash back on your first $6,000 at U.S. supermarkets, 3% on gas and at select department stores, 1% on everything else. $95 annual fee. 2.7% foreign transaction fee. Good credit needed.
• China Airlines Credit Card with No Annual Fee: 0% balance transfer APR for 6 months (5% fee).
  500 bonus miles for making your first purchase in the first 3 billing cycles. 1 mile per $1 on China Airlines purchases, 1 mile per $2 everywhere else. No annual fee. No foreign transaction fee. Good credit needed.

If you’re looking to finance an upcoming trip, Discover it Miles is probably your best bet, since it’ll give you the longest amount of time before interest kicks in.

The best way to use a 0% 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 17.86% regular APR, according to WalletHub’s latest Credit Card Landscape Report.

As a result, 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.