Balance Transfer Calculator
What moving a balance actually saves after the transfer fee — and what is still owed the day the promotional rate expires.
The address carries whatever you changed, so anyone opening it sees these numbers. Nothing is saved on our side.
Net saving after the fee
$1,428
Transferring costs $180 today and avoids $1,608 of interest, at the same $300 a month. $780 is still owed when the promo expires.
- $180
- 3% of the balance
- $1,608
- $780
- moves to the go-to rate
- $343
- over 18 months
- $1,639
- paid off in 2 years 2 months
- $31
- paid off in 1 year 9 months
What happens when the promo ends
The part the offer does not lead with, and the part that decides whether this works.
At $300 a month, $780 is still outstanding after 18 months, and it then accrues at 24.99% — a rate higher than the one you are leaving.
Paying $343 a month instead — $43 more — clears the whole balance inside the promotional period and costs no interest at all. That is the version of this decision worth making.
What the fee has to buy
Net saving after the fee, at your payment and your rates. A transfer is only worth doing where this number is positive.
| Transfer fee | Net saving | Fee paid | vs yours |
|---|---|---|---|
| No feeWorth doing | $1,619 | −$180 more in total | |
| 3% feeyoursWorth doing | $1,428 | — | |
| 4% feeWorth doing | $1,364 | +$60 less in total | |
| 5% feeWorth doing | $1,299 | +$120 less in total |
The fee is charged on the way in and is added to the balance, so you pay interest on it too once the promo ends. A 3% fee on $6,000 is $180 — real money that has to be earned back before the transfer has done anything for you.
How this calculator works
Two simulations at the same payment, through the same code, so the comparison cannot be rigged by the calculator.
Staying runs the balance down at your current APR until it clears. Transferring adds the fee to the balance, runs it at the promotional rate for the promo months, then moves whatever is left onto the go-to rate.
Both paths use the same monthly payment and the same interest routine. Paying the new card faster because it feels urgent is a different decision, and letting the calculator assume it would flatter the transfer for a reason that has nothing to do with the offer.
The interest saved and the fee are reported separately as well as netted, so the trade is visible rather than hidden inside one number. The payment that would clear the balance inside the promo is rounded up to the cent — a figure described as clearing it in time has to actually clear it.
What is assumed
- The whole balance transfers and is approved at the advertised terms.
- No new spending on either card.
- The fee is charged once, on the amount moved, and added to the balance.
- Interest accrues monthly, not daily, and no annual fee or late charge is modelled.
A worked example
$6,000 at 22.99%, paying $300 a month, against an 18-month 0% offer with a 3% fee and a 24.99% go-to rate.
| Staying put | $6,000 at 22.99%, 26 months |
|---|---|
| Transfer fee | $6,000 × 3% |
| Balance moved | $6,000 + $180 |
| Left when the promo ends | $6,180 − (18 × $300) |
| Interest on that remainder | $780 at 24.99%, 3 months |
| Interest avoided | 1,638.67 − 30.87 |
| Net saving after the fee | 1,607.80 − 180.00 |
Clearly worth doing — and notice that it is worth doing even though the promo fails on its own terms. $780 survives to meet a rate two points worse than the one being left, and the transfer still wins by $1,427.80, because eighteen interest-free months on $6,000 is a great deal more than a 3% fee.
The better version of the same decision is on the page above: $343.34 a month rather than $300 clears the whole $6,180 inside the promotional period and costs no interest whatsoever. An extra $43.34 a month turns a good outcome into a complete one.
Questions people ask
It is worth it when the interest avoided exceeds the fee at the payment you will actually make. The fee is typically a percentage of the amount moved, charged once and added to the balance, so you also pay interest on it after the promo ends. This calculator runs both paths at the same monthly payment and reports the net figure, because the gross interest saved is the number the offer leads with and it is the wrong one.
Whatever is left starts accruing at the go-to rate, which is often higher than the rate you left. That is the failure mode: you pay a fee, get a delay rather than a discount, and end up on a worse rate. The calculator reports the balance outstanding on the day the promo expires and the payment that would have cleared it in time, because those two numbers are the actual decision.
Usually not on a credit-card balance transfer — a 0% transfer offer generally means no interest accrues during the promotional period, and only the remaining balance accrues afterwards. Deferred interest is a different product, most common in store financing, where unpaid interest accumulates silently and is charged in full if any balance remains at the end. Read which one you have been offered; the calculator models the first.
Opening a card adds a hard inquiry and lowers the average age of your accounts, both usually small and temporary. The larger effect is on utilization, and it can go either way: a new card adds credit limit, which helps the overall ratio, while concentrating the balance on one account can push that individual card near its limit. The Credit Utilization Calculator will show you which way it lands.
Keep the account open — closing it removes its limit and raises your utilization — but treat the balance as the thing you are eliminating rather than a fresh line of credit. The most common way a transfer goes wrong is not the fee or the go-to rate. It is that the original card ends up carrying a new balance alongside the transferred one.
Generally not. Issuers do not let you move a balance from one of their cards to another, because there is nothing in it for them. Check before applying, since it is the most common reason a transfer is declined after the account has already been opened and the inquiry recorded.
Related calculators
An estimate using monthly interest on the balance. Real issuers compute interest daily on an average daily balance, which costs slightly more. Transfer terms, fees and go-to rates vary by offer — use the figures on the offer you have.