Barclaycard has announced plans to increase it's 0% balance transfer deal today (16 March 2011) to 20 months, making it by far the longest period ever offered by any credit card provider.
This is the second time Barclaycard has made an aggressive move to stay ahead of competition in the last few months, after it pushed the 0% balance transfer period on the
Barclaycard Platinum from 16 months to 18 months, marking the longest ever 0% duration.
Today, Virgin Money and MBNA announced they were boosting their balance transfer deals up to 18 months in an effort keep up with competition – a move which has been upstaged by the news from Barclaycard.
This is great news for anyone that is looking to clear debt without further adding to it through interest charges.
For example, if you owed £3,000 and could afford to clear this in 20 months you would only pay the one off 2.80% transfer fee - £84, then your interest payment would effectively be frozen for a full 20 months, allowing you to clear the debt without any further interest charges.
In this case you could set up a payment scheme of £154.20 per month and be debt free before the 0% period expires.
The move by Barclaycard is likely to trigger a rise in 0% deals across the board as pressure rises for other
credit card providers.