Choice of Cheaper Balance Transfers With Nationwide's New Credit Card Deals

4th July 2014

Nationwide customers are being offered the choice of 0% interest balance transfer deals when they apply for one of their balance transfer credit cards.

The building society's credit card offers 26 months' interest free for a transfer fee of 2.4%, but there is also the option to take a 15 month interest free deal, but with a much smaller balance transfer fee of 0.65%.

That means on a £1,000 transfer you would pay a £24 fee for the 26 month deal, but only £6.50 on the 15 month deal. The Nationwide credit card also offers 15 months' interest free on purchases and has an average representative APR of 17.9%.

Existing main current account holders with Nationwide are being offered a similar deal. If they get a Select credit card they can choose between the 26 month interest free balance transfer card for a fee of 2.4%, but the fee for the 15 month 0% interest deal is less at 0.55%.

Therefore if you make a £1,000 transfer onto the card, you will pay a £24 fee for the 26 month offer, but only £5.50 on the 15 month interest free deal. The Select card offers 15 months interest free on purchases, with an average representative APR of 15.9%.

Matt Sanders, Gocompare.com's credit card spokesperson, said: "This shows really innovative product flexibility and gives the customer the ability to plan how they can pay off their debts.

“Nationwide's move demonstrates that there are savvy credit card users out there who will choose this card for its adaptability, which puts the power to look after their finances in their own hands."

Matt added: “There are some great deals to be had in the balance transfer market at the moment. If you move quickly you could get your hands on a Barclaycard Platinum Visa card, which is offering 0% interest on balance transfers for six months for a fee of 0.25%, but that is only available until 7 July. If you transferred £1,000 to this card you'd only pay £2.50. This card has an average representative APR of 19.9%.

“There is also the Post Office's Platinum MasterCard, which is offering 18 months' interest free on balance transfers, for a fee of 0.7% - it has an average representative APR of 17.8%. Therefore if you put £1,000 of debt onto the Post Office MasterCard you'd pay a fee of £7.”

Matt continued: “But with all of these cards you still have to remember that debt is debt and it has to be paid off one way or another, or you'll incur interest. Work out what is the best for you, a lower fee and shorter period if you have a realistic plan in place, or if you it's going to take some time to budget and pay it off go for the longer interest free period.

“With so many deals out there it's a goodtime to shop around for the best card for you and work out the most effective way to pay off the balance as soon as possible.”