Comparator
Balance Transfer vs. Minimum Payments
The natural next question after the calculator: should you transfer the balance to a 0% intro APR card, or keep paying the current one? The block below runs both scenarios with your numbers.
Compare your two paths
At $250/mo, the balance does not clear inside 18 months. The remainder accrues at 22% APR.
Versus staying on the 22% card. The 3% transfer fee is $150; you pay it once, and at 22% APR you would pay it back in interest in roughly 2 weeks of carrying the original balance.
The break-even
Why a 3% transfer fee is almost always cheaper than the interest
A 3% transfer fee on $5,000 is $150. At 22% APR, that same $5,000 generates roughly $90 of interest in a single month. The transfer fee is paid back in interest savings inside the first eight weeks of the intro period. Everything after that is upside.
The transfer fee math fails in one specific case: if you would have cleared the balance fully in the next month or two anyway. In that case, the upfront fee outweighs the interest you avoid. For balances meaningful enough to need a calculator, this is rare.
If you don't clear inside the intro
What happens after the 0% period ends
On a standard 0% intro APR card from a major US bank issuer, interest is waived during the intro period. If you don't clear the balance in time, you start accruing interest on whatever remains, going forward, at the regular APR. The interest you would have paid during the intro period is forgotten.
On a deferred-interest offer (more common on store-branded retail cards), interest accrues silently throughout the intro period. If any balance remains at the end, the entire accrued interest is charged retroactively. A $100 leftover on a $5,000 balance can suddenly trigger $1,000+ of accumulated interest at the original APR.
The fix: only use waived-interest 0% offers from major banks. Look for the phrase “0% introductory APR” rather than “no interest if paid in full.” The wording is the tell.
Credit score notes
What a balance transfer does to your score
- The application generates a hard inquiry, typically a 5 to 10 point temporary drop, recovering inside a year.
- Opening a new account adds available credit, which can lower your overall utilisation ratio (positive).
- Closing the old card after the transfer reduces total available credit (negative). Most issuers recommend keeping the old card open and unused.
- On-time payments during the intro period build payment history (positive).
Net effect for most borrowers: small initial dip, larger long-run benefit, especially as the original balance is paid down.
Card recommendations
Where to find current 0% intro offers
Our companion site bestcreditcardforbalancetransfer.com tracks intro period length, transfer fee, and qualifying credit score by card. For lower-rate cards if you don't qualify for 0%, bestlowinterestcreditcard.com covers ongoing low-APR options. For fair credit scenarios, see creditcardforfaircredit.com.