With the economy hitting new lows, Americans are descending further and further into debt. Although sometimes this can be mitigated by tightening up the belt and saving better, sometimes this is not enough. For these people, balance transfers have become a very common way for people to help slow down growing debt for long enough to pay it off. As balance transfer cards are a great way for credit card companies to pick up new customers, the market for these cards has become very competitive. Citi and Chase in particular have very good deals for people with excellent credit ratings.
Citi Simplicity
The Citi Simplicity Card offered by Citi Bank is one of the top choices for balance transfer credit cards. It offers a 0% introductory APR on not only all transferred debt, but on new purchases as well. This rate lasts for a remarkable 18 month period, at which point it will increase to something in the range of about 13-22% depending on how good your credit is. The better your credit is, the lower of an interest rate you will get. They also do not charge any late fees, annual fees or penalty fees. For each balance transfer, there is a fee of 3% at a five dollar minimum.
Chase Slate
Chase offers a similarly good deal for balance transfers known as Chase Slate. Like Citi Simplicity, Slate has a 0% introductory APR for people with excellent credit. However, it only lasts for a 15 month period. This is still quite good, although it is not as long as Simplicity’s introductory period. However, this difference in APR may be mitigated by the fact that Slate has a 60 day period in which there is no balance transfer fee. People with extremely good credit can also get a regular APR of about 12%, which is slightly lower than Citi’s deal.
Which is Better?
Choosing between Slate by Chase and Citi Simplicity for a balance transfer card is something that depends entirely on your specific debt situation. If you have an amount of debt that will take longer than 15 months to pay off, Citi Simplicity is probably the better deal as you will have a short time accruing debt at a higher interest rate. However, you may find that the lack of balance transfer fees with Slate is more worthwhile. Before committing to either, you should calculate what your balance transfer fee with Citi Simplicity would be, then see if that number is greater than what new debt you would acquire after the introductory period of Slate expires.
Ultimately, Citi Simplicity and Slate by Chase are two of the best options out there for balance transfer credit cards. Consider what your current debt situation is, do some math, compare credit cards then determine what the best deal is for you. If you find that neither of these plans suits you, be sure to look into some of the other plans offered by these companies, as well as Bank of America and Capital One.