Is there a downside to balance transfers?

Some balance transfer cards have a limited promotional offer, where you get a low APR on balance transfers for a certain period of time or a number of months from account opening. After that, your rate may jump to a higher rate.

A downside of 0% credit card balance transfer offers is that you might not pay off your balance during the promo period, and then you could wind up paying a higher interest rate than before (from the date you did the balance transfer, on the original balance). That’s no good!

Another risk of 0% credit card transfer balance deals is if you use your new card to keep making new purchases instead of focusing on paying down your debt. When you see a 0% offer, make sure you check the rate you’ll pay on new purchases and balance transfers during the promo period and once it ends.

Thankfully, at UMe, our credit card balance transfer offer comes with no balance transfer fee, no annual fee, and a low, fixed rate — so you don’t have to worry about a rate hike in the future.