Credit Cards

Balance Transfer Calculator

A 0% offer is not free — you pay a fee up front, and the promotional rate ends whether or not the balance does. The transfer wins when the interest you skip exceeds the fee, and that turns on one thing: whether your payment clears the balance before the window closes.

Tested against worked examplesHow we verify

Balance to transfer

Current card APR

Monthly payment

Keep this the same on both cards — that is what makes the comparison fair.

Transfer fee

Usually 3–5% of the balance, charged once.

Promotional months

APR after the promotion

You save by transferring

$1,892

Interest avoided, after the transfer fee is deducted.

Your payment leaves a balance when the promotion ends, and it will then accrue at 24.9%. Paying the transferred balance ÷ promotional months each month is what makes these offers work.

Transfer fee: $240
Interest if you stay put: $2,173
Interest if you transfer: $41
Balance when the promotion ends: $1,040
Months to clear where you are: 2 years 2 months
Months to clear after transferring: 1 year 9 months

Transfer fee$24085%

Interest after promotion$4115%

Compare scenariosTry three values of one input

Vary

Balance Transfer Calculator results for three values of Balance to transfer
Balance to transfer
You save by transferring	$1,510	$1,892+$382	$2,311+$801
Transfer fee	$218	$240+$23	$263+$45
Interest if you stay put	$1,733	$2,173+$440	$2,684+$952
Interest if you transfer	$6	$41+$35	$111+$106
Balance when the promotion ends	$268	$1,040+$773	$1,813+$1,545
Months to clear where you are	1 year 11 months	2 years 2 months+3 months	2 years 5 months+6 months

Every other input stays at the value you set above — currently $8,000 for balance to transfer. Differences are measured against the first column.

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How this calculator works

Both paths are run with the same monthly payment. On your current card, interest accrues monthly at the APR ÷ 12 on the remaining balance. On the new card, the fee is added to the balance up front, nothing accrues during the promotional window, and the leftover then accrues at the go-to rate until it clears.

Net saving is interest avoided minus the transfer fee. The comparison assumes no new spending on either card, payments applied on schedule, and the promotional rate surviving the full window — all three fail in practice more often than the maths does.

What this assumes

The transfer fee is charged on the amount moved and is added to the balance immediately.
The promotional rate applies for the months you enter, then the standard rate applies to whatever remains.
New purchases may not receive the promotional rate, and payments are typically applied to the lowest-rate balance first.

What changes this number

Clearing it before the promotion ends: The entire saving depends on it. The rate afterwards is rarely gentler than the one you left.
Transfer fee: 3–5% up front, which is the hurdle the saving must clear before anything is gained.
Whether you keep using the card: New spending at the standard rate quietly undoes the transfer.

A worked example

Take the $8,000 at 22.9%, 18-month offer scenario. These figures are produced by the calculator above, not written alongside it, so they always match what the tool returns.

What you enter

Balance to transfer: $8,000
Current card APR: 22.9%
Monthly payment: $400
Transfer fee: 3%
Promotional months: 18 months

What it returns

You save by transferring: $1,892
Transfer fee: $240
Interest if you stay put: $2,173
Interest if you transfer: $41
Balance when the promotion ends: $1,040

Your payment leaves a balance when the promotion ends, and it will then accrue at 24.9%. Paying the transferred balance ÷ promotional months each month is what makes these offers work.

Try an example

$8,000 at 22.9%, 18-month offer Payment that clears it in time 21 months, 5% fee

Frequently asked questions

Is a balance transfer worth the fee?

It is when the interest you avoid exceeds the fee. A 3% fee on $8,000 is $240 — against a 22.9% card, that is roughly six weeks of interest. The offer almost always wins on arithmetic; where it fails is behaviour, when the freed-up payment gets spent instead of clearing the balance.

What payment do I need to clear it in time?

Divide the transferred balance, fee included, by the number of promotional months. On $8,240 over 18 months that is $458 a month. Anything less leaves a remainder that starts accruing at the go-to rate, which is usually higher than the card you left.

Does a balance transfer hurt my credit score?

A new card means a hard inquiry and a lower average account age, both small and temporary. The larger effect usually runs the other way: a new card raises your total limit, which lowers utilisation. Keep the old card open and paid off rather than closing it.

Can I transfer a balance between cards from the same bank?

Almost never. Issuers do not let you move a balance from one of their cards to another, since they would be refinancing their own debt at 0%. The transfer has to come from a different bank.

What happens if I miss a payment during the promotion?

Read the terms before you rely on the rate. Many cards end the promotional APR after a late payment, and some apply the go-to rate to the whole remaining balance. Set up autopay for at least the minimum on the day the statement posts.

This calculator helps answer

How do I get out of debt?

Order your debts, find the extra payment that actually moves the date, and price the shortcuts. The method matters far less than most advice suggests.