12 brilliant balance transfer cards for 2010

Don't miss my dozen top credit card deals to help you destroy your debts this year.

Has the time come to move your credit card balance again? Or are you jumping onto the balance transfer bandwagon for the first time? Either way, look no further than my top dozen interest-free credit card deals.

First-timers

If you're new to the balance transfer game, you may not know there's been a long-standing front runner in the market which has saved credit card customers stacks of interest over the years. Check it out:

1. Virgin Money Credit Card  - This is my top choice if you've never transferred a balance before or you've never had a card from the MBNA group. (MBNA issues Virgin Money credit cards). With this card you'll get a fantastic 16 month interest-free period. But you'll need to pay a 2.98% transfer fee for the privilege, which means shelling out just under £30 if your balance is £1,000.

Old-timers

If you've already used the Virgin Money Credit Card and you need to transfer your balance again there are some great alternative deals out there too. Take a look:

2. Barclaycard Platinum Credit Card - The next best balance transfer deal is Barclaycard Platinum which offers a fantastic 15 months interest-free credit on balance transfers with a fee that is a shade lower than Virgin's at 2.9%. 

3. Santander Credit Card - At Santander you'll also enjoy 0% on your balance for 15 months, this time with a 3% fee. It's true this interest-free deal isn't quite as long as Virgin's and the fee is slightly higher, but it's still a highly competitive card.

4. Egg Visa card - I recently moved my balance to Egg once time was up on my Virgin Card. Unluckily for me, Santander rejected my application (somewhat unfairly I feel). Find out why in The secret reason banks reject you for credit. So I chose the next best option - the Egg Visa card - instead. The fee is pretty standard at 3%, but I won't pay a penny in interest on my balance until 1 March 2011. This should give me enough time to clear my card completely. The whole process has been very smooth so I've got no complaints, but note that it's only open to new Egg customers.

5. MBNA Platinum card and 6. MBNA Platinum Rewards card - These cards are worth a mention because they both offer a generous 0% rate on your balance for 13 months with a 2.9% fee. That said, you won't be able to move your debt onto one of these MBNA cards from a Virgin card.

7. Barclaycard Platinum card  and Barclaycard Gold Visa - You'll get an interest-free period which lasts until February 2011 from Barclaycard, but the transfer fee is lower at 2.5%. If you have a large amount to transfer, a smaller fee may be a better value deal for you.

Existing customers only!

I must admit I get a bit annoyed when I find I'm barred from certain best-buy deals because they're exclusively available. But that's life I suppose. The next three cards offer a second-only-to-Virgin deal which existing customers should snap up if the market-leader is no longer an option. Here they are:

8. HSBC Credit Card - If you're an HSBC current account holder, you'll get a generous 15 months interest-free credit with this HSBC card. Don't forget there's a 2.9% transfer fee.

9. NatWest Platinum Card and Royal Bank of Scotland Platinum Card - Meanwhile, NatWest and RBS customers can enjoy exactly the same type of deal as current account holders do at HSBC. This means great balance transfer deals for the lucky few.

Lifetime balance transfer credit cards

I think all the cards covered so far are great for kicking your debts into touch, but if you have a large balance to clear, even the longest 0% deal may not give you enough time to pay off what you've borrowed if full. You may not relish the prospect of continually moving your balance from one card provider to another and repeatedly paying transfer fees.

If this worries you, there's an alternative to 0% balance transfer cards: a lifetime balance transfer card. 

Cards like these charge a low rate until your balance is completely cleared, so you'll never need to move to a new deal or pay a transfer fee ever again. Here are my top choices:

10. MBNA Platinum Credit card - With this card, you'll be charged a super low rate of 5.9% for the life of your balance subject to a smaller transfer fee of 2%. What's more, the rate is fixed so you don't have to worry about interest charges creeping up over time. But remember balances from a Virgin card can't be transferred to MBNA.

11. MBNA Platinum Low Rate Visa card - Another great card from MBNA offers a low rate for life of 6.7%, but this time it's variable and could feasibly rise in the future. That said, there's no transfer fee which could be a major benefit, particularly if you have a big balance. This offer applies to the first 1,000 customers only, so if you like the sound of it, you better be quick!

12. Barclaycard Simplicity - This Barclaycard applies a slightly higher rate for life of 6.8% but not only is it fixed but there's no transfer fee to pay either. So you get the best of all worlds, the only drawback is that you'll need a good credit rating to get accepted.

It can be tricky to calculate whether you'd be better off with a 0% balance transfer card or a lifetime balance transfer card. But a bit of number crunching should help. Take a look at Use this credit card to slash your debts to find out how.

Finally, remember that if you are transferring a balance, you must cut it up as soon as it arrives, to make sure you don't spend on the card. Otherwise you'll be hit with a nasty trick called negative payment hierarchy, where your most expensive debts get paid off first.

So that's completes my list of the top 12 balance transfer cards. All that remains for me to say is, don't forget to join our Pay off credit cards goal to help you pare down your balance as soon as possible. And if you have any questions about debt, you can always ask other lovemoney.com readers for help using Q&A.

Compare all sorts of credit cards at lovemoney.com

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