Balance transfer

The old card is paid from the new one. The old card's balance drops to zero, or by the amount moved, and the new card's balance rises by the same amount plus the fee. The amount owed does not change; it is owed on a different card, at a different rate for the months the offer states.

The fee is charged once, when the transfer posts. Card issuers commonly state it as a percentage of the amount moved, often with a dollar minimum, and it is part of the transferred balance from the first statement. The promotional rate applies to the transferred balance for the months the offer states; what remains after that accrues at the new card's standard APR for transfers.

The two cards are separate debts with separate terms. The new card's promotional rate does not reach the old card, and a new purchase on the new card can accrue at a different rate from the transferred balance, depending on the card's terms.

A $6,000 balance sits on a card at 24% APR. A second card offers 0% on transferred balances for 15 months with a 3% transfer fee. Moving the $6,000 costs $180 in fees, so the new card opens at $6,180 and the old card reads $0.

Over the same 15 months, the old card would have charged $120 a month on an unchanged $6,000, 2% of the balance, or $1,800 in all. The fee is $180, so the difference is $1,620. The figures are this example's arithmetic: they hold the balance flat and assume nothing new is charged, and any balance still on the new card in month 16 accrues at that card's standard rate.

Balance moved

$6,000

Transfer fee, 3% of $6,000

$180

Old card's interest, 2% × 15 months on $6,000

$1,800

Interest less fee

$1,620

The transfer changes what a payment does. On the old card, $120 of each month's payment on the example balance went to interest before any of it reached the $6,000. On the new card, during the promo, a payment reaches the balance in full, and the $180 fee is the whole cost of the 15 months if the balance is paid off inside them.

The promo end month is the figure that matters after the move. The balance left on that date accrues at the new card's standard rate, and the transfer fee has already been paid, so the arithmetic above depends on how much of the $6,180 is retired before month 16.

Taiga Finance moves no money, so it has no balance-transfer feature. A transfer made at the bank shows up on the Debt page as two balances changing: the old card's falls and the new card's rises by the amount moved plus the fee, from the connected account's balance or by hand on a manual debt.

The new card's promotional rate is entered on that debt: “Has promotional APR” takes a “Promo APR (%)” and a “Promo ends” month, and the payoff plan runs the debt at the promo rate until then and at its APR after. The rail's “Interest this month” counts the card at the rate in effect today, so one at 0% adds nothing until the promo ends.