Capital One Balance Transfer Credit Cards

By: John Kiernan, Credit Card Editor

No, you cannot transfer a balance from one Capital One credit card to another. But this isn’t a policy unique to Capital One. No credit card company will allow you to transfer a balance from one of its cards to another. There’s just nothing in it for them.

Think about it: You’re only going to transfer a balance if you can get a lower interest rate and save money in the process. And if you’re saving money, your credit card company would have to be losing money, assuming the same issuer provided both cards in the balance transfer equation.

But there are different factors in play when you transfer a balance from another company’s credit card. In particular, Capital One won’t make any money off of that balance as long as it’s held on the other issuer’s credit card. But if Capital One can convince you to transfer that balance, perhaps by offering a 0% intro rate, it’s in the game. It could make money from interest, should you still have a balance when regular rates take effect. And it will have plenty of chances to market other potentially profitable products to you once you’re a customer.

The same is true of auto loans, personal loans and student loans from other financial institutions, all of which are eligible for a Capital One balance transfer.

By: John Kiernan, Credit Card Editor

You can transfer a balance to a Capital One credit card at any time. Just sign into your account on Capital One’s website (or the Capital One mobile app), navigate to “More Account Services” and select “Transfer a Balance.” At this point, you may even receive a few different combinations of introductory APRs and balance transfer fees to choose from.

For example, you may be presented with options such as the following:

• 0% for 12 months with a 2% transfer fee
• 3.99% for 24 months with no transfer fee
• Current purchase APR with no transfer fee

But there’s no guarantee that you will receive special transfer terms for an existing Capital One credit card. And 0% balance transfer promotions for new applicants only last for a certain number of months from the date of account opening. So there’s a good chance you’ll wind up paying interest on your transferred balance at the card’s high regular rate. And you’re unlikely to save money that way.

Fortunately, there are plenty of 0% balance transfer credit cards from other issuers for you to consider.